Sabres drop second in a row to the Islanders and look lost
The Buffalo Sabres dropped their second game in as many days to the New York Islanders after another underwhelming performance. In each of the two games since returning from their 15-day hiatus, they have looked like they are not motivated and are unorganized.
Last night was certainly the low point of the season for the Sabres. Buffalo got shutout by a rookie back-up goalie who has yet to record a win and has been struggling all season. Going into last night’s game, Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin allowed 3.65 goals per game and had a save percentage of .871. The Sabres made him look like an all-star.
Buffalo did look somewhat competitive in the third period last night. They started to apply some extended offensive pressure and crash the net, which led to some scoring chances. But what boggles my mind is that it took for them to be down by two goals in the third to start playing competitive hockey. There is no reason that you need to be behind before you start playing that way.
The Sabres did “score” a goal in the third period to make it a one-score game on an Olofsson power play goal. But the Islanders challenged the play for offsides on the entry to the zone that happened about 20 seconds before the Sabres scored, and the goal ended up being overturned.
But help is on the way for Buffalo. There is only one player still in the league’s health and safety protocol for the Sabres. Casey Mittelstadt remains in the protocol, but the Sabres will regain players such as Rasmus Ristolainen, Dylan Cozens, and Curtis Lazar. These additions will be a welcoming sight for Buffalo.
Even with these additions coming back to the Sabres, it will take more than just that to get this team where it needs to be. It starts from the top of the organization. The Sabres decided to bring back head coach Ralph Krueger after an underwhelming season last year, and right now, that seems like it maybe was not the best decision.
Sabres find themselves in a familiar position in power ranking polls. dark. Next
I know this season is much different than any we have seen, but that is not an excuse for how the Sabres have looked. Fans in Buffalo are sick and tired of consistently going through the coaching carousel every few years. If this team doesn’t at least start to look competitive, Buffalo may find themselves in the familiar spot of searching for a new head coach very soon.