Buffalo Sabres’ Greatest Strength Is Now Their Greatest Weakness
The Buffalo Sabres went from hot to not in just one month. Looking for a scapegoat? Start with special teams!
The Buffalo Sabres gave their fans an October to remember, with dreams of playoff hockey dancing through everyone’s heads, despite the fact that fans were secretly wondering if the wheels were going to fall off, like last season, and the one before that, and . . . you get the picture.
Buffalo’s greatest strength in October was undoubtedly their success on the power play. Over the course of their first 13 games, the Sabres led the league in power-play goals with 14, and had found the back of the net on 29.8% of their man advantages, the second-best success rate in the NHL. Anyone who knows hockey understood that the Sabres probably would not sport a 30% success rate on the power play over the course of the season . . . but no one could have foreseen just how quickly the Sabres’ greatest strength could become their Achilles heel.
During the month of November, the Buffalo Sabres converted on the power play just . . . once. In thirteen games. One goal. That’s it. If that doesn’t sound bad enough, here is the big picture: Buffalo “enjoyed” the man advantage 37 times in the month of November. It’s not like the team didn’t have its chances; simply put, the power play sucked for an entire month. You probably don’t need me to point out the obvious, but by going 1-for-37, a measly 2.7% rate of success, the Sabres officially owned the league’s worst power-play unit for the month of November.
One of the best on special teams one month, and then the absolute worst the next? That is not how you win games in the NHL.
As much as Rasmus Dahlin has struggled this season, there is no doubt that losing him and his 7 power-play assists to a concussion on November 25 crippled their power play, culminating in a terrible effort last Saturday on the road against the Toronto Maple Leafs. In that game, the Sabres enjoyed two power plays and managed exactly zero shots on goal. Even without Dahlin at the point, though, there is no reason for a team that includes Jack Eichel (35 points, 14 power-play points) and Jeff Skinner (zero power-play goals this season) to be so inept while enjoying the man advantage. And lest we forget: the Sabres DID have Dahiln for 10 of the 14 games they played last month, so it is not like their power play was clicking even when they had him on the ice.
The good news? The Sabres begin December by playing the New Jersey Devils at home tonight. The Devils own a penalty kill that is only successful 77.1% of the time, which is 10th worst in the league. On top of that, the Sabres have been slightly more successful on the power play at home, so they have that going for them, too.
Clearly, the Buffalo Sabres have a lot of issues they need to address right now if this team wants to sneak into the playoffs. Fixing the power play should absolutely be at the top of head coach Ralph Krueger’s to-do list right now, though. With Buffalo still within three points of a wild card spot, the season is still salvageable, but only if the Sabres can rediscover the magic to turn their greatest weakness back into their greatest strength.