The Buffalo Sabres’ month of October 2024 in review

It’s been a month of ups and downs for Sabres’ fans. After suffering a humiliating three-in-a-row loss to start the month, the Blue and Gold enjoyed their first win on Oct. 12, a 5-2 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

Buffalo then suffered two back-to-back losses versus the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets, respectively, before enjoying three consecutive victories. The Sabres then closed out October with a home-ice loss to the Panthers, 5-2, ironically the same score they beat the Cats with two weeks earlier. Let’s look at some of the good and bad in October.

Improved power play scoring

Scoring on power plays has long been one of the Sabres’ weak spots. Buffalo is an NHL-ranked dead last as of this writing, only scoring 6.90% of the time with the man advantage. However, the Sabres now have two power play goals this month, both courtesy of new forward Jason Zucker.

The team has controlled the puck in 5-on-4s and made more shots on goal recently. The Sabres need to keep working on PP scoring but the effort they’ve put into netting goals with man advantages is getting better overall.

Thompson and Tuch getting more goals

Last year, Sabres’ forwards Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch suffered offensive production declines, dropping from 47-47-94 and 36-43-79, respectively, in 2022-23 to just 29-27-56 and 29-37-59 this past season. However, both players enjoyed a good October.

Thompson scored at least goal or assist in his last five games and enjoys a 7-5-12 record for this month. Tuch’s numbers, while not as high as TNT’s are a still decent 3-6-9. If the Sabres’ top offensive forwards keep their stats up, they’ll help Buffalo win more matchups going forward.

Defense, Goaltending could be better

The Sabres defense and goaltenders put out an improved effort in many contests in October, helping the team enjoy a three-game win streak and defeating tough opponents including the Florida Panthers, Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings. Despite this, there were still too many games and moments where they let opposing teams score easy goals, including during shorthanders, one-on-one situations and turnovers.

Buffalo’s back-to-back openers versus the Devils, the ugly home loss to the L.A. Kings, and the disastrous rematch against the Panthers all come to mind. Too often, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi, while good goalies overall, suffered incidents when opponents beat them with seeming ease and the Sabres’ D had stretches of weak play and poor puck control.

UPL’s stats are an .890 SV% and 3.31 GAA, while Levi sits at .874 and 3.79. While these aren’t the worst numbers they could have, they’re not the best and they both need to improve.  The defense also showed some improved discipline but the Sabres’ D is not at the elite level it needs to be if Buffalo hopes to end its seemingly endless playoff drought.