The Buffalo Sabres earned just their fifth win of the 2020-21 season on Saturday afternoon when the team managed to earn a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark. The win for the Sabres snapped a four-game skid, and also marked the first victory for Buffalo after their two-week pause due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the organization.
Just one night after a disappointing loss to the New York Islanders on Monday at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the Sabres are back in New Jersey to close out their four-game road trip.
The Sabres did the one thing they needed to do on Monday to give themselves a chance to beat a stingy, defensively sound Islanders team: Get out to a lead. However, the team failed to hold on to that advantage, and later fell behind 3-2 when the Islanders got a late power play goal from Jean-Gabriel Pageau to take the win away from Buffalo.
Not only did the Sabres get out to a much-needed lead, they went on the attack early on the Islanders, outshooting New York 12-3 in the opening 20 minutes. Despite getting more pucks to the net, Buffalo only ended up with one goal, courtesy of Curtis Lazar.
Overall, the Sabres outshot the Islanders, 36-23 on the evening, with a number of those chances for coming with the man advantage. However, the Sabres could not solve goalie Semyon Varlamov, as he frustrated them at every turn.
Where the Sabres continue to struggle is their play at 5-on-5, where Buffalo has just three goals in their past six games. While the Sabres did get more shots on goal during play at even strength, Buffalo's quality of chances are lacking compared to other teams.
That was evident on Monday as the Sabres registered 22 shots on goal at 5-on-5 to the Islanders' 21, but their overall scoring chances and high-danger chances were not as present as compared to the Islanders.
Buffalo needs to get those numbers up more at 5-on-5 if they expect to turn their season around and start winning hockey games.
The Sabres did show more of a complete effort on Saturday when they last faced the Devils in New Jersey. Not only did the shot totals end up in favor of the Sabres, but the team was also getting those quality scoring chances in and around the Devils net. Buffalo also played a structurally solid defensive game, limiting New Jersey to more low-danger, low quality chances away from the net-front.
Buffalo has had a fair amount of success against the Devils so far this season, going 2-1-0 in three games to this point. The team started the season series with a 4-3 shootout win in Buffalo on Jan. 30, followed by a 5-3 loss the following day at KeyBank Center. After both teams were forced to press pause on their seasons due to COVID-19 outbreaks, they met for the first time on Saturday in New Jersey.
Between Tuesday and Thursday, Feb. 8, both teams will meet a total of five more times, including a matchup on Thursday back in Buffalo.
Perhaps the story of Monday night for the Sabres was the benching of forward Jeff Skinner, who has not scored a goal in 14 games this season. The 29-year-old winger has not scored a goal since Feb. 29, 2020 against the Vegas Golden Knights, despite producing 5.74 high-danger scoring chances per-60 minutes this season.
However, Skinner will not be back in the lineup on Tuesday, as head coach Ralph Krueger confirmed just before pregame warmups he will be a healthy scratch once again.
Even with left winger Tobias Rieder leaving Monday's game on Long Island with an upper-body injury and being unavailable for Tuesday's game, Krueger said that forward Rasmus Asplund will get the call up from the taxi squad and slide in on the line with Cody Eakin and Kyle Okposo.
Sam Reinhart has been, arguably, Buffalo's best player coming out of the team's two-week pause. The 25-year-old scored a beautiful power play goal on Monday to tie the game at 2-2 in the third period, and now has three goals in the past two contests. In the five games back from the pause, Reinhart has points in four of those games.
While one of Buffalo's top play-makers is finding the back of the net, some of Buffalo's other top players continue to struggle.
Jack Eichel has only scored twice this season, and has not been able to score since Jan. 28 against the New York Rangers. That's a seven-game stretch without getting a goal to go in.
Taylor Hall was the first Sabres player to score in the season opener against the Washington Capitals, but has not found the back of the net since. He's gone 14 games without a goal, and only has one assist in his last six games.
Eric Staal is also struggling to score, currently riding a six-game goalless drought. He, too, only has one assist in his last six games played.
These players are going to have to find ways to get going offensively, and fast if the Sabres are to get back into any sort of contention for the playoffs through the final 41 games of the 2020-21 season.
Defensively for the Sabres, Jake McCabe got the devastating news on Monday that his 2020-21 season is over after sustaining injuries to his ACL, MCL and meniscus in his right knee in Saturday's win over the Devils. The 27-year-old has spent his entire career with the Sabres, putting up 77 points (18+59) in 353 games.
