The Buffalo Sabres, unfortunately, are still searching for their first win of the season after falling to the Boston Bruins by a final score of 3-1. There were a lot of similarities to their first game of the season, as it was another slow start, but Alex Lyon kept them in the game while the offense sputtered.
These are some of the key takeaways from the game on Saturday night as they turn their focus to Monday when they play the Colorado Avalanche in a home game.
Another lackluster first period performance
After the New York Rangers controlled the flow early in the first game of the season, the hope was that the Buffalo Sabres would show a little more urgency in this one against the Bruins. With this being a road game, it felt like they needed a strong start to build confidence and take the fans out of it.
Unfortunately, it was more of the same, and they should feel lucky that they were only down 1-0 after the first 20 minutes.
The Bruins spent a majority of the period in the Sabres' zone and outshot them 17-2 in the first period. They were never really able to set up or control the flow and were being more reactive than aggressive, which put pressure on Alex Lyon.
Alex Lyon is doing his part to keep these games close
Alex Lyon now has two starts to begin the season and while the Sabres didn't win either, this is not the fault of Lyon. In fact, there is a case to be made that it could have been much worse.
Similar to the game against the Rangers, Lyon kept the Sabres in the game with some really impressive saves. In the second period, the Bruins did score, but it was a fluky goal that got caught up in Connor Timmins' jersey and bounced past Lyon for the goal.
Lyon finished the game with 28 saves on 30 shots, with a majority of those saves coming in the first period. It is unknown when Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will be ready to return to the ice but if Lyon continues to play like this, he might be returning as the backup.
Buffalo Sabres need to generate more high-danger chances
The Buffalo Sabres finally got a goal but it wasn't until the third period when Jason Zucker was able to beat Jeremy Swayman after the puck was deflected off a Bruins player. However, the offense for two games now has been almost non-existent.
There is certainly the excuse that they are missing key players due to injuries with Zach Benson and Josh Norris being out. However, they still have their best players in Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch who have been quiet and combined for only four shots in 5v5 hockey against the Bruins.
One of the things they have to start doing better is creating some high-danger chances and after only four against the New York Rangers, they had only three against the Bruins according to Natural Stat Trick.