Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - One month of the 2024-25 NHL season is in the books for the Buffalo Sabres, however, the team has been plagued by some lackluster results, leading to some inconsistent results in the standings.
The Sabres have had moments this year where they have been able to score at will. Despite this, they're on the lower end of the NHL standings, in terms of goals scored, with 36 in 12 games played.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff feels what's missing from his group is an ability to finish not just certain scoring chances, but also games.
"There's plenty of opportunities," said Ruff during his weekly appearance on the "Jeremy and Joe Show" on WGR. "If I use the Detroit game as an example, we had probably three or four really good opportunities to convert and make that a 2-0 game, which would take stress off of our defensive game. The lack of finish has been one of the things that concerns me. Even [Monday's] practice, the drills we set up were set up to try to put the players in the best position to finish opportunities."
Related
The team did make a slight change to their lineup over the past weekend, where Dylan Cozens was shifted to the right wing, a position he's familiar with but not always accustomed to. However, the switch was short-lived, as Cozens will now return to center for the foreseeable future.
"It was really a short-term try to just try to free him up, where he could maybe get a couple looks, and then defensively, doesn't have that big of a responsibility," Ruff explained with Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase. "I think as you saw in the Detroit game, we went right back to putting [Cozens] back in the middle. When I look at the last couple games, his chances went up. He was in on two or three really good opportunities in Detroit, he was in on the 2-on-1 that you'd like to see our guys finish. So no, it was just a quick look and he's back in the middle."
While the Sabres have had their issues finishing, at times, the team also has had inconsistent goaltending, paired with defensive problems. These three things linked together have created real problems for the Sabres with getting into a good rhythm.
"I think it's all related. We need that area to be better, to make that key save at a crucial time," Ruff said. "Even if you look at the Detroit [game], the one power play goal, that's a save you'd like your goaltender to make. Inside of the game, we made a lot of good saves, but again, our finish needs to improve. Our rush defense has been better, but it has to continue to get better. And our goaltenders do have to be a big part of it, and they need to be better as well."
The Sabres return to game action on Tuesday night when they host the Ottawa Senators, looking to snap a three-game losing streak. Faceoff from KeyBank Center is slated for 7 p.m. EST, with pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. EST with Mike Schopp and the Bulldog.