Sabres wrap: Pegula's words are meaningless as club hits last in East after 6-1 loss in Montreal
General Manager Kevyn Adams was reportedly told Monday he was safe. If that's the case – and it's a shaky one at best – then these players better have their phones by their sides during Wednesday's off day. It would be incomprehensible for the Sabres to make no roster moves in the wake of this...
So much for Terry Pegula being some great orator. Now what does he do?
Whatever the owner said in the Buffalo Sabres' dressing room Monday stayed there when the players were asked about it Tuesday. That's probably a good thing.
The message clearly fell on deaf ears as Pegula's team, reportedly pumped up by the we're-with-you-boys chat from its owner, put out one of the most embarrassing displays in franchise history.
The Sabres' winless streak reached new lows Tuesday night in the Bell Centre as the Montreal Canadiens got a goal 19 seconds into the game from Joel Armia and three power-play goals from sniper Patrik Laine to embarrass the Sabres, 6-1.
Montreal Canadiens' Joel Armia scores against Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen during the first period in Montreal, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024.
(Graham/The Canadian Press via AP)
The bottom lines are these:
• The Sabres are 0-8-3 in their last 11 games.
• They are now in last place in the Eastern Conference at 11-17-4, one point behind the mega-rebuilding Canadiens (12-16-3).
• They are 30th overall in the NHL, ahead of only Chicago and Nashville.
General Manager Kevyn Adams was reportedly told Monday he was safe. If that's the case – and it's a shaky one at best – then these players better have their phones by their sides during Wednesday's off day. It would be incomprehensible for the Sabres to make no roster moves in the wake of this disaster.
Every aspect of the Sabres' game is deficient at this point. They continue to refuse to shoot in the offensive zone, take bad penalties at the worst times and panic at the first signs of adversity. And it was a rough night for goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who was pulled after giving up six goals on 21 shots in the first two periods.
Oddly enough, the Sabres were in a 2-0 hole after one period that could have been much worse were it not for Luukkonen's game in the opening 20 minutes.
The opening shift was a disaster as Montreal's Jake Evans broke in alone, couldn't beat Luukkonen, but saw the puck hit a referee and go past Owen Power right to Armia, who had a layup for a 1-0 Montreal lead after 19 seconds.
The Sabres had scored first in six of the last seven games and lost them all so maybe there could be a different result here? Fat chance.
Ryan McLeod, playing nothing like the veteran who went to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final with Edmonton six months ago, gifted Josh Anderson a scoring chance a couple of minutes later but the Montreal winger hit the goalpost.
The Sabres spent the opening minutes running around in their own end and defending no one and appeared to fall behind, 2-0, on a Laine shot. Replays showed the puck hit the post and never entered the net but that was a temporary reprieve.
The shots on goal were 8-0 – and attempts were 20-1 – just over six minutes into the period. Zach Benson went off for holding at 6:06 and Laine got the goal to make it 2-0 with a one-timer at 6:27. He even did a referee-style good-goal point for emphasis.
The Sabres survived the rest of the period, with shots finishing at 11-3. And they started the second strong, with Dylan Cozens' shot from the slot cutting their deficit to 2-1 at 3:43.
But Juraj Slavkovsky killed any Buffalo rally with a bad goal, a bank shot off Luukkonen from beyond the goal line at 5:54 to make it 3-1. The Sabres fell apart from there, thanks to another parade to the penalty box.
Bo Byram went for slashing at 8:02 and Alex Tuch went for high sticking at 9:30. Fifteen seconds later, Laine blasted home another one-timer from the left circle on a two-man advantage to make it 4-1.
Cozens put the Sabres down two men again at 10:11 on a delay of game call by batting the puck out of the air and over the glass. It took Laine 44 seconds to capitalize on that one with another one-timer that made it 5-1 and brought the rain of hats from the Montreal crowd.
Anderson finished the scoring with a tap-in at 19:15.
The Sabres had a 5-on-3 in the third period and didn't score. Laine scored three power-play goals in the first 31 minutes – while Buffalo has three power-play tallies in its last 14 games.
So what's coming next Friday night? The Toronto Maple Leafs will be in KeyBank Center. With most of their fans in tow.
At least the Sabres don't have to worry about getting booed. Whatever fans they have left have likely sold their tickets.