The Buffalo Sabres seriously need to stop taking periods off
By Sion Fawkes
In each of the past five games, the Buffalo Sabres have literally taken 20-minute frames off. And it happened in last night’s loss to Toronto.
How many times do the Buffalo Sabres need to allow four periods in a single frame before they start getting it? While I’m in the you either win or you learn camp that head coach Don Granato preaches, learning is pointless unless you apply what you’ve learned.
And what’s even more disturbing here is that this hockey team is better than this. The Sabres aren’t a bad team, or else they would look unbelievably bad for all three frames as opposed to just one frame, whether it’s the first, second, or third period.
But after last night’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s become clear that the Sabres are taking periods off. They come out strong in one period, last night being the third period, although it’s clear the Leafs slowed the game down. But that doesn’t explain their early 2-0 leads against the Calgary Flames and the Anaheim Ducks, only to see those leads evaporate.
The Buffalo Sabres have a legitimate problem in taking periods off
Last night’s broadcast attributed it to the Blue and Gold’s struggles to returning from a road trip. But anyone who’s paid attention to this team knows otherwise. This started before the road trip when they put up two quick goals against Calgary, only to allow seven unanswered, with four of those goals coming in the second period.
Against Anaheim, the same thing happened, and the Ducks hung three on the Sabres before Peyton Krebs stopped Anaheim’s run and Buffalo won handedly. But even in the first frame against the San Jose Sharks, the Sabres once again looked lost, but stellar goaltending kept them in that one.
Problem is, the Sharks aren’t anywhere near the Maple Leafs in terms of overall talent and experience. And it’s why goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals in the game’s first 13 minutes after the team gave him little help.
Related Story. Sabres weaknesses exploited in loss against Toronto. light
Sure, I love the win or learn mentality. But the question is: When will the Buffalo Sabres apply what they’ve learned? Maybe it will happen later this week, and if they want to snap their postseason drought, they better learn quickly.
Source: Observations: Another brutal stretch of play dooms Sabres in loss to Maple Leafs by Lance Lysowski, BuffaloNews.com
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