Lance Lysowski and Mike Harrington are back for another shift on Ice Time, The Buffalo News' hockey podcast, to discuss the Sabres' late-season surge — and why it's a good thing, not a bad thing.

Yes, the Sabres are officially out of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Yes, they've beaten some of the NHL's best teams this year, only to be undone by that 13-game winless streak, not to mention losses to ... well, Montreal, Philadelphia, Seattle, you name it.

But Lance and Mike are here to argue that, first and foremost, you still play to win the game. The Sabres clearly haven't packed it in — and even if they were tanking for a draft pick, history shows that's not always wise.

Also, the guys argue: This time feels a little different. The Sabres are playing with some structure and smarts. One other thing: They've got some players.

Don't look now, but Tage Thompson has his 40-plus goals for the second time in the past three seasons (As Lance notes, Thompson is doing something no one in the NHL has done at least since 2007.) Bowen Byram and Rasmus Dahlin are legit. So, too, are players like Alex Tuch and JJ Peterka.

Speaking of which ...What should the Sabres do with Tuch and Peterka? What will it take to re-sign them, and which of the two should get a deal first? Lance and Mike discuss that and much more.

The Buffalo News Ice Time Podcast is sponsored by Express Windows.

Full Ice Time episodes are now available to subscribers at buffalonews.com