Buffalo Sabres fail the consistency test in loss to Colorado

The Buffalo Sabres entered last night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche riding a 2-0-1 record in their previous three games.

If we learned anything from last night’s loss to the Colorado Avalanche, it’s that the Buffalo Sabres still have ways to go on the consistency front. Ironically, they still outshot their opponent, which you could call a good sign, and in the process they mustered at least 30 shots on goal yet again.

The issue? They were outshot 15-0 for most of the first period and had given up three goals in the process, indicating that the game was over before the first 20-minute frame even ended. While the Sabres managed to score and therefore kind of made it a game after they drew a subsequent penalty and entered the second on the power play, they never capitalized despite outshooting the Avalanche by 10 shots on goal in the period.

Overall, it once again screams inconsistency for this hockey team, something that has plagued them for what has now been 30 games. So what made the Sabres skate into Denver looking like a completely different hockey team from the one that beat the Arizona Coyotes?

The Buffalo Sabres reverted back to their bad habits in loss to the Avalanche

Lance Lysowski of Buffalo News has your answer. We know the Sabres were competitive in their previous three games because they weren’t afraid to crash the net and refrain from scoring those highlight-reel goals. Well, here is what Lysowski said, and he couldn’t be more correct:

"“Rather than outworking a top opponent on the road, the Sabres relied on their skill to try to create scoring chances early in the game. It backfired again.”"

Source: Observations: Another ‘maddening’ slow start dooms Sabres in 5-1 loss to Avs

The good news? The Buffalo Sabres can identify this issue and revert to what we saw during their three-game points streak that began late last week and once again put up solid performances against the Vegas Golden Knights and the Arizona Coyotes.

It’s up to the Blue and Gold to realize that those plays that made them such a fun team last season won’t cut it in 2023-24. It hasn’t been the case for 30 games, and there is no reason to believe that will change any time soon. We’ll see if the Sabres remedy yet another inconsistent performance when they skate into Vegas and play the Golden Knights.

(Statistics provided by NHL.com)