The Buffalo Sabres haven't looked like the club that took the NHL by storm last season. Their previously high-flying offense has struggled to score consistently and their goaltending, which ranked among the league's best in 2025-26, has been a major weakness early on.
Yet, despite having secured just 11 points (4-4-3 record) through 11 games, Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin remains hopeful a turnaround is coming for his team.
"We got one point today, and now we're going to Cali," Dahlin told reporters after Saturday night's overtime loss to the Washington Capitals ahead of a West Coast trip. "It's going to be fun. We've just got to keep working and I'm sure it will get better here."
Buffalo was 11-14-4 through 29 games last season before going on one of the best runs in NHL history to skyrocket up the standings. It finished with the league's fourth-best point total at 109.
The Sabres made hockey look easy at times during that months-long hot streak, but everything has felt difficult so far in 2026-27. They've made a habit of falling behind early in games and, when they do build a rare lead (they were up 2-0 on the Capitals), they've struggled to hold it.
No single performance so far has matched the effectiveness the Blue and Gold displayed on pretty much a nightly basis from December through April last season.
"I feel like we start strong and then we kind of feel good about the first period," Dahlin said. "We've got to remember it's 60 minutes and we have to push every single shift and it's not going to be easy."
Although the underlying numbers are decent — Buffalo is 14th in 5-on-5 expected goal share (52.7%), according to HockeyStats.com — a combination of poor play from its goalies, a lack of secondary scoring and completely ineffective special teams has been too much to overcome.
The talent is there, and there's reason to believe the Sabres could take off once their young players grow into new roles following the offseason departures of Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram. But the margin for error is minimal is an immensely strong Eastern Conference.
So, the pressure is going to keep building on Dahlin and Co. until they're able to start stacking wins on a more regular basis.
For now, let's check out the newest breakdown from our Sabres player grades series after coming up short Saturday against the Caps.
Buffalo Sabres blow early lead in frustrating loss to the Washington Capitals
Sabres Player Grades
Player | Grade (1-10) |
|---|---|
Rasmus Dahlin | 7.5 |
Jack Quinn | 7 |
Josh Doan | 6.5 |
Noah Ostlund | 6.5 |
Zach Benson | 6 |
Owen Power | 6 |
Mattias Samuelsson | 5.5 |
Beck Malenstyn | 5.5 |
Konsta Helenius | 5 |
Ryan McLeod | 5 |
Olen Zellweger | 5 |
Peyton Krebs | 4.5 |
Tage Thompson | 4.5 |
Tyson Kozak | 4 |
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 3.5 |
Josh Norris | 3 |
Jason Zucker | 2 |
Louis Crevier | 2 |
Dennis Gilbert | 1.5 |
Buffalo Player of the Game: Rasmus Dahlin
Dahlin has a tendency to open seasons a bit slow and that's mostly been the case this year, too. He was off to an up-and-down start before missing three games with an upper-body injury and his first game back against the Philadelphia Flyers was underwhelming.
Saturday's performance against the Caps was a step in the right direction.
The 26-year-old defenseman was a lot more active with the puck and his skating looked more fluid after an outing against Philly where he still looked below full strength. He was rewarded with an assist on Noah Ostlund's game-tying goal in the third period.
Dahlin still needs to do a much better job protecting the puck (five giveaways vs. Washington) but it's a promising sign that he looked a little more like himself in his second game back. He'll try to build off that during the West Coast trip.
Sabres Quick Hits
- Although the line of Ostlund, Jack Quinn and Zach Benson has been Buffalo's best trio by far, head coach Lindy Ruff may have to split them up to generate more production throughout the lineup.
- Like Dahlin, Josh Doan is trending up after a forgettable start to the campaign.
- Tage Thompson failed to register a single shot on goal for the first time since Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens in the playoffs, a stretch of 16 games.
- What are the Sabres going to do with Josh Norris, who's failed to make a meaningful offensive impact so far? There may not be a perfect answer.
- Louis Crevier looked strong throughout training camp and the preseason, leading Buffalo to re-sign him following his offseason arrival from the Chicago Blackhawks, but he's been unable to find his footing since the regular season began.
- The Sabres are back in action Tuesday night (10:30 p.m. ET) when they visit the SAP Center to take on the San Jose Sharks (6-5-1).
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