The Buffalo Sabres have already found a couple of ways to win through four games: comeback mode and late pushes. What they have not found is a penalty kill that can keep them out of trouble.
Through their first quartet of games, Buffalo’s PK sits at 63.6%, which leaves them 28th in the league. That number has been the glaring problem in a start that has otherwise produced two wins and a .500 record. If the Sabres want to avoid digging a hole in October or November, this is the area that needs to turn around fast.
The issue showed up right away in the season opener, a 6-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Buffalo gave up two power-play goals in that game, including one late in the first period that pushed Columbus ahead 2-1. The Sabres never recovered after that.
The lone bright spot so far came in a victory over the Blackhawks, the only game this season in which Buffalo did not allow a power-play goal.
That stands in sharp contrast to what the Sabres were doing not long ago. Less than six months ago, they were killing penalties at an 81.9% clip, good for fourth in the league. The personnel behind that success has changed, and the absences are hard to ignore.
Alex Tuch and Jordan Greenway are no longer on the roster, and both mattered in the role. Tuch was a disruptive presence up front when Buffalo was shorthanded, with nine shorthanded goals over the last two years and a style that forced opposing power plays to feel pressure. Greenway, when healthy, was another important piece, bringing physical play and a heavy hit count to the unit.
Zach Benson gives the Sabres some of that edge with his forecheck, but he is smaller than Greenway and may not bring the same penalty-killing instincts.
Buffalo does have options on the blue line, though, and that group could be part of the fix. The Sabres have depth among defensemen, and Louis Crevier has already made an impression early with six blocked shots. The defenseman arrived in a trade from the Chicago Blackhawks and has been one of the team’s early bright spots.
Still, one defenseman alone will not solve it. The Sabres need more players stepping into the kill with the kind of aggression that made the unit effective last season. If they can get that part of their game back, it could help everything else start to click too.
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