3 more improvements the Buffalo Sabres must make for Week 18
The Buffalo Sabres are just four points out from the second wild card spot and they have an opportunity to draw nearer to that slot tonight.
The Buffalo Sabres may be in the playoff race as the 2022-23 NHL Season enters its most crucial stretch for the first time in forever. But they are still a flawed hockey team who have struggled in various facets.
Below, you’ll find three major improvements the Blue and Gold must make for tonight’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and beyond if they want to stay in the hunt. One or two of these issues may not surprise you, but there is one more that you may not have previously thought of. Let’s talk about them, starting with a strength that’s turned into a weakness.
1 – Improve the power play
A few days ago, I dedicated an entire article to the Sabres power play. One thing I mentioned was Tage Thompson, who has 16 goals on the man advantage this season, but just two in his last 17 games.
It’s clear that when Tage is scoring on the power play, the Buffalo Sabres special team unit is one of the league’s best. So to get the power play rolling again, the Blue and Gold must find a way to get Tage open, so he can do what he does best.
Opposing penalty kill units have keyed on the star forward. But if the Sabres took more shots on the man advantage that allowed for more rebound attempts, the ensuing chaos could leave Tage lurking all alone in the circle. This is something we haven’t seen the Sabres do lately, as instead they seem to continually wait for the perfect play that just isn’t there.
2 – Take more shots offensively
Speaking of taking shots on the power play, this is something the Buffalo Sabres need to be doing regardless. On their first game back from break, Buffalo lost to the Calgary Flames 7-2. It was a disaster of a contest, and one reason the Sabres looked so bad is that, just as on the power play, they tried and failed to wait for something to open.
When nothing did, they tried forcing things and got sloppy in the offensive zone, which led to scoring chance after scoring chance for Calgary. This further led to the Flames outshooting them 26-4 at one point, and the Sabres ended up with just 23 shots on goal.
They got more shots off than the Kings in the following contest, but the Sabres were sleeping through the first half of the contest. In their win over the Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo put up 44 shots on goal, before they struggled once more against the lowly San Jose Sharks, putting up just 13 in the game’s first two frames, before coming to life in the third period.
3 – Don’t be afraid to make the dirty goal
As you can probably guess, all three keys to winning this week are intertwined. The Buffalo Sabres need to improve their power play, and by extension, they need to take more shots on net.
I mentioned earlier that they tend to wait for the perfect play to develop, but now that opponents have a better grasp on their tendencies and style of play, those perfect lanes are harder to come by. How many times have opponents taken away the middle, for example, preventing Buffalo from getting anything going?
Sooner than later, the Sabres need to realize that if the play they’re looking for isn’t there, then they need to improvise. Is the middle taken away? Dump it and try to win the battle on the forecheck.
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Is no one open? Take a shot and see if you can get a rebound, which should often be the case if you have a teammate near the crease. The Sabres are one of the NHL’s highest-scoring teams, and they need to realize that they’re also capable of scoring non highlight-reel goals.
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