LOS ANGELES – An equipment cart rolled down the hallway outside the Buffalo Sabres’ dressing room late Monday night as coach Don Granato spoke to a small group of reporters.
Players shuffled by while preparing to board the bus for a long ride back to the hotel. Quietly, Granato delivered a summary of all that went wrong for his players in a 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings inside Crypto.com Arena.
"Great until we gave up a shorthanded goal and then it wasn’t so great," he lamented.
One mistake snowballed into a four-goal second period for the Kings. Special teams were again an issue for the Sabres. A turnover on the man advantage led to a shorthanded goal, and Los Angeles scored on two of its three power plays.
Granato changed his forward lines to try to stop the overthinking that was apparent their letdown against the Calgary Flames in KeyBank Center two days prior. Even the top group of Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and Jeff Skinner didn’t survive Granato’s blender.
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The new-look lineup couldn’t generate much against a tight defensive team in Los Angeles until the third period, when Dylan Cozens and Peyton Krebs broke through for a goal apiece. The late push didn't make up for the Sabres succumbing to frustration during a brutal 20 minutes, though.
Players sat stoically in front of him on the Sabres’ bench following the Kings’ third goal, a routine wrist shot by defenseman Sean Walker that beat Craig Anderson at the near post. Frustration wasn’t evident on their faces, but it was obvious in their play.
And despite losing their fourth straight game while others in the Eastern Conference gained points to create separation in the playoff race, the Sabres have a coach who believes they’ll quickly return to form.
“We’ll get it,” said Granato. “They’ll get it. There’s no question about it. It’s frustrating because it’s not here yet, but it’s gonna happen. There’s no doubt about it with this group.”
Buffalo (26-22-4) sat five points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference when the game ended Monday night. It’s been an abysmal stretch for the Sabres, yet it's not as prolonged as it may seem.
The weeklong All-Star break was bookended by poor performances. The Sabres were thoroughly outplayed against Carolina on the eve of their seven-day pause, then outworked for most of the game in their return. They haven't experienced the elation and relief of victory since a close call in Winnipeg on Jan. 26.
Over the past three games, they’ve been outscored 17-5 and their power play is 2 for 12, including a 1-for-5 performance against the Kings, who were second in the Pacific Division behind the Vegas Golden Knights.
This was going to be the Sabres' most difficult game on the three-game trip through California. And their new forward lines looked disjointed with the puck from the start.
There’s predictability with familiar linemates, which is beneficial against a tight-checking, defensive-minded team like the Kings. The Sabres fumbled the puck early. They struggled to get the puck through the neutral zone and didn't earn much time in the offensive zone during the first period.
Overpassing was an issue when the Sabres seemed to be on the verge of a breakthrough. During a rush in the first period, Cozens sent the puck back to Skinner rather than testing goalie Pheonix Copley with a shot from the right wing.
"Everyone can play with anyone here," said Cozens. "They do defend well, so it's tough to create offense sometimes. ... But I don't think that has anything to do with it. I just think we gave them something in the second period and they took advantage and ran away with it. "
The Sabres had only five shots on goal in the first period, despite having a pair of power-play opportunities, but it was still 0-0.
The Kings broke through this time because of a mistake by the Sabres. Kyle Okposo’s drop pass on the power play was intercepted by Blake Lizotte, who started the rush by quickly getting the puck to Adrian Kempe in the neutral zone. Kempe’s shot from the left circle deflected off the blade of Owen Power’s stick and past goalie Craig Anderson for a shorthanded goal and 1-0 lead at 9:20 into the second period.
"I didn’t like our response after that," Granato added. "I don’t think our guys liked our response after that."
The Kings’ lead increased to 2-0 when center Phillip Danault whiffed on a shot attempt from the slot, but the puck went directly to Arthur Kaliyev, who shot from the right circle into the open net. Walker and Matt Roy added a goal apiece only 33 seconds apart to help Los Angeles pull away.
Down 4-0 against a formidable opponent, the Sabres were able to play with the fearless, aggressive approach that helped them become one of the NHL’s top offensive teams. Granato changed his lines again, reuniting Thompson with Skinner and Tuch.
"We had a good game plan,” said Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. “They got some (bad) goals I would say. But you know, we battled throughout the whole game. We had a lot of power play, so the game could have looked differently, but it is what it is.”
But the deficit ballooned to 5-0 at 5:14 into the third period because of a goal that must have conjured more frustration from the Sabres. The puck ricocheted off the end boards and into the Anderson’s crease, creating a scramble that ended with Viktor Arvidsson scoring for the Kings. The issue, Granato said, started with Los Angeles’ shorthanded goal in the second period.
