3 reasons the Buffalo Sabres are a better team (and 3 reasons they aren’t)

Mar 20, 2022; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Buffalo Sabres forward Jeff Skinner (53) celebrates his goal against the Vancouver Canucks in the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 20, 2022; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Buffalo Sabres forward Jeff Skinner (53) celebrates his goal against the Vancouver Canucks in the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
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Buffalo Sabres
Mar 20, 2022; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Buffalo Sabres goalie Craig Anderson (41) makes a save against the Vancouver Canucks in the first period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

Teams still beat them handedly

Even the best teams will suffer the occasional blowout. Unfortunately for the Sabres, it’s happened twice this month and you can argue the three-goal loss to the Los Angeles Kings also qualifies as a blowout. Go back to February and you can further argue most of their losses was flat out bad hockey.

In their losses to the Kings, Florida Panthers, and Edmonton Oilers, the Sabres scored just two goals while allowing 15. It was a recurring theme that plagued the team since the second half of February, and it’s easy to point out several instances before they ended the month with an 0-6 record.

The Sabres need to find ways to limit blowout losses. And they also need to find ways to keep opponents, as was the case of Florida and Edmonton, from jumping out to big leads before putting games in cruise control.