Error: Contact form not found.
AIDAN POLLARD
Special to the Leader
The Buffalo Sabres are currently 2-5-2 three weeks into the NHL regular season.
The Sabres faced off against the Golden Knights, Canucks and Bruins this week. They were beaten by both the Golden Knights and the Canucks, and the games against the Bruins and the Golden Knights both went into overtime.
The Sabres are currently having a clear offensive problem with the team lacking in shots in most games.
The Sabres are falling into the trap that most of the NHL is buying into right now, which is playing their offense to search for a clean shot rather than fire at the net every time there’s a clear line to the goalie. Offensive hockey is all about puck pressure and being able to connect on rebound shots, but that can’t happen when a team plays offense like it’s soccer.
The Sabres goaltending also leaves a lot to be desired. The Sabres keep losing in high-scoring games; they’ve already let up six goals in games against the Islanders and the Devils, and this week every game had at least four goals against them. If you have a team that won’t shoot and can’t keep the other team from scoring, there’s no realistic way to save the team and certainly no way to get into the playoffs without some heavy adjustments. Evander Kane is not a strong enough star player for the Sabres to rely on him solely, which means they need to adjust the offense so that it works more as a force, with a lot more shots and rebounds.
The Sabres are seventh of eight in the Atlantic division and only have a record better than the
Canadiens in the entire Eastern Conference.
The Sabres are also letting far too many games go into overtime. They need to focus on keeping leads when they have them and not falling back on offense just because they’re ahead. It’s all too common for a team to be able to come back quickly from a three-goal deficit. The Sabres, themselves, just barely did it against the Bruins, so it should be pretty clear for the Sabres to keep their offense firing on all cylinders throughout entire games.
There’s also something to be said for letting defense slack off when a team is in the lead, and the Sabres are letting far too many goals in per game to allow defense to slack off. Their goaltending isn’t strong enough to rely on, just like Evander Kane isn’t strong enough to rely on alone.
The Sabres need to start putting their team together to work as a unit because there’s nobody strong enough to carry the team. If they can keep lines even-tempered and always firing, there’s a much better chance that the Sabres can get their record out of the garbage and start working as a team that at least isn’t a write-off.
The Sabres are playing against the Red Wings, The Blue Jackets and the Sharks this week, and hopefully they’ll be able to pull together a couple of wins.