Update: This column has been updated after the Buffalo Sabres’ 6-5 overtime loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.
The Buffalo Sabres had four days since they last played before Wednesday – in a game where they got their first win of the season, beating the defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers 5-2.
The win eased the tension created by Buffalo losing its first three games of the season, but the pressure is still on them to show what they’re made of and take advantage of a relatively soft part of the schedule.
Indeed, with the Jeykll-and-Hyde Pittsburgh Penguins beating the Sabres in Pittsburgh Wednesday night – and with the following two road games against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Chicago Blackhawks – the Sabres can’t afford to take their foot off the gas at the moment.
Buffalo needs to take advantage of these next games and get some power-play goals on the board – they’re 0-for-15 after Wednesday night’s game – and average more than 2.60 goals-for per game. They also need to capitalize on more of their many scoring chances – they have the fifth-highest scoring chances-for rate at 5-on-5 ahead of Wednesday night, per naturalstattrick.com – and shut the door on more of the chances that get through the other way.
After the Hawks game, Buffalo’s schedule gets significantly harder, with showdowns against Detroit (twice), Dallas, Florida, the New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers.
Easily, the Sabres could be in trouble once again – and if they are, how long can GM Kevyn Adams last in his role running the team? He’s been GM since 2020-21, and there are many examples of GMs who haven’t been afforded that much time to implement their game plan for success. There are numerous veteran GMs – Marc Bergevin, anyone? – who’d happily step into the Sabres’ GM job.
There’s no sugarcoating it: Buffalo can’t afford to stumble yet again and miss out on the post-season for the 14th consecutive season. Their fan base has heard it all, and no one can fault them for being jaded and bitter when red flags go up right out of the gate this year. The Sabres desperately need to course-correct, or Adams will pay for it with his job.
Luckily, because it’s still early, the Sabres don’t have to win every game to get back into the thick of things. But the bubble squads in the Atlantic Division will be reminded of just how competitive it is in the Eastern Conference to make the playoffs, and any losing stretch makes it so much harder to outdo the other clubs. The Sabres just can’t afford to dig a hole this early.
Their immediate challenge is to pull out of this collective nose dive, and if that doesn’t happen, major changes are going to have to happen. Again.
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