One major area of improvement the Sabres made through two games

The Buffalo Sabres may be 0-2-0, but they found some rhythm in Saturday’s loss. However, one area of their game has improved dramatically.

The Buffalo Sabres have been outscored 8-3 so far this season, and they look far from the high-octane team they were last year through two games. But then again – it’s been two games. 

That said, there is little need to worry about the Blue and Gold, as they found their offensive stride over the final 40 minutes in last night’s loss to the New York Islanders. You can even go as far as to say the Blue and Gold outplayed the Isles in those last two periods, but either way you look at it, they didn’t score enough to win.

It’s easy to get downtrodden following an 0-2-0 start if you let yourself get downtrodden. Or, you can look at a few positives, and realize that there have also been improvements in the first two games this year, and one major improvement.

The Buffalo Sabres improved this major part of their game…

The Sabres penalty kill through the first 120 minutes of their season has been stellar, as they allowed just one goal so far in this young season in seven attempts, giving them an 85.71% success rate when down a man. This improvement has carried over from the end of 2022-23, when the penalty kill started to show some life after Buffalo was one of the worst teams in the league when facing opposing power plays.

We have seen the Sabres, through the first two games of the year, slowly rediscover their offensive rhythm. When they face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, expect that trend to continue. However, with their penalty kill unit stepping up in this young season along with a more physical style of play, it foreshadows that this team will eventually bring a more complete game.

While the Blue and Gold is currently 0-2-0, the fact that their penalty kill has improved through multiple contests is an encouraging sign. Once they start regularly putting the puck into the back of the net regularly again, this team will cook.

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)