Sabres First Quarter Overall Report Card - Needs Improvement
The Buffalo Sabres played their 21st game on Saturday, marking the beginning of the second quarter of a season that began with the anticipation that the club would end their 12-year playoff drought. The Sabres have to be considered a disappointment at this point, with a sub-.500 record and questions of whether a club that showed significant offensive growth last season can find their magic touch again.
Over the next three days, we will break down the club position by position, but as an overall grade, the Sabres are similar to a student who has intelligence and overall potential but has not put those tools into practice.
With the 7-2 loss to New Jersey on Saturday, Buffalo is 9-10-2 after 21 games, and at no time during the first quarter have they displayed any hint of consistency and finding the winning formula.
The club has been over .500 only once during October and November. The emphasis on improving defensively has shown only mixed results, as the club is 24th in the NHL in goals allowed with 70. At times, the Sabres have appeared to expend a great deal of energy at their end of the ice, and that has come at the cost of their offense, which finished 3rd in the league last season and is currently 21st overall with 59 goals.
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Injuries are something that cannot be overlooked, as Buffalo has been without goalies Eric Comrie and Devon Levi, defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, and forwards Alex Tuch, Dylan Cozens, and Tage Thompson for significant stretches. The most impactful is Thompson, who could miss much of December with a hand injury.
The Sabres are only three points out of a playoff spot, but if they are unable to pull out of this early funk, they may fall too far behind to stay within striking distance of a postseason berth.
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