Ottawa, Ontario (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres had 37 shots on goal on Monday, but still lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1.
Jeff Skinner got the Sabres' only goal on the power play, but he felt they were taking too many long shots and didn’t have enough traffic around Canadiens goalie Jake Allen. Yes, Allen did make some great saves, but he could see almost everything from a team that’s clearly frustrated.
Alex Tuch hasn’t scored in the first six games, and he let his frustration boil over with about five minutes left. Tuch tried to carry the puck through the Canadiens and into the zone, Montreal came back the other way, and the Sabres winger took a frustration penalty.
"We need to get him going more than he is at this point," said Granato following Monday's loss. "We will spend a little more time with 'Tuchy' to get him going into the right direction."
Granato admitted Allen was good on Monday, but still feels his team needs to get to the net with conviction.
"The group will score. When you’re struggling to score, get to the net. That’s how you resolve it," Granato said.
The Sabres weren’t as good defensively on Monday as they were on Saturday, but they were OK. When things did break down, goalie Eric Comrie made some good saves. They also covered for each other to take two huge scoring chances away from the Canadiens on breakaways. They can thank Mattias Samuelsson and Zemgus Girgensons for that.
Just like last season, Buffalo isn’t getting results at home, starting the season at 2-3-0.
Getting the first five-of-six games at home was a golden opportunity to be near the top of the Eastern Conference, not the bottom.
The power play did work the puck around and looked better, at times, but the problem is while playing at 5-on-5.
The shooting mentality has been much better the past two games, but shots without players around the net usually doesn’t work in the National Hockey League.
Granato confirmed Monday night that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will likely be in goal Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators. It’s a back-to-back situation, and with Devon Levi nursing a lower-body injury, it gives the Sabres a chance to get Luukkonen his first game of the season.
Related
The Sabres won’t have a morning skate in Ottawa on Tuesday.
Join Schopp and the Bulldog at 6 p.m. ET for pregame coverage on WGR when you’ll hear from Granato, Luukkonen and Victor Olofsson.
