BUFFALO, N.Y. [WKBW] — Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for the Buffalo Sabres, it somehow has. On Tuesday, they lost 9-4 on home ice to the Columbus Blue Jackets, one of only eight teams with a worse record than the Sabres heading into the evening. Buffalo jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and then allowed the Blue Jackets to score the next seven goals before responding. With the loss the Sabres are now 13-17-3 on the season.
5 Observations from Tuesday's loss:
It's time to have a conversation:
These are the types of losses that get coaches fired. I don't think the Sabres have reached that point yet, but they are dangerously close. And quite frankly, if they did decide to fire their coach, who would blame them? The team has failed to meet expectations and Tuesday was perhaps rock bottom.
Kyle Okposo and Tage Thompson are not interested in blaming Dom Granato for the Sabres struggles @WKBW pic.twitter.com/oO8txS0Dac
— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) December 20, 2023
It starts at the top:
While coaching deserves plenty of blame, so does the roster assembled by GM Kevyn Adams. This summer he made essentially two additions to his roster with the free agent signings of Erik Johnson and Connor Clifton. Well, 33 games into their time in Buffalo, it has not gone well.
Many wondered why Adams didn't also try and add a piece of two offensively. The organization banked on internal growth and that decision has come back to bite them.
Kyle Okposo spoke after the game. Two of the first questions he was asked:
— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) December 20, 2023
What do you make of the chants from fans to fire the coach
and
Did this team quit? pic.twitter.com/vRlZPs9EYl
Need more star power:
Let's start with the top players. Tage Thompson has just eight goals in 24 games. Even with his injury, he's not even close to producing at the same level as last season. Same for Dylan Cozens, who has just six goals in 31 games. Yes, both players scored against Columbus, but this is more of a big-picture discussion. Perhaps the only players exceeding expectations are JJ Peterka [12 goals] and Kyle Okposo [six goals]. They need more from their star players and if they don't get it they won't ever string together wins.
Goaltending once against leaves more to be desired:
Let's be abundantly clear, the Sabres goaltending isn't the only reason why the team has struggled. But on Tuesday a decent night from either goaltender could've at least given the Sabres hope going into the final frame. Devon Levi was pulled after allowing four goals on 19 shots. On one goal he failed to seal the post and allowed for a puck to bounce off his back and into the net. Then in the second period, he was just flat-out beat on a shot from the slot.
In comes Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen who was even worse. UPL gave up a goal on the first shot he faced 18 seconds after coming into the game. Then he gave up another goal less than a minute later. And another goal less than four minutes after that.
In five minutes it went from a 3-1 game to a 7-1 game because neither goaltender could make a save.
Embarrassing response
I don't throw around that word lightly, but after losing 2-0 on the road to Arizona this is an embarrassing response. The Sabres had a chance to get back on track against one of the other teams struggling in the league. Instead, they allowed a team entering the night with 10 wins to score nine goals in their own building.
