Sabres' Hole-Digging Has To Stop If They Intend On Being A Playoff Team

The Buffalo Sabres have been digging holes for themselves all season long, and on Wednesday night, they couldn’t bail themselves out, losing to the lowly Philadelphia Flyers in a 3-1 loss that was Buffalo’s fifth defeat in their past seven games. 

There was a clear pattern, as NHL.com Sabres correspondent Jane McNally noted that, prior to Wednesday’s loss, Buffalo has trailed by two goals or more in eight of their first nine games, and erased two-goal deficits in five of those nine games. In one regard, that shows the Sabres’ resilience.

But sooner or later, that propensity to fall behind by two goals was going to bite Buffalo in the rear end – and Wednesday’s loss to the Flyers (who have three wins all season) should be a wakeup call for the Sabres to make things easier on themselves and put forth a stronger effort earlier in games.

Some of the fault for them lies at the feet of Buffalo’s goalies – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in particular. Luukkonen may be struggling in part because he’s hearing his name in trade rumors, but until such time as the Sabres pick up Connor Hellebuyck from the Winnipeg Jets or Filip Gustavsson from the Minnesota Wild, the Sabres are stuck with who they have in net. 

Additionally, to avoid these two-goal deficits, Buffalo needs punch-back efforts once they go down by a single goal. That’s easier said than done, but Sabres coach Lindy Ruff has to squeeze offense out of his team early in games, and not hope and pray they can shake off a multi-goal deficit and hope for the best.

Buffalo is still a young team, and they’re going to have nights where they do dig themselves a hole of two goals or more. That’s what happens in pro hockey. But when it’s happening this much right out of the gate, Ruff and his coaching staff have to find ways to stem the bleeding and answer back any opposition goals with one or two goals-in-a-row of their own.

Obviously, if a Hellebuyck trade goes through for Buffalo, they can have all the confidence in the world that Hellebuyck can surrender one or two straight goals and still give them a chance to win games. But as it currently stands, the Sabres are constantly playing with fire every time they go down by a pair. 

And if that continues, Buffalo brass will have to look at outside-the-team solutions (read: trades) to create a more even-keeled squad.