On Saturday things went from bad to worse for the Buffalo Sabres as they dropped their fifth straight game, falling to the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1. With the loss, the Sabres remain in the basement of the Eastern Conference with a 5-11-4 record.
Five observations from Saturday's loss:
One lousy goal
Housley believes the #Sabres still need to get on the same page as a team. I think fans can agree. pic.twitter.com/2VIVFg8IRE
— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) November 19, 2017
This stat blew me away -- In five of the Sabres last seven games they have scored only one goal. After Saturday's loss, Evander Kane, who has been one of the Sabres only consistent goal-scorers, addressed the teams struggles offensively.
I asked Evander Kane, who has been the #Sabres only consistent goal-scorer this season, how his team can start finding the back of the net more than once a game @WKBW pic.twitter.com/ipdHcEeqHR
— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) November 19, 2017
Another wasted effort in the blue paint
For the second straight night, the Sabres best player was their goaltender and for the second straight night, they lost. This time Chad Johnson was between the pipes, turning away 31 of 33 shots faced. Both Carolina goals came on odd-man rushes as Johnson was left basically out to dry. For as much criticism as both Johnson and especially Lehner get on social media, they hardly deserve any of the blame, at least recently.
Home sweet home?
Not for the Sabres, who are now 2-5-1 in the friendly confines of KeyBank Center. Four of the Sabres next five games are at home -- that might not be a good thing.
Another bad month
After an abysmal October, Jack Eichel told reporters that they needed to bounce back with a strong November to get things back on track. So far that hasn't happened and the games are now ticking away. With Saturday's loss, the Sabres are now 2-4-2 in November [5-11-4] on the season. In order to finish the month with more wins than losses, the Sabres will have to win their next five games. Good luck.
At last
With 2:36 remaining in the first period the KeyBank Center crowd sarcastically erupted as Evander Kane recorded the Sabres first shot of the night. Buffalo finished the period with four shots thanks to a power play seconds after Kane broke the ice.
5v5 shots on goal after one:
Canes with TWO
Sabres with ONE pic.twitter.com/waQcL5IHRV— Cane-alytics (@Cane_alytics) November 19, 2017
The Sabres first-period performance is especially discouraging after their lackluster effort in Detroit on Friday where they only registered 20 shots. For a team that has such a hard time scoring goals, the Sabres really need to start getting more shots on net.
How many shots do the #Sabres have? pic.twitter.com/IRUUWX230L
— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) November 19, 2017
