What is wrong with the Buffalo Sabres power play?

The Buffalo Sabres power play has been abysmal to start the season. Here is why it’s so bad and when it may start faring better.

Going back to last season, the Buffalo Sabres had one of the best offenses in the NHL. A huge reason why, their power play was automatic. Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Rasmus Dahlin, and Jeff Skinner are just a few names who headlined that power play unit.

For this season, it’s pretty much the same players on both units, but for some reason, the power play for Buffalo has been bad so far in the 2023-24 season. At the moment, the Sabres power play ranks 26th in the NHL. For the success rate, Buffalo has scored only five times on 39 chances.

You read that right, for the first month of the season and early part of November, the Sabres have only scored five times with the man advantage. So it begs the question, what is wrong with the power play?

What is going on with the Buffalo Sabres power play?

To be honest with you, I don’t even know why they are struggling. Right away, you can eliminate the “not enough talent” possibility. We all know how much talent this team has and you think it would help but for those saying it’s because they don’t have any good players, that’s not the case.

These are the only two scenarios that I could think of. If you have watched the Sabres last year and this season, there are times when they pass the puck around constantly and not shoot it. It’s pretty clear that Tage is the guy to pass to with his awesome shot, but it’s not working when you’re passing the puck around for almost the entire power play.

Could it be that teams are figuring out the strategy? Every power play is different, but I wonder if teams are knowing what the Sabres will be doing. Obviously, you have to credit to the penalty kill for the opposing teams with how good they shut them down.

They did start out slow last year as well but the fact that it’s taking this long is a little concerning. We’ll see how it plays out but I think it’s fair to be a little concerned about the Sabres power play.

(Information provided by Hockey-Reference)