Burning Question: What is wrong with the Buffalo Sabres?
The Buffalo Sabres have been absolutely miserable since the beginning of February. Worse than November 2022 miserable. But why?
When the horn signaled the end of the second period, the Buffalo Sabres found themselves outscored 11-0 over their past four periods. And dating back to February 1st in a loss against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Blue and Gold had been outscored 16-3. Not what you’re looking for when you entered the All-Star break just outside of a playoff spot.
Here we are in the middle of February, and the tide has shifted dramatically. The NHL’s highest-scoring team, or one of their highest-scoring teams, looks like the absolute worst team in hockey. So what happened? Why did this team pull a 180?
Buffalo Sabres are facing a plethora of issues
Defensively, the Sabres have been letting teams get behind them all season. In Buffalo’s three losses this month, they’ve also been giving opponents way too much open ice to work with, stranding their goaltenders on an island.
We saw it against the Calgary Flames. And while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen didn’t play his best game, not all those goals Calgary scored were on him. The Sabres simply gave up way too many open-ice chances.
They’ve also become a team full of perfectionists, which is dangerous. Offensively, they’re waiting for the perfect play to develop. And in the NHL, perfect plays are hard to come by.
And when you wait, and wait, and wait some more for something to develop that just isn’t going to, you get sloppy play all around. Sure, the Sabres put together a few remarkable plays against Calgary and Los Angeles that didn’t convert, but until they figure out how to make something out of nothing, opponents are going to keep blowing them out.
In their loss 5-2 to Los Angeles, the Sabres continually tried to drive the puck through the middle of the ice, even with all five Kings taking away that part of the ice. Of course, this led to turnovers, and it was astounding to see not a single player even attempt to take it wide, even if the walls were open.
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Overall, Buffalo needs to rethink their strategy. If something is taken away, you need to make an adjustment. Defensively, you need to at least put yourself in position to get a stick on the puck. We’ll see if they try to remedy the situation before their meeting on Wednesday with Anaheim. The good news? They can fix all of these problems. The question is: Will they?
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