BUFFALO, N.Y. [WKBW] — After falling to the Red Wings last week the Sabres redeemed themselves [sort of] on Tuesday, with a 3-2 win. Conor Sheary, Marcus Johansson and Sam Reinhart scored for the Sabres, who improve to 25-24-8.
5 Observations from Tuesday's win:
Struggling Skinner
Jeff Skinner is now on the worst scoring drought of his career. Skinner has now gone 19 games without scoring a goal. Before Tuesday, Skinner had never gone more than 18 games without finding the back of the net.
While getting Skinner going as soon as possible must be a priority for the coaching staff, I'm confident the goals will start to come. Despite the lack of goals, Skinner is still getting chances and coming close. When he finally gets the monkey off his back I wouldn't be surprised if an avalanche of goals follows.
Secondary Scoring
It's amazing how different the outcome of a game can be when you're not relying on your top line to carry the load. In Tuesday's win, Conor Sheary and Marcus Johansson each scored for the Sabres. Before Tuesday, the two players had combined for one goal since the calendar turned to 2020.
Now start a streak
Congrats, you beat the worst team in the NHL. Now go win your next two games at home and start a bit of a streak. No matter what happens, the Sabres will still be in a pretty big hole as their homestand comes to an end but a few wins strung together would at least make the last few months of the season a bit more interesting. Last season the Sabres finished with 76 points -- so at bare minimum they need to surpass 80 points to show they at least showed an improvement, and that's already a huge stretch.
Two Dollar Tickets
On the secondary market, you could get tickets to tonight's game against the Red Wings for a whopping $2 [about $7 after fees]. Yet even with the lowest ticket prices I've ever seen, there were still thousands of empty seats in the arena. I'm sure it had to be pretty eyeopening for the front office and ownership to see an arena half-empty with tickets so readily available.
Paging Pegula
Terry Pegula was in attendance to watch his Sabres win their 25th game this season. Unfortunately for Pegula, there hasn't been much to cheer about this season for Sabres fans, especially since returning from the All-Star break. If you don't believe me, just check the replies to my tweet that simply said: Terry Pegula is in the building this evening.
For months, fans have been yearning to hear from the Sabres owner as another year without the playoffs appears to be on the horizon. But there have been no statements, no interviews, no answers. I don't see the harm in having Pegula voice his displeasure with how things are going. As I said on 7 Eyewitness News last week, the criticism will just get louder the longer Pegula goes without speaking up.
