The last thing the Buffalo Sabres wanted entering their first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins was a high-hit matchup with a bunch of penalty minutes, tons of faceoffs and a lot of pressure on goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to outplay counterpart Jeremy Swayman.
Well, two games in, that's exactly what Buffalo is dealing with. Boston head coach Marco Sturm laid the bait before the series by saying his team was "bigger, stronger [and] more physical" and the Sabres fell for it hook, line and sinker.
This series is being played on the Bruins' terms and, aside from a six-minute surge late in Game 1, the Sabres are struggling to break through an opponent that's more than willing to sit back in a defensive posture and wait for Buffalo to make mistakes after getting frustrated.
It's worked to perfection for the B's, who've already generated a handful of breakaways from a Blue and Gold group trying to aggressively push forward offensively.
It's become a series where the Sabres' weakest points — a 20th-ranked power play that's scoreless in its last 31 attempts, a faceoff group that finished last in the NHL during the regular season (45.9%) and an inexperienced postseason goalie in Luukkonen — are at the forefront of the battle.
Head coach Lindy Ruff admitted the coaching staff has to head back to the drawing board with the power play, which has been woefully short on solutions since assistant coach Seth Appert took control of the special-teams unit before last season.
"I think we'll have to tweak some things," Ruff told reporters. "I think if you look at the last power play, we went with a little bit of a different look. We had some personnel that was missing, but we had a scheme that we thought maybe would work a little bit better. And I like the amount of shots we generated. Still, some of our execution, some of our puck play hasn't been good enough."
Meanwhile, Buffalo's biggest advantage, its 5-on-5 edge over Boston, is severely neutralized when there's a constant parade to the penalty box. It also leads to things like Tage Thompson taking a 10-minute misconduct as part of a fracas, and now your biggest offensive threat is off the ice for an extended period while trying to mount a third-period comeback.
The Sabres are playing the Bruins' game, and they're lucky the series is tied as it shifts to TD Garden in Boston, where the B's have been one of the NHL's best home clubs this season.
Buffalo needs to change its approach. Stop hunting hits, stop taking stupid penalties after the whistle and stop settling for long-range, low-danger shots.
The more time this series spends at even strength, the better the Sabres' chances of winning will become. If there's a cheap shot taken at a teammate, respond. Otherwise, the focus needs to shift away from being the tougher team on the ice. Get back to playing like the better team.
If Buffalo allows Boston to keep dictating the terms of engagement, its long-awaited return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs is going to reach a premature conclusion.
For now, let's jump into the latest installment of our Sabres playoff player grades series following the team's frustrating Game 2 loss.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen falters as Boston Bruins level first-round series against Buffalo Sabres
Sabres player grades
Player | Grade (1-10) |
|---|---|
Bowen Byram | 8 |
Beck Malenstyn | 7.5 |
Jordan Greenway | 7 |
Peyton Krebs | 7 |
Zach Benson | 6.5 |
Rasmus Dahlin | 6.5 |
Alex Tuch | 6 |
Alex Lyon | 6 |
Conor Timmins | 5.5 |
Owen Power | 5.5 |
Tage Thompson | 5 |
Josh Doan | 5 |
Ryan McLeod | 4.5 |
Mattias Samuelsson | 4.5 |
Jason Zucker | 4 |
Logan Stanley | 4 |
Josh Norris | 4 |
Jack Quinn | 3.5 |
Josh Dunne | 3 |
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 1 |
Buffalo Player of the Game: Bowen Byram
The Sabres leaned heavily on their top-four defense group of Byram, Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson and Owen Power to help create offense throughout the regular season, but the Bruins have done a solid job of keeping that quartet quiet early in the series.
Dahlin, a Norris Trophy candidate, has failed to make much of an impact at all and Power has been one of Buffalo's most silent players. Samuelsson did play well in Game 1, and it was Byram who stood out among the defensemen in Game 2.
The former Colorado Avalanche standout did a nice job corralling loose pucks in the neutral zone with Boston playing a conservative style of chipping the puck out defensively, and he was also one of Buffalo's most active players trying to create different looks on the struggling power play.
Byram was eventually rewarded with a third-period goal as the Sabres attempted to make another miraculous comeback, but this time they come up short.
Buffalo needs more offense from its blueliners, especially Dahlin, for the remainder of the series.
Sabres quick hits
- Luukkonen's play in Game 1 was a concern. His performance in Game 2 was a disaster. He stopped just 15 of the Bruins' 19 shots before getting pulled early in the third period. His save percentage through two games is an untenable .821.
- Alex Lyon, who stopped all seven shots in relief, should start Game 3 for Buffalo.
- Jordan Greenway has showcased more energy in the past two games than he did over the last two seasons combined.
- Peyton Krebs is working hard and scored the Sabres' second goal on Tuesday night, but his presence on the first line shows the club's desperate need for another high-scoring winger in the offseason.
- Buffalo's large group of secondary scorers isn't generating enough high-danger looks.
- Josh Dunne, who's in the lineup mostly for his faceoff ability, won just two of his 10 draws in Game 2. It's probably time to shake up the forward group with the return of Noah Ostlund, which could send Dunne to the press box.
- The Sabres will look to get back on track Thursday night (7 p.m. ET) as the series shifts to TD Garden in Boston for Game 3.
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