Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-29-2019
Prior to Sunday the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills had a combined 14-3-1 record and both were in great spots moving forward--the Sabres were atop the NHL and the Bills were second in their division, squarely in a wild card spot. After this last night both were still in solid spots but a little shine taken off of their armor. The Sabres went 1-1-1 over a three-game stint from Thursday to Monday while the Bills ran into a road grader in the form of the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday who beat them 31-13 in Buffalo.
The Bills couldn't handle an Eagles team that was embarrassed the week before in Dallas. Philadelphia came to Buffalo with their backs against the wall in a fight for their playoff life and used an NFC East-style running game led by a big and mean offensive line to plow their way to 218 rushing yards and three touchdowns. After the game, Eagles running back Jordan Howard was quoted by the as saying, "We were able to wear their defense down. You could tell at the end of the game that they really didn't want to tackle us."
Having said that, you couldn't place the blame fully on the Bills defense as the offense sputtered. Once Buffalo fell behind they were throwing the ball more, getting nowhere in the process, and eventually the Eagles just ground them down as evidenced by a very lopsided 35:57 to 24:03 time of possession in favor of Philadelphia.
Last night the Sabres blew a two-goal lead to the Arizona Coyotes and lost 3-2 in the shootout. It was the third time this season they'd done that at home with all three going past regulation. Buffalo beat Montreal 5-4 in overtime and two nights later beat Florida 3-2 in the shootout. As they're finding out, you can't keep going to that well and expect to come out on top every time.
The Sabres jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner. Both were beauties in their own right as Eichel, who was celebrating his 23rd birthday, lasered one past 'Yotes goalie Darcy Kuemper on the powerplay and Skinner finished off a sweet rush that saw him finish a perfect pass from Marcus Johansson with a one-timer.
Buffalo was playing exactly the way they wanted in the first but Arizona's Conor Garland snuck one past Carter Hutton on a sharp angle with just over a minute left in the period to make it 2-1. Garland found a small opening as Hutton was hugging the post and banked it in off of him. Arizona would tack on another in the second period as Carl Soderberg's tip on the powerplay went high in the air and bounced off of Hutton's back and into the net to tie the score.
The differences in those two goals might indicate that the 'Yotes were more lucky than anything to get the tie, but the Sabres simply didn't get the job done. Head coach Ralph Krueger said that his team got off to a good start but said that they lost their energy level and "seemed to be digging deep the whole rest of the game."
"We fell back on our heels," the coach told the gathered media post-game. "We knew they were going to be a hardworking team and they were going to come at us hard, and they were just relentless right through the game with that."
Arizona outshot Buffalo 44-26 in regulation and even after blowing a 2-0 lead, the Sabres smacked two shots off the post in overtime and Casey Mittelstadt just missed on a backhand from in tight in the closing seconds of 3-on-3 play. Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Mittelstadt were all stopped in the shootout and the Sabres dropped to 9-2-2 on the season.
In looking at both the Bills and the Sabres, most feel that their hot starts are due to soft schedules. The Bills have played only one team with a winning record so far (New England) and they lost that one while the Sabres have played some good teams but haven't faced off against the cream of their own conference (Tampa Bay, Washington, Boston and Toronto) or the Western Conference (Colorado, Vegas and even hot Edmonton and Vancouver clubs.)
That's not to take away from anything either team has accomplished to date, as good teams beat those they're supposed to, but rather it's a call to add to the strong foundations that both teams have.
Credit to both general managers--the Bills Brandon Beane and the Sabres Jason Botterill--for building a strong foundation on both clubs but, for different reasons, they need to add a piece or two to their teams.
The NFL trade deadline is today and the Bills have a number of holes which include defensive tackle and a pass rusher as well as an impact player at wide receiver. Depth is a problem at interior defensive line as the team lost Harrison Phillips for the season in Game-3. The good part about needing interior line help is that they usually don't cost much. Buffalo uses a rotational scheme so an Aaron Donald-type impact tackle isn't an absolute necessity (although it would be nice,) and they can get by with a solid DT that probably won't cost more than a fifth or sixth round draft pick. And Bills have five of those in 2020--two fifths and three sixths.
What they really could use is a difference maker on offense. Most feel that wide receiver is the place to target, and they'd be right in going after an A.J. Green-type player if available. However they've also been linked to disgruntled San Diego Chargers running back Melvin Gordon who looks to be on the move today.
Most ask the question, why a running back when they have a veteran in Frank Gore and a rookie in Devin Singletary that looks like he has what it takes to make an impact?
For as much as the 36 yr. old Gore tugs at our heart strings with exceptional play for a player of his age, no team is going to game-plan for him and Singletary is coming off of an injury and for some reason he hasn't gained the complete trust of offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. After that there's no one of significance.
Gordon is a pending unrestricted free agent that teams would need to game-plan for and probably wouldn't cost much to acquire, maybe a mid to lower round pick or some combination that wouldn't include a first or second.
The Bills need to do something now to bolster their team for a shot at making the playoffs for only the second time this century. Although their schedule the rest of the way isn't tough by any stretch of the imagination, they still need to add players to solidify they're hold on a wild card spot.
It's still early in the season for the Sabres but there's no reason for Botterill to get complacent. It's easy to understand why he stood pat the last two seasons while his team was faltering. Neither the 2017-18 edition of the Sabres nor last year's team really seemed to have the makings of a playoff team so he let the chips fall where they may. His team finished in last place and 27th respectively. That said, this year is different.
Botterill did some nice work on his roster dating back to the trade for defenseman Brandon Montour in February. He followed that up by trading for two more defenseman--Colin Miller and Henri Jokiharju--as well as forward Jimmy Vesey and signed forward Johansson to a free agent deal over the summer. It was a big influx of talent and depth for the club and when added to what they already had, the Sabres have themselves the makings of a playoff contender.
However, despite the fine work Krueger has done with this club and the effort on the part of his players, talent eventually makes all the difference in the world and the Sabres have some holes to fill with the biggest one being a top-six forward.
Johansson has done way more than expected as Buffalo's No. 2 center and has developed great chemistry with Skinner. However Botterill still has a plugger on their right side and for as well as Vladimir Sobotka has been playing while being the defensive forward on that line, they need a huge upgrade. Whether it's bringing in a No. 2 center and moving Johansson back to the wing or bringing in a top-two winger to plug in on either of the top lines, they need one and they should probably get one sooner rather than later.
The Sabres can get by (for now) with the bottom two lines as constructed although the injury to Vesey has shown just how little depth they really have and how vulnerable they are, and something like that can be addressed at the trade deadline rather inexpensively. But before any downturn takes hold, and there will be a time when the team is struggling mightily, they need to get their hands on a top-six forward.
Both the Sabres and the Bills are at different parts of their season and they both have different needs. If the Bills want to do something 4 p.m. today is their last chance and if the Sabres want to stay ahead of things, getting something done now to bolster their team is much better than waiting until it's too late and/or too expensive.
Both teams need to make a move.
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