3 major takeaways from the Buffalo Sabres loss to Calgary
The Buffalo Sabres lost their third game in four tries this season, so what can we take away from this ill-fated contest?
The Buffalo Sabres fell to the Calgary Flames last night, and it marked their third loss in four games to kick off their 2023-24 season. Now, we don’t need to get too hung up on the fact that the Blue and Gold are just 1-3-0, as more than a few teams have bounced back after the first 4.87 percent of their season didn’t go as planned.
However, there are a few things they need to work out to keep this thing from getting out of hand. For one, they need to stop playing such inconsistent hockey, and for another, it would be great to see this team simplify their game. The latter alone would probably give them a better chance to win this Saturday when they face the New York Islanders. But until then, let’s discuss three primary takeaways from last night’s contest vs. Calgary.
3 takeaways in Buffalo Sabres latest loss
1 – Stagnation
The Buffalo Sabres made their fair share of miscues all game, but they entered the second intermission in a stalemate with Calgary. That said, it makes little sense to nitpick too much at the first two frames, though as mentioned in the above section: A simpler game would have helped.
Then came perhaps their most ill-fated third period of the season, and despite a goal from JJ Peterka, the Blue and Gold looked nothing short of abysmal. In the closing minutes, they took two bad penalties – one from Rasmus Dahlin despite the fact the Sabres still got their power play opportunity, and another one late for too many men on the ice.
They looked like the more physical hockey team at times, with Connor Clifton and Mattias Samuelsson coming up with a pair of memorable collisions. But in the third period, they lost that edge, which you can add to a breakdown in all three zones. Until the Sabres resolve their inconsistencies, expect issues like what you saw last night to continue.
2 – Devon Levi played better than his numbers
While it’s true Devon Levi had a rough first 10 minutes and looked sluggish, he also came up strong and rescued the Buffalo Sabres more often than he should have cared to. Lance Lysowski of Buffalo News shared the following recap in his postgame piece:
“He made consecutive point-blank stops on Ruzicka during a power play late in the first period, then kept the score tied 2-2 with a glove save when Lindholm had a breakaway late in the second period.”
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Sure, the 21-year-old’s stats were forgettable, but we need to commend him for coming up big and keeping the Flames from breaking this game open. Had Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen or Eric Comrie been in the net, Calgary probably would have won by multiple goals, and we’d instead be having a conversation about last night’s blowout loss as opposed to a narrow 4-3 defeat.
And yes, I agree: Levi needs to be more consistent. He can’t give up a pair of easy goals so early in the game. But I’ll tell you this: Most 21-year-old goaltenders in their 11th career game would have folded. You know Luukkonen would have folded, so let’s commend Levi for at least keeping this game from getting out of hand – and that consistency will eventually take hold.
3 – Krebs needs to stay on the Cozens line (for now)
Looking at the chart from Hockey Stat Cards, Dylan Cozens, JJ Peterka, and Peyton Krebs scored the highest impact grades for the Sabres. Cozens finally made something happen in the Blue and Gold’s overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, and he looked like a man on a mission last night. He was in on two assists and finished the game with a plus-2.
Krebs also finished with a plus-2 rating, and though he logged only one shot on goal, the Sabres newest top-six forward helped the line generate more than a few chances despite only seeing 12:45 of ice time. He’s been a clear upgrade over Victor Olofsson, so for the foreseeable future, he needs to keep playing wing and Olofsson should stay in the press box.
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Cozens will keep getting better, and ditto for Peterka, who already has two goals in this young season. Once Krebs meshes more with this group, he will be a solid stopgap until Jack Quinn returns at some point in 2024.
(Statistics and data provided by Hockey-Reference)