(WGR Sports Radio 550) - As the Buffalo Sabres prepare to play the New York Islanders on Monday before the three-day NHL holiday break, they can look back and see it’s been exactly one month since the team has won a hockey game.
Back on Nov. 23, Buffalo walked into San Jose and beat the Sharks, 4-2. In that game, the Sabres entered the third period down 2-1, but goals by Dylan Cozens, Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin iced the victory for James Reimer in goal, who stopped 31-of-33 shots faced.
Reimer was excellent in Boston on Saturday, as were the Sabres defensively. They killed plays and were in sync defensively, which is why Boston only had 11 shots through 40 minutes and 19 on the game.
The reason Buffalo lost the game is their two biggest problems.
For two offseasons, general manager Kevyn Adams hasn’t addressed the need for a top-six forward, and this team can’t score goals. They also take way too many penalties, and lost to the Bruins because of it.
Both Sam Lafferty and Bo Byram blatantly tripped Justin Brazeau coming through the slot with 3:45 left in regulation time. Morgan Geekie ripped one from the slot just as the penalty was about to expire to give Boston a 2-1 lead with 1:45 left.
An empty net goal gave Buffalo their sixth-straight loss, 3-1.
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The Sabres are winless in 13 games, going 0-10-3, and have gone from a playoff spot on Nov. 23 to almost no chance of making it just one month later. They’re 12 points out of both Eastern Conference Wild Card positions with eight teams to leap over to get there.
Adams' inability to get that trade done for a top-six forward has forced him to come out publicly and say there’s enough scoring in-house on this roster, which we know is not the case.
In these 13 games, Buffalo is 31st, averaging 2.15 goals per-game. The Tampa Bay Lightning have scored 26 more goals than Buffalo in that one-month span, and they no longer have Steven Stamkos.
The power play is also second-worst in the NHL at 8.3%. When your penalty killing during the streak is 27th and your goals-against average of 4.08 is dead-last, it’s no surprise the Sabres haven’t won in a month.
Jason Zucker has been a pretty good addition to this club, but he can’t be your leading scorer in the past month. The players that Buffalo needs to put this team on their backs during adversity have not been their best players, and if your best players aren’t your best players, you simply can’t win.
In 13 games, Zucker and JJ Peterka have three goals and five assists for eight points.
Tage Thompson has five goals and seven points. Two seasons ago, Thompson put up five goals in one game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Dylan Cozens has only hit for three goals and four assists for seven points.
Alex Tuch has two goals and two assists for four points.
Peyton Krebs has no goals and three assists.
Jack Quinn has been benched for six games, but in the seven games he’s played, he has two goals and no assists.
Jiri Kulich is not ready for the NHL, but they keep running him out there. He has two goals and an assist for three points in 12 games. He’s only 20-years-old, but needs more time in the American Hockey League.
Zach Benson, at one goal and six points, also needs time in the AHL, but rules prohibit Buffalo from sending the 19-year-old there.
Ryan McLeod is just 25, and had a very promising start to his Sabres career, putting together a 15-game stretch where he scored six goals and six assists for 12 points. More importantly, he was very solid as a two-way forward.
In his last 16 games, McLeod's offense has fallen off a cliff with no goals and three assists for three points. His defense has also regressed by quite a bit. In those 16 games, he’s been a shell of the guy they traded for.
Rasmus Dahlin has only played in five of the 13 games, but has generated no points.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the Boston game on Saturday that the plan was to hold him out after he had returned from injury in Friday’s home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
For those of you that think plus/minus is important, in those 13 games, Byram is minus-10, while Peterka is minus-11. Quinn is minus-7 in seven games.
At the other end, Connor Clifton played 12 of those games and is even, while Beck Malenstyn is also even in 13 games.
The Boston game was a huge step forward defensively and with puck management, but moral victories should’ve left this franchise 10-years ago during the playoff drought.
Teams love to see the Sabres coming up on their schedule, because they are the worst team in the NHL, as the standings prove. The Islanders are 23rd in the NHL with a points percentage of .485, and they've already beaten the Sabres twice this season, 4-3 in Buffalo and 3-0 on Long Island.
Reimer was in goal for the most recent matchup on Nov. 30, stopping 17-of-19 shots in that game. However, Ilya Sorokin got the 29-save shutout.
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Sorokin has played in 10-straight games and has given up 15 goals in his last four games. He’s 10-10-4 this season with a 2.82 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.
He’s played a lot because Semyon Varlamov is injured and was placed on long-term IR four days ago.
Mat Barzal has been back three games after missing 21 games due to injury, while Anthony Duclair has been back one game after missing 28 games injured.
Anders Lee leads the Isles with 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points in 34 games.
Tune in during "Schopp and the Bulldog" for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6:30 p.m. EST.