It looks like the clock is getting close to striking midnight on the Buffalo Sabres this season.
After dropping a 4-1 decision to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Sabres followed it up with an embarrassing 8-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night. And while Buffalo briefly showed some life, pulling within a goal early in the third period, it didn’t take long for the wheels to come off.
Nikita Kucherov had other ideas.
The Lightning superstar scored three consecutive goals in the third period, turning what could have been an interesting finish into a complete rout. The Sabres looked completely deflated, and there wasn’t much of a response once things started going sideways.
That’s becoming a troubling theme for Buffalo. The team that ran away with the Atlantic Division last season is suddenly looking like a shadow of itself. The Sabres are now 4-4-2 in their last 10 games, have lost three of their last four, and are barely keeping their heads above water in a division that isn’t getting any easier.
Buffalo’s Inconsistency Is Showing Up at Both Ends of the Ice
Buffalo’s problems, unfortunately, are not just a one-off. Buffalo has struggled to find any consistency across the lineup, and the numbers are starting to reflect that.
The Sabres have scored just 53 goals through 18 games, averaging 2.94 per contest. Tage Thompson has done his part by scoring 11 goals and 20 points in 18 games. Jack Quinn is right behind with 17 points in 18 games, but then the scoring kind of drops off.
Zach Benson has two goals to go with 13 assists, and that’s pretty much it. Beyond Owen Power’s 14 points, the rest of the club just hasn’t scored. That’s a difficult way to win consistently in this league.
Things haven’t been much better defensively. Buffalo has surrendered 65 goals, giving it a minus-12 goal differential. The defensive breakdowns have been frequent, and the goaltending hasn’t done much to cover them up.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen entered Wednesday’s game with a .867 save percentage and a 3.51 goals-against average. He was pulled after allowing five goals on just 14 shots against Tampa Bay. Colten Ellis didn’t fare much better, giving up three goals on eight shots in relief.
With Alex Lyon still working his way back from an upper-body injury, Buffalo doesn’t have many reliable alternatives in goal at the moment. Lyon is expected to join the upcoming road trip, but the Sabres need some answers right now.
Sabres Don’t Seem to Have Any Answers to Their Problems
Perhaps the most alarming part of this entire discussion is that Buffalo doesn’t have a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency solution.
The departures of Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram are starting to look a lot worst that initially thought.. Tuch topped 30 goals last season. And beyond Thompson and Quinn, it doesn’t look like anyone is going to get closer.
As for Byram, yes, he’s been hurt this season. But the gap that he left in the Sabres’ blue line hasn’t quite been filled. And that’s something that has made it tough for the Sabres to keep themselves in games.
Make no mistake, Buffalo earned its Atlantic Division title last season. The organization deserves credit for putting together a team capable of winning the division for the first time since 2010.
However, that doesn’t mean the club can simply expect to carry that success forward. The competition is tougher, the margin for error is smaller, and the Sabres are quickly running out of runway to prove last season wasn’t a one-off.
An occasional bad game isn’t reason to panic. But losing three of four, struggling to get consistent scoring, and watching the goaltending unravel are problems that can’t be ignored.
The Sabres need to start finding answers pretty soon. Otherwise, when the clock strikes midnight, they’ll look like a giant pumpkin and that won’t sit well with their loyal fanbase.
Sabres Are Starting to Look Like a Pumpkin