Buffalo Sabres: 3 burning questions for Week 3 in 2023-24
The Buffalo Sabres finished last week with a 2-1-0 record, which could bring some much-needed momentum as Week 3 kicks off tonight.
The Buffalo Sabres will play four games this week, and they could be battle-tested as three of the teams they’re facing are seeking to become legitimate contenders this season. That said, their first opponent of Week 3, the Montreal Canadiens, is a team the Blue and Gold cannot afford to take lightly.
And the Sabres remain full of question marks, themselves, three of which we will discuss below. Buffalo’s power play remains a huge mystery, as they have yet to get going in five games played. Meanwhile, the goaltending rotation also has a huge question mark hovering over it following Eric Comrie’s epic performance this past Saturday.
And finally, the Sabres played well overall defensively in Week 2 – minus their meager performance vs. the Calgary Flames. If they keep playing the way they did vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders, perhaps they may finally turn the corner without the puck.
3 burning questions for the Buffalo Sabres in Week 3
1 – Can the Sabres power play rediscover its magic?
The Buffalo Sabres power play continues to suffer through five games, converting just one of 16 opportunities on the man advantage. When the New York Islanders penalty kill crashed just one night before they traveled to the City of Good Neighbors, the Blue and Gold had a chance to rediscover their high-octane power play magic.
They drew plenty of penalties, but they never converted, and so the man advantage remains a work-in-progress as the Sabres head into Week 3, and their second full week of action. Fortunately, Buffalo isn’t playing against an overtly powerful PK unit tonight in the Montreal Canadiens.
The Ottawa Senators also have a weak PK, which has succeeded just 76.19 percent of the time, and the New Jersey Devils unit on 4-on-5 is abysmal, having allowed five power play goals on 17 attempts. So maybe, just maybe, this week is the week.
2 – What will the goaltending rotation look like?
Eric Comrie put up a stellar performance in the net, but that doesn’t mean we need to take the “hot hand” approach this season. Remember, Comrie is a proven goaltender in this league ONLY when he doesn’t see the rink often, so starting him for two games in a row may not yield the same results. But….
Sabres host the Habs tonight at 7. Some updates:
— Jourdon LaBarber (@JourdonLaBarber) October 23, 2023
🏒 Eric Comrie will start in goal.
🏒 Lines & pairs this morning were the same as on Saturday.
🏒 Devon Levi is nursing a lower-body injury. He is expected to sit out this back-to-back so it can full resolve. #LetsGoBuffalo
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has yet to debut this season, and against a weaker opponent like the Montreal Canadiens, it would have made sense to see him get the nod. Or, if the Buffalo Sabres felt Devon Levi was ready to roll, then the 21-year-old could have made his fifth start of this young season. But with a lingering lower-body injury, it made more sense to sit him.
Either way, it would have been smarter to give Comrie the night off on Monday, before playing him either on Tuesday night against the Ottawa Senators, or later in the week. However, we ultimately found out that Comrie will stand between the pipes, and it may foreshadow what the rotation will look like this week.
3 – Can the Sabres play consistent defense?
Defensively, the Buffalo Sabres went 2 for 3 last week, looking good in their overtime win vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning despite blowing a two-goal lead before they forgot to show vs. the Calgary Flames. However, they ended the week with an epic performance vs. the New York Islanders that nearly ended in a shutout.
The Sabres are playing a rebuilding team tonight vs. the Montreal Canadiens before they face a high-octane team in the Ottawa Senators. The New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche are also no slouches by any means when they have the puck, so the Blue and Gold will face their fair share of tests.
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If they can hold the fort down and play at least a respectable defensive game this week, then perhaps we can put the Blue and Gold in a discussion of being a team that plays well without the puck. And if Buffalo keeps stagnating with the puck, then they won’t have much of a choice if they want to win more games in October.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)