The Buffalo Sabres power play has been useless. Literally.
Buffalo failed to convert any of its three opportunities with the man advantage in Thursday's 4-0 loss to the Dallas Stars, dropping the special teams unit to 0 for 13 on the new season. It's been a constant source of frustration since assistant coach Seth Appert took over leadership of the PP two years ago.
Sabres fans have grown tired of the group's ineffective performance, often booing while the team struggled to generate consistent offensive zone time while on the power play against Dallas.
Head coach Lindy Ruff admitted there's additional pressure while trying to work out the PP problems on home ice in front of an exasperated crowd, per Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald.
"It's a delicate place to be because you don't want them squeezing the sticks. You got to keep working at the things you think is going to make it effective. And to a man, we've been putting the extra time, trying to make sure we got this figured out, and how to solve pressure, the effort to get loose pucks back."Sabres HC Lindy Ruff
When Buffalo opened training camp, Appert explained the coaching staff had received a 50-plus page report from the analytics department about potential power-play solutions based on an NHL-wide review of what makes teams successful in those situations.
You wouldn't know it from watching the team's first four games.
The Sabres are still using the same, tired drop pass in the neutral zone in an attempt to gain entry of the attacking zone. It creates a logjam at the blue line and, in many cases, the opponent is able to regain control of the puck almost instantly.
When the Blue and Gold do get set up in the zone, there's still not nearly enough movement. Too many players end up standing in one spot, often along the wall or too high in the zone to find themselves in realistic shooting range. Any changes have been negligible.
Typically, a power play can even be useful if a goal isn't scored. It can turn the momentum by generating some persistent zone time. If nothing else, it should give a team that's struggling, as Buffalo was against Dallas, to get their bearings for a couple minutes.
That just isn't the case for the Sabres. In fact, their power play often has the opposite effect. The aggravation from the completely unproductive 5-on-4 minutes frequently seeps into the team's normally strong 5-on-5 metrics.
Here's the bottom line: Ruff and Co. will probably struggle to keep pace in the loaded Eastern Conference if the power play ranks near the bottom of the league all season.
As the staff desperate tries to find a solution, let's check out the latest installment of our Sabres player grades series after the club's lackluster showing on Thursday night.
Buffalo Sabres fail to deliver in lopsided loss to the Dallas Stars
Sabres Player Grades
Player | Grade (1-10) |
|---|---|
Owen Power | 6.5 |
Rasmus Dahlin | 6.5 |
Tage Thompson | 6 |
Beck Malenstyn | 6 |
Peyton Krebs | 5.5 |
Jiri Kulich | 5.5 |
Olen Zellweger | 5.5 |
Zach Benson | 5 |
Jack Quinn | 5 |
Mattias Samuelsson | 5 |
Josh Doan | 4.5 |
Justin Danforth | 4.5 |
Ryan McLeod | 4 |
Konsta Helenius | 3.5 |
Noah Ostlund | 3 |
Louis Crevier | 3 |
Josh Norris | 3 |
Zach Metsa | 2.5 |
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 2 |
Buffalo Player of the Game: Nobody
If memory serves, the Sabres played 95 games last season (82 regular season and 13 playoffs) and we selected a Player of the Game for every one. Most of the time at least one or two players put together a strong performance, even if the team as a whole has an off night.
That simply wasn't the case against a strong Stars squad on Thursday.
Buffalo didn't generate much in the way of high-danger scoring chances and, on its best two of the night, Zach Benson whacked two close-range shots right into the pads of Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger, who pitched a 26-save shutout.
The Sabres blocked just eight shots, and captain Rasmus Dahlin had half of them. The power play faltered again, and the penalty kill, one of the club's strengths last season, gave up another goal, dropping to 28th in the league at 63.6% in the early going.
It was a forgettable outing from top to bottom. The coaching staff should quickly put it in the rearview mirror and shift focus to Saturday's clash with the Utah Mammoth.
Sabres Quick Hits
- Noah Ostlund went 0 for 9 on faceoffs. His line with Benson and Jack Quinn has been thriving, but that's one problem that could eventually force them apart.
- Beck Malenstyn was one of the few players to at least show consistent energy en route to dishing out a game-high five hits.
- Konsta Helenius has been quiet since his goal in the season opener. Josh Doan remained silent.
- Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's save percentage stands at .782 through three games. Colten Ellis should receive a few starts in a row while the Sabres await Alex Lyon's return from injury.
- Buffalo and Utah are scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET faceoff Saturday night at the KeyBank Center.
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