Buffalo fall to a damning 3-1 defeat on Kids Day at the KeyBank Centre
Score: Buffalo Sabres 1-3 Tampa Bay Lightning
Shots: BUF 27-16 TBL
Buffalo Sabres Goals: Cozens (8)
Tampa Bay Lightning Goals: Paul (12), Motte (4), de Haan (3)
Minus 1: Outworked
Work it.. Make it.. Do it.. Makes us
Harder Better Faster Stronger
– Daft Punk
The Saturday matinee tilt against TB was doubly important for the Sabres. Not only do the Sabres need to get points anywhere they can with their postseason chances fading rapidly, but today’s opponents also currently occupy one of the two wildcard berths available and thus beating them becomes critical.
However, even this somewhat-diluted version of the Lightning from their Stanley Cup domination years showed they still play like champions. In the first period and all the way to about halfway into the second they outworked their hosts in just about every way, and the score showed the difference.
Whether it was hitting in the corners, distribution of the puck, getting to open areas or maintaining possession, Tampa were harder, better, stronger and faster than Buffalo, and led 2-0 without making it look too difficult.
Plus 1: Resilience
Against Tampa’s league leading power play (31%!!), Buffalo got an excellent kill midway through the second period and that jumpstarted the Sabres offensive work. Energized by the crowd, Buffalo crashed the Tampa net and passed with intent – especially from behind the line – and resulted in Dylan Cozens getting their first goal.
Two big chances to level the game came early in the third for the Sabres, with Connor Clifton finding Alex Tuch behind Victor Hedman for a shot that came off backup goalie Jonas Johansson’s pads and then Tuch almost getting a touch on Owen Power’s shot from between the dots as he stood in front of the former Sabre.
The Sabres even outshot their visitors 15-2 in the last stanza, but the Lightning’s second shot of the period was the empty-net winner to end the chances of a comeback with under two to play. Can’t fault the Sabres’ for their effort in the middle and last part of the game, but the brutal lesson they got taught today was that any and all mistakes at this level can and will be punished.
Minus 2: Damned
Special teams have been awful as a whole for the Sabres this season. The penalty kill has been very good at times, and then decimated by injuries became pedestrian before showing some improvement in recent weeks. The power play.. the less said about that the better.
Buffalo do lead the league in most shorthanded goals given up with eight now, which is on pace for 14 for the season, easily their worst in a decade. It would be one thing if they were scoring when a man-up, but that is also close to their worst in the last ten years, resulting in their worst Net PP% this millennium at 9.2%.
The powerplay has been a minor inconvenience > a burgeoning issue >> a major problem >>> a damning death sentence on this season’s chances of making any noise. Earlier last fall we’d though that the goaltending would be the biggest stumbling block, but now even when the back-end is looking decent the goals are not coming in the other end and that is going to become the new story of the season, especially when getting a powerplay now likely means giving up a goal instead.
Plus 2: The Kids!
I’ve said this before and will say it again – I think Kids Day is a fantastic idea and this year’s edition was very well executed as well. The energy around the arena appears to be different for these games. Having the kids act as reporters, make announcements, sketch headshots, bringing Duffer and Marty down to the 100 level for their analysis and getting the younger members of the fanbase involved in so many different ways is only good for both the game and the success-starved franchise.
Many of the kids in attendance today are not yet in their teens, which means they have not seen the entirety of the playoff drought that has stricken us, but their cheerful demeanor and unconditionally support is a good lesson for the world-weary amongst us to try and draw whatever cheer we can extract from what has becoming the chore of supporting the Sabres.
Final Thoughts
It’s all well and good beating terrible teams like the Sharks and the Blackhawks, but the Sabres are going to have to have to beat teams better than them to get anywhere this season. The playoff window might still be fractionally ajar, but Buffalo are going to have to finish the remaining thirty-odd games like a raging gale to blow it wide open, and on the basis of how they’re looking right now with key pieces coming in and out of the nightly roster, it’s not going to happen.
Closing out the campaign on a tear last season didn’t provide the necessary momentum this year with too many players regressing. Maintaining the bulk of the roster with a few throw-ins did not work. Does this provide the decision-makers with a push to change that strategy, or will they try to repeat the same thing again?