Sabres thoughts: Lessons from Panthers’ reality check, Zach Benson’s promotion, more
The Sabres couldn't quite match up to a Florida team well-experienced in managing a playoff push late into the season.
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Along with the rest of the Sabres' top four, Owen Power played over 23 minutes against the Panthers.
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The Florida Panthers came into their game against the Buffalo Sabres without Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand, three of the most important players from last season’s Stanley Cup roster. But the Panthers have won back-to-back Stanley Cups because of more than just the big-name players. There’s a style of hockey they play — one a lot of teams around the league are trying to copy — that emphasizes competitiveness as the most necessary trait. When the Panthers are playing their game, they win races to pucks, compete hard in front of the net and play with a desperation that is difficult to match.
On Monday night, the Sabres couldn’t match it in a 4-3 loss. The Sabres, who hadn’t lost a home game since Nov. 28, came into the game having won 13 of their last 14 games. The Panthers, who are sitting outside of a playoff spot, had won just two games in their last six. But they played like a team that understands how to navigate a playoff push and scrap to get the necessary two points.
“They’re a two-time Stanley Cup champion and they know what it takes to win,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “They do a great job of protecting pucks, taking hits, keeping the puck on the wall. Don’t make a lot of big mistakes with the puck.”
Before the game, Panthers coach Paul Maurice was calm and collected in discussing his team’s struggles this season. He knows how wide open the Eastern Conference is. He also knows a big reinforcement is coming to his lineup when Tkachuk returns soon. But he also knows the Panthers have an established level of play that they are going to find eventually.
The Sabres have gotten a taste of that over the last 15 games. They won 13 of those by playing solid defensively, taking care of the puck and scoring timely goals. All of that dried up Monday. They allowed 16 high-danger chances at five-on-five, including 10 in the third period.
The margins are only going to get tighter from here on out. The Sabres have gotten comfortable in these types of games this season. They came into the game 7-0-4 in one-score games. With games against the Philadelphia Flyers, Montreal Canadiens and Minnesota Wild to close out the week, the Sabres will need to rely on that experience.
“There are going to be a lot of games just like that,” Ruff said.
Here’s what else we saw in Buffalo’s loss.
1. Zach Benson got bumped up to the top line and immediately provided a jolt. After Tage Thompson got a puck on net, Benson won a net-front battle and got the puck over the goal line for his fifth goal of the year. The Sabres don’t have a perfect answer for who should play top-line left wing next to Thompson and Josh Doan, but Benson seems like the best option. Buffalo is going to get dragged into more games like this one, where tight plays and net-front competitiveness will be at a premium. That’s the type of game in which Benson excels.
“That really is his game,” Ruff said. “His small-ice game is really good. He’s a guy that always gets around the net. He just got instantly rewarded.”
Benson is still struggling to score consistently, but his playmaking, defensive awareness and forechecking ability make him an impactful player in the Sabres lineup. Peyton Krebs had some strong moments on the top line, but that doesn’t feel like a long-term solution as the team tries to push for a playoff spot. Benson and Thompson worked late last season and it’s worth trying again.
2. On the Panthers’ fourth goal, an empty-netter, Mattias Samuelsson hit the ice hard and was down for a moment. Trainers checked on him on the bench, and Samuelsson was in the locker room after the game and seemed in good spirits. Ruff didn’t have an immediate update after the game.
But the injury scare underscores the delicate nature of Buffalo’s blue line at the moment. Again, the Sabres’ top four defensemen all played 23 minutes or more. Leaning on the top four as much as the Sabres have isn’t sustainable with how compressed and demanding the schedule is going to be. This team desperately needs Michael Kesselring back in the lineup. And more depth is needed in case any of those top four miss any time.
3. Owen Power may have shown some signs of fatigue in this game. He’s been playing better defensively since the winning streak began last month, but the Panthers’ go-ahead goal was an example of an area where he needs to bear down. Anton Lundell got a loose puck in front of the net during a scrambly play, and Power didn’t offer much resistance or intensity in trying to clear bodies or the puck out of the net-front area. That’s part of Power’s game that still needs to improve.
4. Buffalo’s power play continues to be a big problem. The team now has one power-play goal in its last 21 tries — and that goal went in off Jason Zucker’s back. In such a tight playoff race, the Sabres can’t afford to let the power play continue to cost them games.
