Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres are who they are, and they proved it once again in Saturday’s 6-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken.
Buffalo was all over the Kraken in the first period. It might have been the best I’ve seen them skate in a period all season. Sam Lafferty and Jack Quinn helped give the Sabres a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes.
However, if you follow this team, you know the script.
Seattle didn’t score its first goal until 12:48 of the second period, breaking Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's shutout streak at 102:01.
From there, Buffalo’s 2-0 lead went to a 5-2 deficit in just 12:38 of clock time. I’m sure you can guess how it happened too.
After 40 minutes, it was 2-2, so there’s no need to panic. Just get back to the game you played in the first period, and Seattle handed you a gift, giving you a two-minute power play to start the third period.
Buffalo didn’t take advantage, and, once again, the script just writes itself.
Seattle took a 3-2 lead at 3:08, a 4-2 lead at 3:46, the Sabres then took a penalty just to give the opponent even more momentum at 4:17, and Kaapo Kakko scored the power play goal at 5:26.
There was no desperation, just panic. And it's a group of players that seem to be waiting around for their inexperienced general manager to bail them out.
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Rasmus Dahlin is the guy that took the penalty, and he just can’t lead this mentally soft team. He can’t stand the perimeter hockey that he’s watching them play.
"It’s nice to be on the outside. It’s calm, relaxing, but you get nothing from it. You can’t be comfortable, it’s that simple," said Dahlin following the loss.
This was also another example where this team played like they had the game won, and it was going to be easy.
"As soon as you start feeling good in this league, it’s over," Dahlin said. "You have to remind yourself it’s hard every single shift out there, and you cannot take any shifts off."
I haven’t seen head coach Lindy Ruff as disgusted after a game since the first time he was here as coach.
"I thought the second period was embarrassing, the way we played," said Ruff after the loss.
"We had O-zone time, didn’t get to the inside, didn’t get pucks to the net, passed the puck around the perimeter, looked for the pretty play and eventually it caught up to us.
"And to give up a goal in the last couple of minutes on that play is unacceptable. It’s just embarrassing. The key on that goal was they tried a behind the back pass (Dennis Gilbert), we turn it over at the blue line, now you’ve got to go play tired in your own end, you end up with bad coverage and you’re out numbered at the net."
I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but this is the most mentally soft team I’ve ever seen in Buffalo, and that covers a lot of teams.
Ruff wanted to see desperation when they pulled the goaltender for the extra attacker, and he saw nothing close to it.
“We’re going to pass it back-and-forth five times, and I don’t think anybody was on the inside. You need three goals. That’s just a mentality that you’ve got to want to win it the hard way, and the hard way sometimes is you’ve got to win it on the walls. You’ve got to make sure you get it deep. You’ve got to make sure you have people back."
With the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park on Sunday to host the Denver Broncos in a playoff game, Sabres owner Terry Pegula is in town, and got to witness first-hand what a bad, mentally soft hockey team his inexperienced general manager has built. He also got to hear first-hand fans chant that they want Kevyn Adams fired.
His first-time general manager has built a team that is the worst team in the Eastern Conference, and fourth-worst in the National Hockey League.
When Pegula hired Adams back in 2020, he said he wanted to be heard.
Now Sabres fans want to be heard.