The Buffalo Sabres have climbed to 8-5-3 with 19 points after a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 6, but the bigger story is still the same one hanging over this team: the scoring has to come more consistently.
That was on display in the game right before the Columbus win, when Buffalo fell 2-1 to the Ottawa Senators and simply ran out of offense. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak, and it wasted a standout effort from Colten Ellis, who stopped 28 of 30 shots and turned in an incredible pad save early in the first period.
The problem wasn’t in net. It was everything in front of him.
The Sabres’ scoring numbers have been shaky all season, and even after the win over Columbus, they still have work to do. Before that game, Buffalo sat 23rd in the NHL in goals for per game at 2.93.
After putting up five against the Blue Jackets, they moved to 18th at 3.06 per game. That jump helps, but it doesn’t erase the larger issue: the team needs more from the players outside its top scorers.
Right now, the offense is leaning too hard on Tage Thompson and Jack Quinn. Thompson has 10 goals, Quinn has nine, and together they’ve accounted for 19 of Buffalo’s 49 goals. That’s 38.7% of the team’s scoring, and that kind of load is not going to hold up for long if the Sabres want to stay in the mix in the Atlantic Division.
The depth scoring just hasn’t been there. Outside of Thompson, Quinn and Rasmus Dahlin, the rest of the roster has produced 27 goals in 16 games.
If you take Dahlin out of that group, it becomes 30 goals in 16 games from everyone else. That’s not enough, and it puts even more pressure on the middle of the lineup to start carrying its share.
The biggest names in that conversation are Josh Norris, Ryan McLeod and Josh Doan. Norris, the highest-paid forward, has five points with four goals.
McLeod, who was given a four-year extension at $5 million per season on July 1, 2025, has three points and has not been good in the faceoff dot. Doan, who received a seven-year extension last season worth $6.95 million per season, has four points.
He has at least been noticeable defensively and has created chances, but the production still isn’t there.
That’s why the Sabres’ offense keeps feeling incomplete. The top end has done enough to keep the team afloat, but the second and third lines have not given Buffalo enough steady support.
The power play has had the same split personality. For most of the season, it has been below standard.
Outside of the West Coast road trip, where Buffalo converted four times on nine chances, the man advantage has been inconsistent and often flat. When that trip began, the power play was sitting at 10.5%.
Afterward, and even after the win over Columbus, it was up to 15.1%, which ranks 28th in the league.
There have been stretches where the power play looks sharp without actually scoring. The puck moves quickly, the Sabres find lanes, and they generate chances. Their first power-play opportunity against Ottawa fit that mold, except the execution broke down with a few missed passes and a few whiffed shots.
Other times, it just never gets off the ground. The Sabres lose faceoffs, struggle to enter the zone, and end up looking disjointed.
The zone entries remain the most frustrating part. Too often, four players are parked at the blue line, forcing the puck carrier to try to weave through traffic alone, and the possession usually dies soon after.
For Buffalo, the path forward is clear. The Sabres need more secondary scoring, and they need the power play to wake up.
If those two things start happening together, they can move into the top half of the league in goals. Until then, they’re going to keep living in the bottom half.
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