TAMPA – The standings still show the Sabres are in the thick of the playoff race, even in the wake of Tuesday's fiasco against the Toronto Maple Leafs. There are still 27 games left, a point too easily forgotten in these parts.
Still, facts need to be faced. The 6-3 beatdown the Sabres endured was the most embarrassing performance they have had under Don Granato since he took over as interim coach and dealt with the tail end of an 18-game losing streak in 2021.Â
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was replaced by Craig Anderson when the Maple Leafs scored their fourth goal on their 10th shot and they left Buffalo with a 6-3 win.
This is a team GM Kevyn Adams has built and Granato has molded, and there are plenty of encouraging signs around it for future years. As for this season, there are clearly signs of trouble, too.
It's looking like two flawed teams out of a group of six or seven will grab the Eastern Conference wild cards. The Sabres are competing with the New York Islanders, Florida, Pittsburgh, Washington, Detroit and even Ottawa. None of them is remotely close to the level of the Leafs, Boston nor Carolina.
People are also reading…
So why can't the Sabres be one of the two when the schedule wraps up seven weeks from now? Maybe they can, but they better figure out this February funk.
Stats can lie but the Sabres' numbers since the calendar turned to this month sure don't.
Buffalo is 2-4 in February and has given up five goals or more in all four of the losses. The Sabres are tied for 30th in the NHL in points (4), 31st in goals against (4.67) and 32nd on the penalty kill (62.5%). They are 18th in goals (3.17) and 15th on the power play (15.8%).Â
Individually, Alex Tuch has team highs of four goals and seven points in the six games. Casey Mittelstadt is next in points with six and Dylan Cozens is second in goals with three. Rasmus Dahlin has no goals but still has five assists and is leading the way at 25:17 per game. Mattias Samuelsson's game has dipped some and so has his ice time, down to 18:47, while Owen Power is at 22:48.
In the net, you're not going to be surprised here. Among the 30 goalies who have played four games in February, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is last in GAA (5.35) and 29th in save percentage (.856)
With all this as a backdrop, Adams continues to work the phones but you shouldn't expect a major move. It says here the GM will play it out with this group and see how it reacts to the pressure of a race, and look merely to tweak it by adding a depth forward or depth defenseman.
What in the world was that display Tuesday night in KeyBank Center?
The Sabres have four chances to get things right before we even get to March but the first two are daunting.
They will be in Amalie Arena on Thursday night to meet the Tampa Bay Lightning, then head further south to battle the Florida Panthers in Sunrise on Friday.
Recent history is not on their side in either matchup.
Against Tampa, Buffalo has dropped four straight and been outscored, 22-9, with two of the games this season. Worse yet, the Sabres have gone 1-9-2 in their last 12 games against the Lightning overall and 0-6-1 in their last seven trips to Tampa.
The Panthers also have all of Buffalo's numbers of late, handing the Sabres six straight regulation losses by an aggregate count of 30-15 and winning both meetings this season in KeyBank Center. And in the last nine games in FLA Live Arena, Buffalo is just 1-6-2.
Before worrying about a win in Tampa, the first thing we need to see from the Sabres is some indignity. Some crustiness over the way the Toronto game unfolded.
After the morning skate Tuesday, Granato was understandably upbeat. Everyone knew what the atmosphere would be like and, after all, the Sabres have thrived in circuses this year.
As the coach said, "Our guys have performed well in really chaotic buildings this year. So I'm comfortable that our guys will be excited for it."
I can report from firsthand observation that you couldn't hear yourself think in places like Colorado, Vegas, Boston and Nashville earlier this season and the Sabres won in all of them. It was likely a similar scenario in locales like Calgary, Washington and Minnesota and Buffalo got five of those six points as well.
And even the last trip to Tampa, a 5-3 loss on Nov. 5, was a back-and-forth affair with more than 19,000 in the house roaring until the Lightning finally snapped a tie in the final five minutes.Â
But the Sabres were apparently blown away by all they faced Tuesday. They gave Luukkonen no help and he gave himself none either. It was 4-0 through 13 minutes and don't talk to me about a big comeback in the third period when the score was already 5-0.
After the game, Granato was echoing some gobbledygook about the team still trying to regain its sharpness off its bye week break. Even though that ended 10 days ago. Not buying any of that and he shouldn't be selling it.
First game off a West Coast trip might have been a more legitimate item but it was nonetheless stunning to see the utter lack of pushback.
The home record crisis is now full blown at 11-15-2, which is 29th in the league and ahead of only terrible West teams Vancouver, San Jose and Anaheim.
Do you really have a legitimate playoff shot with the worst home record in your conference? What is with all this fear about playing at home?
We'll get back to that topic Sunday afternoon when Washington is in town for what looks to be an important showdown. And the Caps will have Alex Ovechkin back in their lineup after he traveled to Russia for the final days of his father's life and the funeral.
What we all knew would be an arduous week continues here Thursday. No way anyone thought it would start the way it did. The Sabres better get their minds off that game fast.
