Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) – For the first four minutes of Wednesday night's contest with the Boston Bruins, the Buffalo Sabres did a good job of getting in on the forecheck and causing problems in the opposition's end.
That ended at 4:19 when Zach Benson turned the puck over in the neutral zone and the Bruins attacked.
Boston got its first two shots of the game as Devon Levi stopped James van Riemsdyk from the slot, but kicked a huge rebound out to defenseman Mason Lohrei coming in from the left point. From that point on, Boston never looked back.
Bruins captain Brad Marchand took a cross-checking penalty and then got an extra two minutes for jawing at the referee. However, the Sabres didn’t even come close to making him pay.
Boston then got its first power play of the game and Charlie Coyle found himself alone on front of the net and it was 2-0.
Once again, the Sabres gave up two goals in the first period, but this is one of the best teams in the National Hockey League with one of the best save percentage goalies in net with Jeremy Swayman. At the 13:42 mark of the first period, this game was essentially over.
Swayman has given up three or more goals just four times this season. As fragile as the Sabres are, you knew they weren’t coming back.
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The Sabres looked very rusty after having three days off from practices and games, but Boston had the same three days off and didn’t look rusty at all.
Buffalo had 9:32 of power play time in this game and went 0-for-6. The Sabres managed just five shots in that time.
Meanwhile, Boston went 3-for-4 on the power play, but the last one was just for 32 seconds to end the game. In the end, the Bruins really went 3-for-3 with the man advantage. Minus those 32 seconds, the Bruins had 3:13 of power play time and scored three goals on five shots.
Buffalo is 26th in the NHL with the extra man at 13.3%. Sabres head coach Don Granato says he’s going to be more hands-on when it comes to the power play.
The Sabres made it pretty easy on Swayman, getting just 26 shots on goal. They also weren’t around to screen him or jump on rebounds.
Buffalo did a good job in the previous two games against the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers, but the theme of the season is still in effect: Play a few good games and then go back to floundering.
Tage Thompson didn’t play in this game due to personal reasons.
Tyson Jost took his place between Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch, which was a huge mistake. Jost doesn’t have the skill to play with those two players, and is better suited to play with Kyle Okposo.
This was a golden opportunity to give an offensive player and gifted passer like Peyton Krebs a chance with two top offensive players, but it turned into a huge missed opportunity, taken away by coaching.
I know what Granato was thinking. He only wanted to disrupt one line and not two. By doing that, tbough, he had Jost out of position.
Despite the loss, the Sabres are still seven points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
After two practice days, Buffalo gets the rematch on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. On Dec. 19, the Blue Jackets handed the Sabres one of their worst losses in team history, 9-4.
We’ll see what kind of pride will be on display for this game.
