The Buffalo Sabres have seen struggles from some key players early on this season. And they must improve for the team’s first road trip of 2022.
The Buffalo Sabres have seen their fair share of productive pieces during their season-opening homestand last week. Rasmus Dahlin was all over the ice, Ilya Lyubushkin is already making his presence felt as a hitter, and J.J. Peterka has been lighting up the scoreboard and creating opportunities for teammates.
But there are a few players who have yet to show, and for this week’s road trip, we are all expecting the following names to make their mark. Not that we should push the panic button if they don’t; but a sense of urgency will definitely be in the works.
1 – Tage Thompson needs a huge outing
Tage may have looked good in the preseason, but we expected nothing less. Two games into the regular season, and he has yet to do anything, posting just four shots on goal. His faceoff win percentage is a meek 43.5%, and he has really done nothing to even create opportunities for teammates.
In the offseason, Tage signed a lucrative seven-year extension. It’s high time he started playing like one of the Buffalo Sabres top-paid forwards.
2 – Jeff Skinner must continue to redeem himself
Many still knock on Skinner for the contract he signed a few years back. And while he had an excellent season that should have at least silenced a few critics, the fact of the matter is that one good season means little if he can’t remain a consistent scorer.
Skinner has one giveaway in two games, and seven shots on goal. Like Tage, we need to see more productivity from who should be one of the team’s top scorers this season.
3 – Owen Power must play like the Buffalo Sabres first overall pick
Power is the one name on this list I can give at least a bit of slack. He looked good during the eight-game trial run last season, and he was bound to see some struggles early this season since teams finally have some film on him. That said, I thought I’d have him on a list like this early.
The only real positive is that Power is in the plus category in his controversial plus-minus statistic. When he is on the ice, it seems like the Buffalo Sabres are spending an eternity trapped in their defensive zone, and that needs to change starting in tonight’s game against the Edmonton Oilers.
Overall, I’m counting on Power to show steady improvement throughout the season. But as with Tage and Skinner, there are expectations to meet, and anything below them will result in an unsatisfactory year.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)