Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-19-2018
The Sabres have a practice scheduled for 4:30 pm ET today and it will be the last one before they play back-to-back games in Southern California this weekend. Buffalo plays the Los Angeles Kings tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 ET and will finish their five-game road trip on Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks. After a shutout against the Arizona Coyotes to start their season-long trip, the Sabres have dropped the last two games by a combined 9-2 score.
There were very few bright spots in those two losses against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday and the San Jose Sharks last night. One of them was goalie Carter Hutton who was just short of brilliant in net despite giving up seven goals on 66 shots against. Sure the .894 save percentage doesn't look like much, but when you look at the tape, things could have been a lot worse.
One of the big problems haunting the Sabres right now, obviously, is scoring. The Sabres have dropped to a familiar spot in the rankings as their 1.86 goals/game ranks second-last in the league (ARI.) In three of the past five years, including last season, Buffalo has finished at the bottom of the league in scoring and once again they find themselves near the bottom of the league.Whether you're looking at the analytics or having this futility burned into your skull using the eye-test, the results are the same. Buffalo can't score 5v5, nor can they score on the powerplay.
Even strength scoring has been a problem for years and it looked as if Sabres GM Jason Botterill added enough skill to at least move the scoring needle for his team. It has moved at times but their four losses have been brutal as Buffalo has scored three goals in those games with the powerplay literally non-existent in those losses.
In 2016-17 the Sabres boasted the best powerplay in the league (24.5%) but last season it faltered, especially at the beginning of the season when the PP took a dive to 30th in the league in November and December. Buffalo managed to finish 22nd in the league at an 18/3% conversion rate but most of that headway came in the second half when the season was pretty much over.
This season began with a 4-0 shutout loss at the hands of the Boston Bruins. Buffalo went 0/2 on the powerplay. In their next three losses the Sabres scored one goal in each game going 0/7 in a 6-1 loss vs. Colorado, 0/6 in a 4-1 loss at Vegas and 0/5 in a 5-1 loss last night at San Jose. Add it all up and the Sabres have scored zero powerplay goals on 20 opportunities in their four losses.
There was dreadful special teams play on the penalty kill last night as well. The Sabres came into the game having killed 15/20 penalties and their 75% kill-rate ranked them tied for 19th in the league. Not great, but not abysmal either and they were facing a Sharks team that had converted only two of 21 powerplay opportunities (9.5%.) Last night San Jose scored on their first two opportunities courtesy of a double-minor and finished the night 3/7. Buffalo's generosity in giving the Sharks powerplay opportunities was only exceeded by their PK units which for some reason allowed San Jose players to leisurely camp in front of Hutton.
Buffalo seemed to correct one of their problems from Vegas as they came out against San Jose with a sense of urgency. That was quickly dashed as they were put on the defensive when veteran Kyle Okposo went the penalty box 1:45 into the game. It was the beginning of a long night for Okposo who may have had his worst game as a Sabre. The stat-line of six penalty minutes and a minus-1 rating in 8:28 of even-strength ice time was bad enough, but he looked lost and/or indecisive much of the night on the Sabres first powerplay unit as well.
Okposo wasn't the only one as there were many individual culprits, but one of the big set backs to taking penalties, in addition to giving the team a powerplay, is that defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is kept pinned to the bench because he's not on the kill. At only 18 yrs. old Dahlin is already showing why he's considered a franchise defenseman. And he does it with all the little things he does using the tremendous skills he has and playing the game with the poise of a veteran.
With the way the powerplay has struggled, Housley may be forced to make changes to it and one of those would likely be to get Dahlin on that top unit. Captain Jack Eichel can create a lot of space and handle the puck extremely well but in last night's contest he was double-teamed constantly and didn't receive much help from the rest of his unit. Ristolainen and Okposo man the points but they don't seem to put fear into the opposition to relieve the pressure. Dahlin's vision, skating and passing ability, especially opposite Eichel on the right point, might be just enough to open up the ice and get this powerplay going.
Other than that, those in Sabreland shouldn't expect too many changes this weekend unless an overabundance of injuries are involved. Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu took a shot to the arm in the third period last night, struggled for a bit while finishing his shift and didn't return. Sabres d-man Zach Bogosian blocked eight shots last night including one that really stung, but he was well enough to rumble at the final buzzer. And, for those expecting Buffalo to fly Rochester Americans forward Victor Olofsson or fellow winger Alexander Nylander to the west coast to help the Sabres scoring woes, it's best not to get your hopes up. Any movements like that will probably take place when Buffalo returns home next week, if it happens at all.
Can the Sabres rectify all the issues they have in one Friday afternoon practice? If they can at least work on their special teams, maybe by working in Dahlin on the powerplay, that would help. As a team that's struggling mightily any positive would help their confidence. The Sabres have some skilled players, more than they had last season, but it takes more than just adding skill to turn around a last place team. The ills that begot the Sabres last season are creeping into their game this season and Buffalo's No. 1 priority should be to do everything in their power to keep this thing from getting out of hand.
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