The Buffalo Sabres head into the week of Oct. 19 to Oct. 25 with two clear themes at the top of the board: Owen Power and Jack Quinn are flashing breakout-level play, and the penalty kill is dragging the whole group into trouble.
Power has been one of the early stories of the season. In nine games, he has eight points with two goals and six assists, but the numbers only tell part of it.
Since Rasmus Dahlin went down in the Oct. 12 win over the Florida Panthers, Power has been asked to absorb Dahlin’s role, and he has handled the load. He’s averaging 26:45 of ice time per game, the second-highest mark in the NHL, and he’s making those shifts count.
The offense is there, but so is the defensive work: he’s getting into the right lanes, boxing out well, and keeping the front of the net clear so his goalie can see the puck. His puck movement has been clean, his decisions quick, and his presence steady.
Quinn is right there with him as one of Buffalo’s early bright spots. He’s piled up nine points, including five goals and four assists, and is tied with Tage Thompson for the team lead in both goals and points.
The big change is confidence. Quinn looks decisive every time the puck lands on his stick, and he’s playing with the kind of calm that makes offense look easy.
His shot has become a real problem for opponents, and he’s not just using it more often - he’s using it with intent. The physical side has ticked up, too, with noticeable gains in size, strength, speed and smarts showing up in his pace, board work, rushes at defenders and finishing.
On his current scoring pace, he’s tracking toward 46 goals, and a 40-goal season is absolutely within reach.
For all of that optimism, the penalty kill remains a glaring issue. Buffalo has given up at least one power-play goal in eight of its first nine games, meaning opponents have scored on the man advantage in 88.8 percent of its games so far.
That’s a huge slide from last season, when the Sabres allowed a power-play goal in only 30 percent of their games. Right now, the PK is sitting at 60 percent, and if that number held, it would go down as the worst in NHL history.
It’s still early, but the damage has already shown up in the standings of the games themselves: in eight of nine, Buffalo has fallen behind by two goals. Until that unit tightens up, the Sabres are going to keep making life harder than it needs to be.
There is some help on the way, at least on the injury front. Jason Zucker, sidelined with a sports hernia, is expected to make his season debut on Oct. 21 when Buffalo hosts the Philadelphia Flyers. He’s been skating with the team for the past couple of weeks and took part in Saturday’s morning skate.
Matt Grzelcyk, who was signed just before the season, has been out since Oct. 13 with what Lindy Ruff described as a “lower-body flare-up.” He remains day-to-day.
Dahlin, injured on Oct. 12 against Florida, is also day-to-day. Ruff said on Oct. 17 that Dahlin has resumed skating, and the Sabres will keep tracking his progress over the next few days.
Alex Lyon’s situation is less clear. He left the preseason game on Sept. 24 with a shoulder injury and was originally expected back on Tuesday, Oct. 13 against the Canadiens, but he recently had a setback, leaving his return timeline uncertain.
In Other News...
Sabres Face A Goaltending Decision That Could Change Everything
Connor Hellebuycks situation in Winnipeg has quickly become one of the most notable goaltending storylines in the league, and Buffalo is right in the middle of it. The Jets have started the season without him after he requested a trade and did not report to training camp, forcing Winnipeg to weigh its options before a Friday deadline as the market for elite goalies takes shape.
For the Sabres, this is the kind of opportunity that can alter a seasons trajectory if the talks get serious. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman has placed Buffalo among the clubs linked to the netminder, and with several teams still evaluating their goaltending needs, the coming days could determine whether the Sabres stay on the outside of the conversation or suddenly find themselves in the thick of it. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Start Is Putting Real Pressure On Jarmo To Make A Move
Buffalos rough start has already turned the conversation from patience to pressure, and it is putting the front office in a spot where a meaningful move feels less like a luxury and more like a necessity. With general manager Jarmo Kekalainen holding salary-cap flexibility and a stockpile of draft picks, the Sabres have the kind of assets that can at least open the door to a blockbuster if he decides the roster needs a major jolt.
The areas drawing the most attention are obvious ones: goaltending and the top six, where the group still needs more impact if it is going to climb back into the race. The challenge now is timing, because the longer the skid lingers, the harder it becomes to ignore the idea that Buffalo may need to swing big rather than settle for a smaller fix. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Keep Letting Winnable Games Turn Into Another Overtime Problem
The Sabres keep finding themselves in the same uncomfortable spot, turning games that should be within reach into a coin flip after regulation. Montreals overtime win pushed the Canadiens to 4-3-1 and added another entry to Buffalos growing stack of extra-session games, a list that already has the Sabres among the league leaders in overtime appearances. For a team trying to build momentum early, those are the kinds of nights that leave points on the table and make every small mistake feel bigger.
Montreals heavy reliance on Lane Hutson and Nick Suzuki has been a factor in how the Canadiens have managed those tight games, with both carrying high average ice times that can wear on a lineup over the course of a night. Buffalo, meanwhile, has been on the receiving end of too many games that drift past the 60-minute mark, and the pattern matters because it keeps reinforcing the same question: when the game is there to be taken, can the Sabres finish it before overtime becomes the problem again? [Read more 🡒]