"You're going to have teams that have kind of separated themselves on the other end where they don't have a shot or they're out of the playoffs and they may have some young guys … we've been there in that position where you beat some good teams. So, you have to be aware of everything."
The Sabres find themselves in unfamiliar territory nearing the second half of the season. They remain in third place in the Atlantic Division with 47 points and have a seven-point lead over the first team out of the playoffs, the New York Islanders.
The week ahead presents an opportunity to extend that cushion. They play the Boston Bruins, who sit three points back in the first Wild Card spot, twice: in Buffalo this Saturday and then in Boston the following Saturday.
In-between those games, the Sabres host the Islanders on New Year's Eve and another opponent looking to claw its way back into contention in the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
"It's fun hockey," Okposo said. "Every game means something. Every point is big. Just the way that we've started and the way that we've grown, yeah, that's the expectation now. I just think it's a long season. We still have a long way to go, over halfway to go, but yeah, we put ourselves in a good position and that's really all you can do at this point.
"... There's some teams that are in good positions right now and there's some teams that are still in it. It's just going to get harder, but we're up to the challenge. You just have to make sure that you're doing the right things every day."
The Sabres will be looking for a response from their 4-1 loss in St. Louis on Thursday, which saw them surrender three straight goals in the second period after starting strong.
The Bruins, meanwhile, are coming off two straight losses and are expected to be without forward Brad Marchand and defenseman Charlie McAvoy.
The stakes were similar when the two teams last met, a 4-2 Sabres win in Boston on Dec. 16 that came on the heels of a shootout loss in Washington. Jack Eichel tallied four points in that game.
"We've earned the right to be where we're at," Pominville said. "But at the same time, there's a still a lot of work to be done. It'll fun to see the team grow through this adversity, challenge of seeing teams ready to play us.
"Maybe at the start when we were winning, we might've caught teams off guard a little bit. But now that they know they come in here, they're going to face a good team, they're going to face a team that depth that plays well and plays hard. You've got to make sure you rise to the occasions and it's going to be challenge."