“The game until that point, again, the power play hasn’t been good, and we give up a shorthanded goal after playing a solid game in a tough building and keeping it tight, 0-0,” said Granato. “Not a lot of chances, not a lot of opportunities either way.
"So, a good effort until that point and then that lapse, and I didn’t like our response afterwards. It was enough of a letdown that we couldn’t get back to the game we needed to play, really, until the third period and that’s disappointing.”
The finish didn’t change the Sabres’ reality. They’ve scored three or fewer goals in six of their last seven games. Mentally, they haven’t been as sharp since the weeklong break. Their practice Sunday in Los Angeles was designed to be one of their “hardest” of the season, Granato said. Line changes were made to put the focus on working to earn scoring opportunities, rather than relying on the on-ice chemistry that the groups formed over the previous seven weeks.
Each of the Sabres' four consecutive losses have been to teams that are in a playoff spot: Minnesota, Carolina, Calgary and Los Angeles. More the most part, they've defended well at 5-on-5. But brief lapses have led to insurmountable deficits.
Granato didn’t want to waste time or energy speculating about the cause of the Sabres’ recent dip in performance, saying that any explanation after a loss can be deemed an “excuse.” He doesn’t want his players thinking that way. While there’s obvious urgency, all involved know that frustration will only make matters worse, like it did Monday night.
“Every game is important,” said Dahlin. “It's new for us. But there's 30 games left, so we have to forget about this game and move on. We have a big one coming up here.”
Here are other observations from the game:
1. Search continues
The lines needed to change in some meaningful way. The Sabres can't be complacent, especially on the road when the opponent can decide the matchups.
Though the Kings (30-18-7) applied pressure all over the ice in the first period, the Sabres' new lines drew two penalties. Granato had to make another change, though, after Los Angeles went up 4-0.
Thompson was back with Skinner and Tuch. Cozens centered Casey Mittelstadt and Victor Olofsson. Tyson Jost was with Jack Quinn and Rasmus Asplund. Kreb reunited with Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons. The Sabres looked engaged again.
Cozens scored when he whiffed on a shot, but the puck leaked through Copley. Krebs redirected a pass from Olofsson for a power-play goal.
“You saw some time in the third period where that’s how we need to play: fearless, aggressive, assertive, and competitive," said Granato. "Again, I think we were overthinking the game. You try to overthink it at this speed and it’s not good enough.”
2. Punchless power play
The Sabres need to make a significant change on the power play. They’re not using their options down low. By failing to cycle the puck to their options closer to the net, the Sabres are predictable and susceptible to pressure-heavy penalty kills like the Kings’. Personnel isn’t the issue. These groups had Buffalo ranked fifth in the NHL on the man-advantage entering Monday. But the Sabres had only one shot on goal during their four power plays to start the game against Los Angeles.
Buffalo is 6 for 44 on the power play over its last 15 games. Opponents are taking away Thompson. The Kings also tried to pressure Dahlin, which forced Cozens to try to find another option for the first unit.
“Sometimes we look for the perfect play, and a lot of power play goals come off scramble and chao,” Cozens explained. “Whether it's me or Dahls, it's just throwing pucks on the net and getting those back and creating chaos off that and scoring off that, that's something we need to do more of I think."
The penalty kill hasn’t been much better. The Sabres allowed two power-play goals Monday and they’ve allowed at least one in six of their last seven games.
3. Difficult moments
This was a rough game for Anderson.
The Sabres defended well in front of him. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Kings finished with 2.1 expected goals based on the quality of their 28 shots on Anderson. He allowed five goals on 28 shots.
Three of the Kings' goals were scored on broken plays or weird bounces. But Anderson likely should have stopped the shot that led to the shorthanded goal. The puck ricocheted off Power's stick blade, but it's a shot that Anderson typically stops.
On the Kings' third goal, Anderson couldn't snare Walker's shot with his glove. This was Anderson's first appearance since Jan. 23, when his work in net led the Sabres to a win in Dallas.
It will be interesting to see how Granato handles the goalie rotation for the rest of the trip. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen played Saturday against Calgary. Eric Comrie hasn't been in goal since the win over the Jets before the break.
4. Next
The Sabres will play the Ducks in Anaheim on Wednesday night at 10 p.m., then complete the three-game road trip Saturday night in San Jose against the Sharks.
