The Buffalo Sabres have work to do inside their own division, and Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to Ottawa only sharpened that reality.
Buffalo came home from a solid road trip and immediately ran into a division opponent in the opener of a four-game homestand. The result left the Sabres at 7-5-3, tied with Detroit for last place in the Atlantic Division even though they sit 16th in the overall NHL standings.
That record looks a lot better in some other divisions. At .567, Buffalo would be in fifth place in the Metropolitan, tied for fifth in the Central and sitting fourth in the Pacific.
But in the Atlantic, everybody has been winning. A month into the season, every team in the division is above .500, and first-place Boston is six points clear of Buffalo and Detroit.
The Bruins’ 11-4-1 start has reinforced the idea that last year’s playoff run was no accident. Toronto and Florida, two teams that missed the postseason by a wide margin, have also shown they belong in the mix.
The Sabres, though, have not matched that pace. They have not been as consistent, and they have not brought the same defensive attention to detail that showed up last season.
Their offense has also been less dependable without Alex Tuch, and the young forwards expected to help fill the gap have not delivered enough. In goal, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been uneven, and with Alex Lyon out, Buffalo has had to lean more on Colten Ellis.
Health has been an issue around the division, but Buffalo has been relatively fortunate. Montreal has been without captain Nick Suzuki for more than two weeks, Ottawa has missed former Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark for the same stretch, Florida has been without Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand for all but two games, Toronto is missing center John Tavares and winger Kirill Marchenko, and Detroit is without RFA blueliner Simon Edvinsson and former captain Dylan Larkin.
The Sabres are still only a few points out of a playoff spot, so the slow start is not a death sentence. But it is enough to raise a real concern: Buffalo has not found its rhythm yet, and the Atlantic is not giving them much room to breathe.
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Lindy Ruff Just Put A Sabres Leader On Notice
Colten Ellis did enough in net to give Buffalo a chance, turning aside 28 shots in a 2-1 loss to Ottawa, but the Sabres could not make the most of their looks at the other end. The offense again had trouble finishing, and a game that stayed within reach slipped away in the kind of tight contest where one mistake can tilt everything.
Rasmus Dahlin was at the center of that final stretch, and Lindy Ruff did not hide his frustration with the way the Sabres handled some of the late-game choices. For a team trying to tighten up its details and protect leads, the message was clear enough: the margin for error is thin, and the captain's decision-making is now under a brighter spotlight. [Read more 🡒]
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Sabres Suddenly Have A Chance At The Scorer They Need Most
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Robertsons situation in Dallas is what makes the idea interesting, because contract uncertainty has kept his future from feeling settled. For Buffalo, the appeal is obvious: a chance to chase a proven scorer who could change the look of the attack right away, even if nothing official has materialized yet and the path to any deal remains far from clear. [Read more 🡒]