The Buffalo Sabres have spent too much of this season trying to climb out of their own mess, and Wednesday night finally made that habit cost them.
Buffalo fell 3-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers, a loss that marked its fifth defeat in the past seven games. The Sabres also ran into a familiar problem: falling behind early and spending the rest of the night chasing the game.
Before Wednesday, NHL.com Sabres correspondent Jane McNally noted that Buffalo had trailed by two goals or more in eight of its first nine games. The Sabres managed to erase two-goal deficits in five of those nine, which says something about their fight. It also says something about how often they’ve had to use it.
That kind of pattern can only go on for so long before it catches up with you. Against a Flyers team that has only three wins all season, Buffalo got the reminder. Games are a lot harder to rescue when the early hole gets deeper than usual, and the Sabres couldn’t dig their way out this time.
The bigger issue is what’s happening before those deficits get that large. Buffalo also needs to respond better when it falls behind by one goal. Lindy Ruff and his staff have to find a way to get offense going earlier and make teams answer to them, rather than leaning on comeback mode so often.
The Sabres are still a young group, and there will be nights when they fall behind by two goals or more. That happens in pro hockey. But the frequency here is the problem, and Buffalo has to find a way to stop the bleeding sooner.
If that doesn’t change, the pressure will only grow to look beyond the roster for help. And if a Hellebuyck trade goes through for Buffalo, the team could lean on that kind of confidence to absorb a goal or two and stay alive. For now, though, the Sabres are living dangerously every time they get down by a pair.
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For Buffalo, the appeal is obvious, but the timing is not. Zelenov is still working to improve his goal-scoring touch to go with the creativity that has stood out early, and the Sabres have to weigh how close he really is to NHL-ready before making a move. His timeline is becoming a bigger talking point as the season goes on, and spring could bring an important decision for a player whose development is moving faster than the usual college track. [Read more 🡒]