The Buffalo Sabres failed to capitalize on a terrific first period Sunday en route to a 4-1 loss to former captain Jack Eichel and the Vegas Golden Knights.
Buffalo's latest defeat dropped its home record to 4-5-0, essentially offsetting any positives from the club's ability to secure at least a point in seven of eight road games (4-1-3). It's a concerning trend after the team finished with the fourth-best home mark in the NHL last season (26-10-5).
Sabres winger Beck Malenstyn told reporters they have to make it a lot tougher on opponents when they visit the KeyBank Center:
"It's always a challenge to win on the road, and we've taken a lot of pride in that. But we need to challenge ourselves equally to win at home. When you can create an atmosphere that's hard to play in — I thought we did a really good job of that last year. When teams stepped into this building, they knew what they were going to get, and it wasn't going to be easy. And that comes from consistency. That comes from us being able to put the same brand of hockey on the ice every single night."Buffalo forward Beck Malenstyn
Malenstyn scored Buffalo's only goal on a wild flurry in front Vegas goalie Adin Hill, who stopped 28 of 29 shots as the Sabres' finishing woes continued.
On a more positive note, the underlying numbers suggest the Blue and Gold may be due for a turnaround on home ice.
The Sabres have the lowest PDO, which is a combination of a team's shooting and save percentages, in the league in home games (.956), per Natural Stat Trick. While there are a lot of factors involved, it does suggest there may be some "puck luck" working against them right now.
For comparison, their PDO on the road is 12th in the NHL (1.010), a 54-point difference.
There are other potential causes for the KeyBank Center woes, most notably Buffalo playing a simpler, more direct style of hockey on the road. The club also doesn't seem to react well to the crowd's negative reaction to the struggling power play, which went 0 for 3 against the Golden Knights.
So, it's not a situation where head coach Lindy Ruff and his staff can point to a single solution to start stacking wins on home ice. It's going to take a concerted effort and, as Malenstyn alluded, a lot more game-to-game consistency when playing in front of the Western New York faithful.
As the Sabres try to get unstuck from neutral, let's analyze the newest edition of our Sabres player grades series following Sunday's frustrating loss.
Buffalo Sabres fall apart after strong start against the Vegas Golden Knights
Sabres Player Grades
Player | Grade (1-10) |
|---|---|
Mattias Samuelsson | 7.5 |
Beck Malenstyn | 7 |
Conor Timmins | 6.5 |
Josh Doan | 6 |
Zach Benson | 5.5 |
Zach Metsa | 5.5 |
Owen Power | 5 |
Jack Quinn | 5 |
Olen Zellweger | 5 |
Peyton Krebs | 4.5 |
Noah Ostlund | 4.5 |
Jiri Kulich | 4.5 |
Colten Ellis | 4 |
Josh Norris | 4 |
Tyson Kozak | 4 |
Tage Thompson | 3.5 |
Rasmus Dahlin | 3 |
Sam Carrick | 3 |
Jason Zucker | 2.5 |
Buffalo Player of the Game: Mattias Samuelsson
On a night where the Sabres had a lot of passengers, Mattias Samuelsson did everything in his power to give them a chance. He led the team in both shots on goal (four) and blocked shots (three) while also leading in ice time (24:05).
He's quietly become one of the NHL's most dependable, well-rounded defensemen. He's been particularly important on an otherwise streaky penalty kill, leading in PK minutes (3:28) as Buffalo killed off all three of Vegas' opportunities with the man advantage.
Samuelsson, who'd never posted more than 14 points in a season before last year, is also on pace for 49 points, which would be eight more than his breakthrough 2025-26 campaign. And he's posted those status despite an underwhelming start for defense partner Rasmus Dahlin.
Sabres quick hits
- Dahlin was on the ice for three of the Golden Knights' four goals, the latest forgettable outing in a string of them early in the season. He's a notoriously slow starter, but it's starting to reach the point where the Sabres need him to find top form.
- Conor Timmins has brought some much-needed stability to Buffalo's PK since his return from injury.
- Josh Doan has started to show a little more juice to his game. Perhaps he's finally starting to inch closer to full strength after a nagging ailment early in the campaign.
- Colten Ellis made some point-blank saves to keep the Sabres afloat for a while, but he still gave up four goals on 26 shots.
- Once again, Tage Thompson with an unforgivable turnover on the power play. Having him control the puck near the blue line is often a recipe for disaster with the man advantage.
- The Sabres (8-6-3) are back on home ice Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET when they welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning (11-4-2) to the KeyBank Center.
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