BUFFALO – A visit from the heavyweight Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday might be enough to shake the Sabres out of their recent funk.
In losing consecutive games in regulation for the first time since early December, the Sabres often looked uninterested, failing to match the desperation and tenacity of opponents fighting to get into the postseason.
The Sabres, of course, have been firmly entrenched in a playoff spot for months. They officially clinched their first postseason berth in 15 years on Saturday afternoon when the New York Rangers defeated the Detroit Red Wings hours before their 6-2 loss to the Washington Capitals.
“All the teams we’ve been playing are playing for their playoff lives, and we’ve just been cruising,” Sabres center Tage Thompson told reporters in Washington. “So too casual. And that’s the kind of hockey that it’s going to be in playoffs, even more – more desperate, more intense. We haven’t matched that the last two games.”
Having enjoyed one of the greatest runs in franchise history over the past four months – the Sabres have a stunning 35-9-4 record since Dec. 9 – they get a bit of a mulligan.
Even after dropping two straight games – on Thursday, they lost 4-1 to the Ottawa Senators – and five of their last seven (2-3-2) contests, they have an NHL-high 74 points during that torrid stretch, six more than next closest teams.
Sooner or later, the Sabres were bound to endure a difficult stretch.
The Lightning should grab their full attention.
On March 8 in a raucous KeyBank Center, the Sabres defeated their Atlantic Division rival 8-7 in an ultra-intense and fight-filled affair. The wildly entertaining game ranks as one of the Sabres’ most memorable of the past two decades.
“A game where there was a lot of intensity last time, and maybe it’s exactly what we need right now,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff told reporters in Washington.
Right now, the Sabres need an infusion of energy. They need to score more goals. They need to clean up their shoddy defensive-zone coverage.
“Our defensive play has been a big reason why we got to where we got,” Ruff said. “We can’t take that for granted.”
In Saturday’s loss, they hung goalie Alex Lyon out to dry, falling behind 3-0 just 5:52 into the game.
“He wasn’t out there covering those guys who were wide open,” Ruff said. “He was trying to.”
Lyon, who made just two saves before getting replaced by rookie Colten Ellis, has performed splendidly most of the season, forming an elite tandem alongside Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. For 18 games, the goalies alternated starts.
But Luukkonen started three straight games before Lyon played again Saturday. In his last three outings, Lyon has compiled some ghastly numbers: a 0-2-1 record with a 6.24 goals-against average and a .772 save percentage.
So Luukkonen will likely start against the Lighting. He played in the teams’ last meeting 29 days ago, making 21 saves as the Sabres moved into sole possession of first place in the division. Today, they rank third behind the Lightning and Montreal Canadiens, who carried an eight-game win streak into Sunday’s contest against the New Jersey Devils.
“We got to look at ourselves in the mirror,” Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin told reporters in Washington. “No one is playing their best hockey right now.”