Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-8-2019
Buffalo Sabres goalie Carter Hutton was at a loss for words last night after their 6-5 overtime loss last night against the Vancouver Canucks, but one of the words he kept circling back to was "frustrating." Last night was the first time in six games the Sabres lost when scoring five or more goals and Hutton was in net for only one (last night) of the last four times Buffalo lit the lamp that much. "It's seems right now it's a little bit here/there now changes the game," he told the gathered media last night as me he manned-up post game and faced questions, "and the nights I'm playing well we don't find the back of the net."
True, to a point. Hutton is 0-5-4 since his last win on October 22 and during this woeful stretch the team scored two or less in six of them which includes being shut out once and being held to one goal on two other occasions. However, the burn actually comes when two of his losses came on overtime when his team scored four goals at home against the Carolina Panthers and five goals yesterday evening at Vancouver.
Hutton's nine-game winless streak is weighing heavily on him, you can see it in his struggles to make saves, or even position himself properly, and hear it in his voice post-game. That interview last night was about as depressing as it gets from a guy who's normally very positive, but it's not surprising when you have a 3.99 GAA and .875 SV% underscoring an rough-and-rocky 0-5-4 winless streak.
Generally speaking, the Sabres skating in front of both Hutton and Linus Ullmark are leaving it all on the ice and have been doing their best to beat down this ugly door that's blocking their path to consistent success. Head coach Ralph Krueger's club is slowly pulling out of an early November rut that saw them go 1-7-1 through the first three weeks of the month but have had too much "here/there" to win two games in a row. From November 24 onward Buffalo has gone 3-2-3 giving them enough points to somehow remain in third place in the Atlantic Division.
Buffalo's goalies aren't fully to blame as the skaters have had their fair share of struggles in all three zones and have made some pretty egregious mistakes which have inevitably ended up in the back of their net. However, you can't fault them for their effort. Last night was a prime example as they overcame deficits of two-goals, twice and one goal once to force overtime with the game-tying goal coming with just under a minute to play. The game at Vancouver was the Sabres eighth game in the last 14 days.
Buffalo is in the midst of what Krueger called "21 games to Christmas" which began after they returned home from participating in the 2019 Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden. The condensed schedule has them playing a packed, 21-game schedule in a span of 37 days which included five games in seven nights, their present three-game Western Canada swing and only three sets of two days off between games during this grind. Krueger has been doing his best to coach the team through this tough stretch and generally speaking they've done fairly well despite injuries and inconsistencies.
The Sabres are in Edmonton, Alberta this afternoon for the second game of a back-to-back to complete their road trip as they face off against a Pacific Division-leading Oilers team boasting the top two point producers in the NHL, Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. The Sabres are 6-4-0 in their last 10 meetings at Roger's Place in Edmonton. After that they return home to take on Ryan O'Reilly and the defending Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues and the Nashville Predators on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.
One would assume that Ullmark will be in net for Buffalo this afternoon and they might just need a herculean effort from him to salvage this trip.
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