This season saw McCabe score a goal and register two assists in 13 games, as the veteran blue liner is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Although it’s been an extremely difficult few days, I have been overwhelmed with the amount of support and well wishes from my family, friends, @BuffaloSabres organization and the Buffalo community. I greatly appreciate it and I know my best hockey is yet to come. 💪🏻
— Jake McCabe (@McCabe19) February 23, 2021
Meanwhile, Will Borgen missed Monday's game against the Islanders, and the injury news for him was not good on Tuesday.
The team announced on Tuesday that Borgen underwent successful surgery to repair a right forearm fracture that will sideline him up to six-to-eight weeks. Borgen suffered the injury by blocking a shot on the penalty kill in the first period of Saturday's win over the Devils.
Borgen had been very solid in the four games he played leading up to Tuesday's news. The 24-year-old did not registered a point in those four games, but he did average 16:59 of total ice-time and was very reliable as more of a workhorse in the defensive end. His play in his own end allowed a player like Rasmus Dahlin to be more aggressive on the offensive side of the puck, which was especially evident on Saturday in New Jersey.
With McCabe done for the season and Borgen likely out through, at least, April 6, the Sabres are starting to look quite depleted on the blue line.
On the left side of the blue line, Buffalo has Dahlin, Matt Irwin, Brandon Davidson and Jacob Bryson healthy and available to the team.
The Sabres currently have Colin Miller, Brandon Montour, Henri Jokiharju and Casey Fitzgerald healthy on the right side of the defense. It is also unknown when Rasmus Ristolainen will be healthy enough to return to the lineup as he battles back from his battle with COVID-19 and dealing with severe symptoms of the virus.
Bryson will make his NHL debut on Tuesday as he was called up from the taxi squad for Brandon Davidson. Krueger said on Tuesday that the team felt Bryson deserved the opportunity to get his first NHL game with the way he's played in the American Hockey League over the past year-and-a-half.
The 23-year-old has produced well in 66 games with the Rochester Americans over the past two seasons with four goals and 26 assists for 30 points. So far in five games this season, Bryson has registered three assists.
Linus Ullmark has gotten the start in four of the five games for Buffalo since the return from the COVID-19 pause. In that time frame, the 27-year-old has gone 1-3-0 with a 2.82 goals-against average and a .890 save percentage. Overall this season, Ullmark is 4-4-2 in 10 games this season with a 2.66 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage.
With Ullmark starting for the Sabres on Monday, it is likely that Carter Hutton will get his sixth start of the season on Tuesday in Newark. The 35-year-old last played a week ago against the Islanders, when he gave up two goals-against in a 3-0 loss in Buffalo.
In his five games played this season, Hutton has posted a 1-4-0 record with a 2.85 goals-against average and a .898 save percentage.
As for the Devils, they are coming off a 4-3 loss to the Capitals on Sunday afternoon after jumping out to a 2-0 second period lead on the road. From there, Washington responded with four unanswered goals to go up 4-2, with New Jersey's third goal coming with just 12 seconds remaining in regulation.
Jack Hughes continues to lead the way for the Devils in team scoring with 11 points (4+7) in 13 games this season. The former first overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft has really bounced back nicely from his rookie campaign that saw him produce just 21 points (7+14) in 61 games played.
Miles Wood currently leads the Devils with five goals on the season, two of which coming against the Sabres on Jan. 31 in his hometown of Buffalo.
Kyle Palmieri has played well since coming off the NHL's COVID-19 list. He's currently riding a four-game point streak with three goals and three assists for six points. He scored early in the third period on Saturday to get the Devils on the scoreboard and cut the deficit for New Jersey to 3-1.
Mackenzie Blackwood will get the start for the Devils on Tuesday after suffering his first regulation loss of the season to the Sabres in his last start. The 24-year-old is 4-1-1 in six starts this season with a 2.12 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage.
Faceoff on Tuesday is set for 7 p.m. EST with the Paul William Beltz Pregame Show starting at 6 p.m. EST with Mike Schopp and the Bulldog. There, you will hear Krueger's pregame comments, plus more from Bryson and Irwin.
Buffalo is hoping to bounce back from a 3-2 loss to the Islanders on Monday night