Buffalo N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres traveled to Texas on Sunday for a matinee affair with the Dallas Stars for the second game of their season series. Dallas took the first game from the Sabres by a score of 5-4 in Buffalo.
Dallas is another Central Division team on this five-game road trip that is looking to get itself into the playoff mix. The Stars sit with a 28-20-3 record, good enough for 61 points which puts them at fifth in the Central. They are currently three points out of a playoff spot behind the Nashville Predators.
The Stars controlled the game early on with a weak first period from the Sabres. Michael Raffl scored the only goal of the period to make it 1-0 Dallas. In the second period, Roope Hintz extended their lead to 2-0 until Tage Thompson cut the deficit back to one with his 22nd goal of the year.
Before the end of the second period, Raffl scored his second goal of the game to make the score 3-1 going into the third. Dallas extended their lead early on in the third with a goal from Denis Gurianov to make it 4-1. Cody Eakin tallied his fourth goal of the year as the Sabres tried to push for the comeback, but fell short by a score of 4-2.
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Buffalo continues to slide on this road trip, with only one game left before a homestand they need to change something big to find a win.
Here are this game's three observations:
1.) Keep your foot on the gas
The Sabres have had a knack for conceding a goal right after scoring one of their own throughout this six-game losing streak.
In this game, Raffl scored about six minutes after Thompson. Last game in St. Louis, it happened on two separate occasions where Jordan Kyrou scored five minutes after Dylan Cozens, and Colton Parayko scored just over a minute after Thompson.
If these kinds of goals were coming every so often, it wouldn’t be a big deal, because that’s just how hockey can be sometimes. However, this Sabres team has been conceding goals like this all year. It’s almost as if the team collectively switches to an all-defensive style of play as soon as one goal is scored no matter the score.
The team needs to figure out how to harness the momentum from their goals and create more chances and opportunities.
2.) Shot production
One thing that hasn’t faltered on this losing streak is shot production.
In the past six games, the Sabres have recorded 202 shots on the net and have been outshot three of the six games. Of those 202 shots, only 12 were goals. Now part of that could be put on the level of the team’s goaltending, but most nights, it came down to where these shots came from.
While Wayne Gretzky did say, “You miss 100% of the shots you never take,” that doesn’t really seem to be Buffalo’s problem here. They’re shooting from all over the ice, but the shots are mostly coming from the perimeter, going right into the goalie’s chest, or off someone’s stick into the corner.
While no one will ever say don’t shoot the puck, the Sabres need to work it into more high-danger areas in the future.
3.) Find a way to win
This may seem like a cop-out statement, but that’s all they need to do. The Sabres had played extremely well on the road this year up to this point, but could very well lay a goose egg on this five-game road trip.
Coming home with a win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday would be a huge morale boost for a team that’s looking for any kind of pick me up right now.
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The Sabres close out their road trip on Wednesday when they travel to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs. The two teams have squared off only one other time this year way back in the beginning of the season, which resulted in a 5-4 win for Toronto.
Puck drop for this game is slated for 7:30 p.m. EST, which means pregame coverage starts at 6:30 p.m. EST with Schopp and the Bulldog on the radio home of the Sabres - WGR Sports Radio 550.
