The Buffalo Sabres once again could not settle things in regulation, as the New Jersey Devils came to the Key Bank Center on Saturday afternoon in Buffalo and hung around long enough for each team to get a point before the Sabres took care of things in the shootout to win 4-3. .
However, the Sabres did close things out with a 4-3 shootout win, thanks to a Jack Eichel goal in the opening round, as well as another stellar performance from Linus Ullmark in net.
Let's take a look at three observations from this afternoon's game:
1.) Four of the last five games have gone to overtime
The Sabres are struggling to close games out in regulation these days. Four of their last five games have gone to overtime, with three of those games going to a shootout.
Saturday saw the Sabres holding on to a one-goal lead in the third period for nearly three minutes before the Devils answered to tie things up at 3-3 with just over six minutes to play in regulation.
Buffalo is going to need to figure out how to start closing things down in 60 minutes or less. The Sabres cannot keep allowing more points to their divisional opponents in a shortened season. It could make things a bit uncomfortable when the end-of-season playoff push comes.
It's going to come sooner than we think.
2.) Sabres taking too many penalties the last two games
Through the first eight games of the year, the Sabres led the league in penalty differential, with a 1.83 ratio per-60 minutes in favor of drawing penalties to taking penalties. Through the past two games, the Sabres have drawn nine penalties and taken eight, a significantly lower rate than that of the start of the season.
With the Sabres producing on the power play (they're 2-for-9 in their last two games and 10-for-35 on the year), they will need to rely more on staying out of the box and drawing more penalties against their opponents to give themselves an edge in games where they seem to be struggling at finishing 5-on-5.
3.) Eric Staal continues to be a stabilizing presence
The Sabres have been in desperate need for another productive center for some time, and their trade for Eric Staal seems to have provided exactly what they were looking for out of the position. Staal has scored three goals and registered five points in nine games this season, and seems to have some chemistry with his new linemate, Taylor Hall. Hall assisted on Staal's goal on Saturday, along with defenseman Brandon Montour.
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The Sabres and the Devils will take the night to think about what they've done and take that right back to KeyBank Center on Sunday afternoon. The Paul William Beltz Pregame Show gets started at noon on WGR, with puck drop scheduled for just after 1 p.m. EST.
