Even with it only being two games, the concerns are real about the Buffalo Sabres. They have been outscored 7-1 in the games against the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins, and moving forward are going to be without one of their key players, Josh Norris, for a while.
The challenge for the Sabres is that it is not going to get any easier for them this week, starting with a game against the Colorado Avalanche. Through three games, the Avalanche are 2-0-1 with wins over the Los Angeles Kings and Utah Mammoth before losing in a shootout to the Dallas Stars on Saturday.
There is no question that the Avalanche have looked like one of the better teams in the Western Conference to begin the season. It will be a big test for the Buffalo Sabres as they search for their first win of the season. They are going to need these players to have big performances if they hope to get into the win column on Monday.
4 players the Buffalo Sabres desperately need to deliver against the Avalanche
Rasmus Dahlin
At his best, Rasmus Dahlin is likely the best player on the ice for either team. He has the ability to take over a game and impact it end-to-end like no one else.
In the first game of the season, Dahlin showed some of that against the Rangers. It was a different story against the Boston Bruins, and he had the fourth-worst xGF% Relative on the Buffalo Sabres at -16.48, according to Natural Stat Trick.
It will be interesting to see if the Sabres keep Bo Byram with Dahlin for this game or shake up the pairs. Regardless of who he is playing with though, he has to be more involved in this game right from the start.
Tage Thompson
The Sabres have been dealing with more of their fair share of injuries and while the depth takes a big hit, this is a time that the best players need to emerge. Similar to Dahlin, that means Tage Thompson needs to make an impact and really lead this offense.
Through two games, Thompson is still searching for his first point of the season and has a +/- of -3. On Saturday against the Bruins, Thompson led the Sabres in shots in 5v5 situations but had only four in the game and didn't have any high-danger chances.
Leading up to the season, Thompson looked like he was about to have a career season as teammates were talking about how good he looked in training camp. He showed that in the preseason as well with five points in the final five games.
One area that he can help is being more aggressive right from the start of the game as the Sabres have had slow starts in both games. They can't afford to do that against a good Avalanche team.
Alex Tuch
Alex Tuch has probably been one of the most talked about players on the Sabres over the past few months. Not necessarily because of what he can do on the ice, but the fact that he is currently in the last year of his contract, and it remains to be seen if he will remain with the Buffalo Sabres.
Through the first two games, Tuch has not been much of a factor and is also looking for his first point of the season. However, he is going to need to do more in the offensive zone with only one shot against the Bruins and had the worst xGF% Relative at -34.86, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Jason Zucker
The last player is Jason Zucker, who has really been the best forward the Buffalo Sabres have had through the first two games. Unlike the other players on this list, the Sabres are just going to need Zucker to continue to make plays for them.
In the first game against the New York Rangers, the Sabres were playing much better and this was due in part to Zucker moving up to the top line and playing with energy.
On Saturday against the Bruins, he would score the Sabres' first, and so far only, goal of the season that cut the lead to 2-1. Once again, the Sabres showed some more urgency after that and were playing much better.