Last season, the Buffalo Sabres had a power-play percentage of only 18.8% and that ranked 24th in the league. The team tried to make improvements to this group by bringing in players like Josh Doan, and that has worked to an extent, as he is currently tied for the team lead in power-play goals with two.
However, it hasn't been good enough, and outside of two games this season, the Sabres' power play unit has been downright bad. After the Blues game, the Sabres have a season power-play percentage of 17.8%, but over their past five games, they have only scored one power-play goal in 15 power-play opportunities.
The lack of goals isn't just the concern, but who they are struggling against during this stretch. In the game against the St. Louis Blues, they were 0-3, and the Blues currently rank 28th after allowing at least one power-play goal in eight of their prior nine games before the Sabres.
On Tuesday, the Sabres were 0 for 2 on power-play opportunities against a Utah Mammoth team that is 21st in the league. In fact, over the last five games, the only team that ranks in the Top 10 in penalty kill is the Boston Bruins, and coincidentally, that was the last team the Sabres scored a power-play goal against.
Injuries are certainly a factor for the Buffalo Sabres but that can't be the only excuse
The Buffalo Sabres are dealing with injuries and are without key players on the power-play unit, like Zach Benson and Jason Zucker. These two make a huge difference when on the ice, but that doesn't mean the performance can just get a pass over these past few games.
On Thursday against the St. Louis Blues, the Sabres had only five shots on goal across their three power-play opportunities, and Tage Thompson had only one of those five, while Rasmus Dahlin had none. Both players in this game had over four minutes of ice time with the man advantage.
It won't get any easier as they try to turn this around with the upcoming schedule. Over the next five games, four of them are against teams that rank in the top half of the league in penalty kill percentage. The only team that doesn't is the Utah Mammoth, who just shut down this power-play unit on Tuesday night.
The Sabres are going to need to figure something out, and it is going to have to come from their top players in Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin. Last season, these two combined for 12 power-play goals, but this season, through 14 games have only two.
The Sabres really need these two to start finding the net, or at the very least, start getting more shots on net with the man advantage to help give the Sabres a spark on their power play.