Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres returned to home ice on Tuesday night to welcome in the Arizona Coyotes to KeyBank Center.
The Coyotes are in the midst of a 14-game road trip due to the irregularities of their ice time at home in which they share with the Arizona State University hockey team.
It was the Coyotes who got off to a hot start in this game with forward Lawson Crouse scoring just 23 seconds into the game.
The Sabres controlled much of the first period from then on until they finally broke through. Tage Thompson scored his eight goal of the year on the power play to tie the game at 1-1.
From then on, however, the game was controlled by Arizona.
Matias Maccelli scored late in the first to give his team the 2-1 lead. No goals were scored by either team until the third period when Coyotes forward Liam O'Brien scored his first goal of the year to make it 3-1.
The Sabres were unable to get anything going for the remainder of the game, as Arizona forward Clayton Keller netted an empty-net goal to cap the scoring at 4-1.
Buffalo's offensive chances were stifled for a large majority of the game, resulting in another frustrating loss.
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Here are this game's three observations:
1.) More effective shooting
The Sabres have been taking more shots when in the offensive zone as of late. However, those shots generated over the last three games have not been coming from the danger areas of the ice.
Against the Coyotes, the Sabres outshot their opponents 33-24, but never really controlled the game when in the offensive zone. Many of these shots came from the perimeter, or were easy saves for goalie Karel Vejmelka.
The Sabres need to have more effective shots on the rush in future games. Often times, the team would establish themselves in the offensive zone and never get a chance to shoot because of one too many passes.
2.) Keep the intensity
One thing the Sabres have consistently done throughout the season is play a very intense game. This season has shown that the team will play a physical game, even after the whistle.
This has been a great improvement for the team, as they haven't done this in years past when it's needed.
The problem with the losing streak now is losing that edge. The players have to keep that energy going to spark other aspects of their game.
3.) Pick yourselves up
This was the game Buffalo needed to snap a short two-game losing skid. Arizona has always been one of the bottom-tier teams in the NHL, and from the way the Sabres have been playing this year, it was expected they could win this game.
Time-and-time again, the Sabres fall back to their old habits of playing at the other team's level. This sounds great against good teams, because the Sabres rise to the occasion. However, when playing a team like Arizona, they seem to play down a level than they normally would and fall apart bit-by-bit.
With the Vegas Golden Knights and Boston Bruins coming to town for the next two games, it's going to be difficult for the Sabres to bounce back, because these are two of the best teams in the NHL.
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The Sabres will next host the league-leading Golden Knights on Thursday night after coming off a 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Vegas are now winners of eight-straight games.
Faceoff is slated for 7 p.m. EST with pregame coverage starting at 6 p.m. EST with Schopp and the Bulldog on the radio home of the Sabres - WGR Sports Radio 550.
