The good, the bad, and the ugly in the Buffalo Sabres loss to New Jersey
The Buffalo Sabres played a poor third period, and it ultimately cost them the game. But the outing wasn’t completely ill-fated.
The Buffalo Sabres struggled through yet another bad third period, and in many cases, the contest looked like a repeat of what we saw on Monday night – two solid but unspectacular periods of hockey followed by a bad final frame, and it’s why the Blue and Gold are skating back to the City of Good Neighbors with just two points on this mini-road trip.
But it didn’t mean everything went wrong, because Buffalo still kept it a game and put up four goals in the process. That accounts for something, but once again, the bad and the ugly outweighed the good.
Buffalo’s persistent defensive meltdowns and goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (and earlier Eric Comrie) didn’t do enough to save the situation. And as already mentioned, a bad third period once again haunted the Sabres. Let’s look at each of the issues.
Good, bad, and ugly in Buffalo Sabres loss to the Devils
The good – High-octane game making strides
While the Buffalo Sabres had a plethora of miscues offensively (see Section 3) it doesn’t negate the fact that they have scored 10 goals in their previous two outings, including four last night. Say what you will about how badly the Blue and Gold played offensively, and yes, they will get panned later in this piece, but at least it looks like their scorers are finally getting back on track.
Dylan Cozens scored his third goal and seventh point of the season, and he’s third on the team in finding twine, behind only Tage Thompson and Jeff Skinner. Speaking of which, Tage made an incredible play last night when he took a pass near the front of the net from Alex Tuch to score his fourth of the season.
Rasmus Dahlin is one of the NHL’s best overall players, and he put up his first goal and eighth total point of the year. Through eight games, the stellar blueliner leads the team in points and is on pace to rack up 82 by the time mid-April rolls around.
The bad – Defense and goaltending
It’s totally understandable to say, “You can’t blame Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in this one.” I agree, but let’s be honest: How many more times can we use this excuse? Listen, the defense wore down as the game progressed, and at times, they left Luukkonen to fend for himself, but when the opposing goaltender is making big saves and UPL isn’t, there’s a problem.
Luukkonen has ample experience at the professional level, including 59 starts at the AHL level, and 23 in the ECHL, even if he is still relatively inexperienced in the NHL. But when is he going to consistently step up and make big saves when his team needs them? He enjoyed a stellar outing on Tuesday, but then he reverted to his usual self last night.
There is no question the defense needs to give their goaltenders help, but Luukkonen has an opportunity to show he can be a 1A with possibly Devon Levi and Eric Comrie shelved tomorrow and perhaps longer. There are no more excuses for Luukkonen: It’s time to step in and prove you can be a game-changer in the net.
(Data provided by Elite Prospects)
The ugly – 20 minutes of horrific play, especially offensively
Sure, there were bad calls that didn’t go the Buffalo Sabres way at times, but the Blue and Gold also did themselves no favors in the third period next to what was at one point a game-tying goal from Dylan Cozens. The fact is, when you log just four shots on net in one period, it doesn’t matter who you are – you’re not winning many games.
When you mishandle and turn the puck over on the power play against one of the league’s worst penalty kill units and allow a short-handed goal, you also aren’t winning many games. The Sabres also turned the puck over plenty of times in their own zone and in the neutral zone, and it took away plenty of scoring chances from a team that looked like it was rediscovering its high-octane game.
More. Matt Savoie captures first professional hockey goal in Amerks win last night. light
If the Sabres try playing the Colorado Avalanche this way, they won’t lose the game 5-4. Remember that epic meltdown vs. the Dallas Stars in March? Yeah, it will end up somewhere along those lines, so this is an issue the Sabres need to fix now.
Source: Observations: Badly outplayed in the third by Devils, Sabres now have to ponder goalie injuries by Mike Harrington, Buffalo News
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)