Are the Buffalo Sabres really this bad?
One night after losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-5 in overtime, the Sabres went into Columbus and lost decisively 6-4. They fell behind 2-0 early in the game and never had a lead. Every time the Sabres got within a goal of the Blue Jackets, Columbus had an answer to extend the lead.
Now the Sabres are 1-4-1 to start the season with a minus-seven goal differential, the worst in the Eastern Conference as of this writing. This has somehow been an even worse start than last season when the Sabres were 2-4 with a minus-five goal differential through six games.
What happened to the 2022-23 version of the Sabres? That roster full of promising young talent started that season 4-2 with a plus-eight goal differential. They raced out to a hot start, scored the third-most goals in the NHL and came within a point of qualifying for the playoffs. If you asked anybody in the hockey world at that point, the Sabres looked destined to break through and end their league-record playoff drought sooner rather than later.
And yet here they are now, six games into Kevyn Adams’ fifth season as general manager, and they look like they’ve stagnated. Adams didn’t add a top-six forward this offseason, even after the Sabres bought out Jeff Skinner. Before the season, Adams said of replacing the goals lost by Skinner’s departure: “I think part of that goes to the young core and the players we have who we believe will take steps. For me, the talent is there and now it’s, ‘How do we make sure we’re playing the right way and doing all of those little things that help our team improve and players improve individually?’ We feel confident that they will.”
So far, they haven’t. Dylan Cozens has one point in six games. Jack Quinn was a healthy scratch Thursday after one point in his first five games (more on that later). Zach Benson has been reliable away from the puck but doesn’t have a point in the five games he’s played while dealing with an injury since the start of the season.
Buffalo’s top line has been better by comparison. JJ Peterka and Tage Thompson have three goals each. Alex Tuch has two goals, though one was an empty-netter. That trio has a combined 14 points. Outside of Peterka, though, consistency has been an issue. Thompson had two shots on net against the Blue Jackets, but both came in the final minutes of the game. Tuch had zero shots on goal, took a careless penalty and missed the net on a prime scoring chance.
The biggest issue is the power play is now 0-for-17 to start the season. They’re one of three teams in the NHL without a power-play goal, and they also have the seventh-worst penalty kill percentage in the NHL. And in these back-to-back losses, their goaltending hasn’t been strong, either.
The season isn’t over after six games. And better goaltending in some games or better puck luck in others might make that 1-4-1 record look different. But the Sabres aren’t the type of team that has earned much benefit of the doubt. They can’t afford too slow of a start, because they haven’t yet proved they can overcome it over the course of a season. They don’t want to be spending the early part of the schedule just fighting to get back to .500.
This team is supposed to be built to win now. That’s what Adams said when he fired Don Granato and hired Lindy Ruff. Almost the entire roster is made up of players Adams either drafted, acquired or signed to a contract extension. Cozens, Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power and Mattias Samuelsson all already have long-term contracts. Outside of Thompson, none of them is playing up to their cap hit.
Ruff told reporters in Columbus after the game he thought the Blue Jackets came out stronger in 50-50 battles and the Sabres didn’t start competing harder until the second period. Dahlin said the Blue Jackets were hungrier. The Sabres didn’t have a shot on net in the first 10 minutes of the game.
Yes, the Sabres were playing the second half of a back-to-back, but urgency should not be an issue for a team already in a hole to start the season. Somehow, the Sabres are right back where they were at this time last year. They need to climb out of it before it gets any deeper, starting with their game Saturday in Chicago.
Jiři Kulich was one of the few bright spots for the Sabres in Columbus. (Russell LaBounty / Imagn Images)
Some takeaways from the loss in Columbus:
1. Jiři Kulich took advantage of his fresh legs and looked like Buffalo’s best player in this game. Though the rest of the team was slow to start, Kulich paced the Sabres with three shot attempts and two shots on net in the first period. In the second period, Kulich scored his first NHL goal with a heads-up deflection on a Cozens point shot that was going well wide of the net. He led the team with five shots on net, nine shot attempts and five individual scoring chances.
The Sabres are desperate for scoring, especially on the power play, and we know Kulich has a lot of potential there. Before the Sabres’ trip, Ruff said he really liked Kulich’s details away from the puck, too. Kulich has made a firm case to stay in the lineup.
2. Quinn was a healthy scratch for this game to make room for Kulich. Ruff pointed to puck management as an area Quinn needs to improve. He had an offensive-zone turnover that led to a goal in a loss to the Penguins on Wednesday.
The fact Quinn is a healthy scratch after just five games is alarming. He was supposed to be Buffalo’s breakout player this season after a fully healthy offseason. When healthy last season, he produced five-on-five offense at a healthy rate and had 19 points in 27 games. Now he has 1 point in five games and is minus-four.
We haven’t seen much speed or playmaking from him, and he’s been careless with the puck. Maybe sitting will snap Quinn out of his early-season slump. The Sabres better hope so, because they banked a lot of their offseason on his improvement.
3. The Sabres had a lot of problems in these back-to-back losses to Pittsburgh and Columbus. Goaltending was on the list. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen didn’t have his best game against the Penguins, allowing six goals in the overtime loss. That gave Devon Levi an opportunity to steal the net against the Blue Jackets. Instead, he played his worst game of the season, allowing six goals. Adam Fantilli’s goal to put the Blue Jackets up 3-1 came on a juicy rebound Levi allowed. The fifth goal Levi allowed was on an easy shot from the point that got tipped but was stoppable.
Like Luukkonen the night before, Levi didn’t make the key saves that helped give the Sabres a chance. The Sabres lost James Reimer on waivers before the season, so Luukkonen and Levi are their guys. The hope is this is just a rough patch for two promising goalies.
4. Samuelsson had an ugly turnover on a cross-ice breakout pass that led to the Blue Jackets’ second goal at the end of the first period. He’s struggled to start the season with some careless passes. He also took a bad penalty at the end of Buffalo’s loss to the Los Angeles Kings a week ago. The Sabres have a capable replacement in Dennis Gilbert who could push Samuelsson for ice time if his inconsistency continues.
5. Ryan McLeod scored his second goal in as many games and continues to look like a strong offseason acquisition for the Sabres. It’s fair to wonder whether he can play higher in the lineup or at least in more offensive situations. He’s leading the team in defensive zone starts and has been part of Buffalo’s steady third line. But his speed is also helping him generate offense.