Sabres Playoff Hopes Nearly Eliminated In Edmonton

Buffalo have lost three of four games on Western road trip, putting a nail in the coffin of their postseason aspirations

The Buffalo Sabres surprisingly were still in the mix for the Stanley Cup Playoffs after the trade deadline following three straight home victories over Edmonton, Detroit and the NY Islanders, but the club needed to remain red-hot heading out on the road for five straight.

Instead, the Sabres have resorted back to their early season form of making defensive miscues and coming up small, with losses to the Red Wings, Vancouver, and an 8-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, which practically ended all chances of a miracle finish to the 2023-24 season.

Buffalo led 3-2 late in the second period on two goals by JJ Peterka and a single by Victor Olofsson, but Zach Hyman’s 47 goal of the season with 48 seconds left in the middle frame tied the game, tallies by Darnell Nurse and Mattias Ekholm 62 seconds apart made the outcome inevitable, and three more Oilers goals provided a exclamation point on the club’s disappointing season.

"Going into the third, we're 3-3, and we made mistakes in the third that we haven't made in quite some time," Sabres head coach Don Granato said after the game. "The fourth goal, the breakdown was a simple retrieve that we've executed very well and you didn't execute it.....the three other goals in that period were odd-man rushes we haven't given up in a long time, the way we gave them up and it was forwards not reloading in support of defensemen."

The road trip was marked by incomplete efforts, including a strong first period in Detroit, a strong third against the Canucks, and some desperation and energy through most of two periods against the Oilers, but the Sabres are only in the place they are currently because they were unable to start on time or finish opponents off early in the season and dug themselves a hole in the first half too big to climb out of in the second.

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