The Buffalo Sabres struggled through another shutout loss on Saturday night against the Dallas Stars, and one costly penalty didn’t help.
A stellar performance from goaltender Alex Lyon didn’t translate his strong play into goals at the other end of the ice. It resulted in a 2-0 loss for Buffalo. And it was a game when the Blue and Gold didn’t play their strongest hockey.
What’s worse? Buffalo had a chance to win the game late. But Jiri Kulich took a tripping penalty at 14:54. The Sabres stifled Dallas’ power play, only for Zach Benson to commit one of the worst penalties to date in this young season.
Benson ran into Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger at 18:39, which drew an interference call. That was a penalty that could have, and should have, been avoided.
Head coach Lindy Ruff was furious following the contest. Via Justin Alpert of Sabres.com, Ruff offered his blunt take: “It’s a stupid penalty at a time of the game where we had them in their end, we’re 6-on-5 and we’re going to get a couple looks.”
Benson’s penalty didn’t cost Buffalo the game. The Sabres cost themselves the game. But in a clutch moment like that, Ruff is correct. That was a bad penalty and a bad decision from Benson.
Penalties, Or Lack Thereof, Played A Role In The Sabres’ Last Two Games
This is the second time in as many games that Ruff was left fuming because of penalties. On Thursday, he criticized the officiating for missing a call that would have sent Anton Frondell of the Chicago Blackhawks into the penalty box.
Instead, the officials missed the interference on Sabres defenseman Owen Power, and Blackhawks forward Ryan Donato won the game for Chicago.
On Saturday, the opposite occurred. Benson committed a blatant penalty, got caught in the act, and Stars forward Wyatt Johnston iced the game for Dallas. It was a mixture of awful luck on Thursday and poor decision-making on Saturday.
Still, as was the case on Thursday, Buffalo didn’t need to put itself in those situations to start with. Both games featured horrific play in the offensive zone.
Lack Of Offensive Prowess Has Let Penalties And No-Calls Decide Games
One can blame the no-call against Chicago and Benson’s ill-timed penalty against Dallas for Buffalo losing their last two games. But as noted earlier, the Sabres did this to themselves.
They scored twice against the second-worst team in the league on Thursday, before leaving whatever offense was left behind them in Chicago for Saturday’s contest.
That came following a 4-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Nov. 8 and an eye-popping 8-3 loss on Nov. 11 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The season is still young, but Sunday, Nov. 15, marks a month and a half since the Sabres opened 2026-27 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Trends start solidifying this time of year.
For Buffalo, their most recent trends have involved inconsistent play and a lack of awareness in their game. They will get a chance to fix things on Tuesday, Nov. 17, against the Philadelphia Flyers.
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