Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato summed up his team's 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday when he said the following:
"All of them [problems] from the foundation is not working, and not working in front of the net. That is the primary.
"We didn't go to the net. I don't think we were willing to work. We wanted an easier game," Granato added on Saturday.
Here the Sabres are playing a game on Feb. 10, 2024 when they started the day 10 points out of a playoff spot, and they didn’t work hard enough to get a much-needed win.
Kyle Okposo got Buffalo’s only goal because he went to the net, and Tage Thompson put the puck to the net. Buffalo got a break, as the puck went off of Matt Kessel’s stick and Oskar Sundqvist’s skate, but it’s a perfect example of you make your own breaks if you’re around the net.
I’m getting a lot of people criticizing having Okposo and Jordan Greenway on the power play. It makes perfect sense to me. Buffalo has pretty much three players that are at the net regularly: Alex Tuch, Okposo and Greenway, so why wouldn’t you want people in front of the net?
Buffalo had 34 shots on Joel Hofer, but it likely was his easiest game of the season. He saw everything, and if there was a rebound, there wasn’t a Sabres player in sight to put it in.
This was Hofer’s sixth game where he allowed one goal or less. He’s also had five games where four or more goals went in.
This game could’ve been a lot worse than 3-1, as Jordan Kyrou and Kevin Hayes both hit two posts in the third period.
If you’re going to be a good team, you have to have a better points percentage than .442 at home. Last season, the Sabres went was .463.
Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams has built a team that is not capable of winning at home. He has also built a team that isn’t capable of handling pressure.
The other thing is if you’re going to be a good team, your best players must be your best players. That hasn’t been the case this season:
- Jeff Skinner hasn’t scored in five games and has one goal in six.
- Tage Thompson has one goal in nine games.
- Rasmus Dahlin has one goal in 11 games.
- Casey Mittelstadt has one goal in 12 games.
- Zach Benson hasn’t scored in 19 games.
- Peyton Krebs has one goal in 22 games.
- Victor Olofsson hasn’t scored in 12 games.
A few players are coming through, though:
- JJ Peterka has four goals in four games, and five goals in 10 games.
- Alex Tuch has two goals in four games, and five goals in 12 games.
The guy that is coming through and has his efforts going to waste is goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Luukkonen has lost 4-of-5 games with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.
In his last 11 games, Luukkonen has gone 6-5-0 with a 1.75 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage. When your goaltender plays this well, it’s inexcusable to only win 6-of-11 games.
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Buffalo had all sorts of hope going into its six-game homestand last month, but the Sabres only went 3-3-0. They’re now 3-5-0 in their last eight home games, and 4-1-0 in their last five road games.
The Sabres host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.
