New interim coach, same permanent results.
That was the story in Don Granato's first game behind the bench as an NHL head coach, as the Buffalo Sabres could not deliver the first-timer a win in his debut.
The Boston Bruins made quick work of the Sabres on Thursday night, 4-1, in the first of the teams' eight meetings this season.
Let's take a look at three observations from Thursday night's game:
1.) Power play success remains a mystery for Buffalo
Until the Sabres score a goal with the man advantage, this will continue to be a point to bring up.
Buffalo has now gone 12-straight games without scoring a power play goal.
The Sabres managed just two shots on goal and a high-danger scoring chance in their one power play opportunity Thursday night, according to Natural Stat Trick. Ever since Jack Eichel suffered an injury in the Sabres' game against the Devils on Feb. 25, the Sabres' special teams unit simply hasn't gotten it done.
Buffalo continues to fall in their league rank on the power play, now sitting in eighth place in the league with a 26.0% conversion rate. The Sabres have had 18 power play opportunities since their last power play goal, and not a single one has gone in.
2.) Hutton is not the issue, but poor goaltending is not helping
The No. 1 issue the Sabres currently face is their inability to consistently score goals at any level of play. If that ability ever returns to them, they're going to have to hope the goaltending makes a similar turnaround.
Sabres goaltender Carter Hutton has not had a good season, but his stretch of games since goaltender Linus Ullmark came out due of injury have been even worse. Hutton has just an .877 save percentage to go along with his 0-6-1 record at all strengths. At even-strength, he's pulled in an .876 save percentage.
According to hockey-reference.com, the league average save percentage for the 2020-21 season is .907. With Sabres goaltender Jonas Johansson's save percentage of .884 and a team save percentage of .890, Buffalo is well below-average at that portion of the game.
3.) Skinner noticeably on the ice much more Thursday night
Sabres forward Jeff Skinner popped up on his usual line with Curtis Lazar and Casey Mittelstadt prior to the game when the Sabres released lines for the evening.
Typically, being on that line has equated to the Sabres' fourth line this season, but something about Thursday was different.
Skinner was actually Buffalo's fourth most-often used forward at 5-on-5, putting in 12:55 of shift time in.
Skinner's usage will be interesting to monitor moving forward, as Buffalo acclimates under Granato as the interim head coach.
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Buffalo will get, yet, another chance to put an end to their 13-game winless streak Saturday afternoon when they take on the Bruins again for the second game of their two-game series.
We'll kick things off at 12 p.m. ET as Brian Koziol takes you through the Paul William Beltz Pregame Show. That will bring you right up to the scheduled opening faceoff at 1 p.m. ET on the radio flagship station of the Sabres - WGR Sports Radio 550.