The Buffalo Sabres return from their four-game west coast road trip, with a four-game homestand starting tonight against the Boston Bruins. The Sabres come into this homestand at 18-26-5, with 41 points, and sit in last place in the Eastern Conference. With just over 30 games remaining in the regular season, the Sabres don’t have many opportunities left to salvage their season as it is likely they will be sellers at the trade deadline as well. What can the Sabres change in order to be successful this homestand and the rest of the season? These are the solutions I have come up with.
Defense, Defense, and more Defense
If the Sabres want any opportunity to compete and win games the rest of the season, it starts on the defensive end. The Sabres rank in the bottom in most defensive categories, this includes goals against, penalty kill percentage, shots against, and save percentage. Regardless of the stats, the Sabres have struggled on defense which has been their downfall throughout the season. Thankfully for the Sabres, their upcoming opponents have struggled to put the puck in the back of the net. The Boston Bruins and an underwhelming Nashville Predators team are only scoring 2.7 goals a contest, and haven’t been able to find a groove offensively all year. As well as the New Jersey Devils in the month of January, who have averaged 2.25 goals per game in what has been a rough stretch for them as of late. With the recent play of goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for the Sabres, this team has a legitimate shot to shut down opposing teams and earn themselves a few wins.
Playing a full 60 Minutes
As Sabres fans have seen this season, this team has the inability to play a full 60 minute game. Buffalo has the most blown leads this season with 19, and rank in the top five in third period blown leads with six. This Sabres team has given us glimpses of how good this team can really be, as they are the youngest team in NHL, with a solid young core lead by JJ Peterka, Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin. However, with a young team there is a lot of learning curves to go through, which is why this team has yet to, or will, hit its true ceiling this season. With that being said, the Sabres have also had trouble staying out of the penalty box this year, as they rank seventh in penalty minutes. Being disciplined goes a long way throughout a game, as those minutes shorthanded can make or break a young team such as the Sabres.
Give Ryan McLeod more minutes and switch up the game plan on the Power Play
Ryan McLeod is currently having the best season of his career with 10 goals, 14 assists and a plus- minus of six. McLeod had 12 goals and 18 assists with a plus-minus of 10 last season with Edmonton. That was his best season in his five year career currently, and this year with Buffalo in just half of the games, McLeod has almost all career highs in all these categories. Which leads me to think that McLeod is deserving of more minutes, but where can they move him to you ask? The power play.
The Sabres powerplay ranks 27th in league at just a measly 16.7%, and with all the offense talent they have on this team, this is unacceptable to see. Jack Quinn is currently the first line center on the power play unit, where he has only nine goals and nine assists this season. I think the change can be made for McLeod here as you pair him with your best offense players. Putting McLeod with Jason Zucker, Tage Thompson, and JJ Peterka, as it gives him the opportunity to create more offense and be a threat on a line that is in desperate need to produce. All while letting Rasmus Dahlin, who is by far their best play maker, run their power play. I think this can be the spark the Sabres need in order to turn things around moving forward.