
The ugly
Carter Hutton
Sabres fans should be pleased that Linus Ullmark is starting to look like a viable goalie option because Carter Hutton is not the answer. With Hutton being the opening day starter for Buffalo, it looked like he and Ullmark would pretty evenly split the starting duties.
Hutton has started four games for the Sabres so far this season. In those four games, Buffalo is 1-3-0 and has given up 3.04 goals per game. Hutton has a dismal .895 SV% on the season.
From now on, it should be an easy decision for the Sabres to have a true number one goaltender. Ullmark needs to be in net as much as possible unless the Sabres were to make a move to acquire another goalie this season to pair with him.
Holding leads
This is something you have noticed if you have watched all the Sabres games this year. It seems to be like as soon as Buffalo gets a lead, they take their foot off the gas and seem to be content being conservative, the only exception being the 6-1 win against the Flyers.
Buffalo is not a team that has a roster that is built to play conservative hockey. With the amount of offensive-minded players they have and how inconsistent their defense and goalies can be, they need to push the pace through the entire game.
The Sabres have the firepower. Between Eichel, Hall, Victor Olofsson, and Eric Staal, they will score plenty of goals. But due to the less than stellar defense, they are going to rely on this offense to win them games. When they decide to play overly conservative hockey with a one-goal lead, they play into their biggest weakness, and it shows.