Nashville, Tenn. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres' 6-4 loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday was just another loss that you can’t have if you want to be a good team.
The Predators came in with a six-game losing streak, got passed by one of the worst teams in the NHL on Friday night when the Chicago Blackhawks ripped them, 6-2, making Saturday a back-to-back game.
The Sabres, on the other hand, were well rested, and sitting in Nashville waiting for them.
The loss broke Buffalo’s four-game winning streak, and their streak of seven good games in-a-row. Buffalo did have the better of the play through much of this game, but I can’t say they played a good game.
Take the first period, for example. The Sabres came out fast and created scoring opportunities. Jiri Kulich, Alex Tuch, Tage Thompson and Jack Quinn all had quality chances on Justus Annunen in net for Nashville, but didn’t score.
The Predators then had their first scoring chance of the game, a 3-on-1 thanks to a pass from Tuch to Bo Byram that got knocked down, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen couldn’t stop Tommy Novak with the shot.
Byram played it perfectly and took away the layup pass, but Luukkonen must make that big save.
A few minutes later, Thompson turned the puck over and Nashville got its second scoring chance of the period, this time a 3-on-2 where Ryan O’Reilly found Brady Skjei coming free down the middle of the ice.
Two scoring chances for the Predators, and two goals.
Buffalo didn’t quit, which made this loss even worse, because Byram and Ramus Dahlin scored goals 3:04 apart and it was 2-2. It was Dahlin's first goal in 25 games, dating back to Nov. 27.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said Dahlin had his best game of the season. He also added an assist, giving him 22 assists in 20 games.
The tie lasted until the 14:31 mark of the second period.
Buffalo had killed 16-of-17 penalties, but Luukkonen couldn’t handle a shot from the point, and it kicked out a big rebound to Nashville’s best goal scorer, Filip Forsberg, who put it into a wide-open net.
Just 42 seconds later, Skjei came down the slot, there wasn’t a Sabres player within 10 feet of him, and he made it 4-2, Nashville. In two games against the Sabres, the defenseman, who hasn’t scored much this year, had two goals and two assists for four points.
Before the period ended, Byram found Tuch in the left circle to make it 4-3. Buffalo was still playing well a lot of the time, but when they didn’t, they were awful.
You just can’t feed the offense of a tired team that has lost six in-a-row. It’s a recipe for what we saw.
The next time the Sabres lost coverage, it was on Forsberg, who was wide-open, and O’Reilly found him again.
O’Reilly only has 20 assists this season, and four of them came on Saturday. That means he had 20% of his assists in one night against his old team. In two games against Buffalo, O'Reilly had five assists, which is 25% of his total.
Tuch set up Dylan Cozens for a power play goal to make it 5-4, and then Dahlin found Zach Benson all alone in front to tie the score at 5-5, or so the Sabres thought. The problem was Peyton Krebs was offside and the goal was disallowed.
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Buffalo had the better of the play for much of this game, and created some great offense, but there’s no way I can say they had a good game. They over-passed the puck, their puck management wasn’t good, and their coverage in the middle of the ice was as bad as I’ve seen it all season, which is pretty bad. They also didn’t get the goaltending they needed.
The team is now off until the New York Rangers come to town on Feb. 22.
In the meantime, Rasmus Dahlin will be playing for Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off, while Luukkonen and Henri Jokiharju will represent Finland.