BUFFALO – If you examine each loss during the Sabres’ current three-game skid, sure, positives can be found.
On Friday, they opened the scoring against the New York Islanders and staged a late comeback. Last Monday, they roared back from a two-goal deficit versus the Florida Panthers.
In Saturday’s 2-1 loss in Detroit, they grabbed an early lead and outshot the Red Wings.
What do the 4-7-1 Sabres have to show for those games? Nothing.
They enter tonight’s contest against the Ottawa Senators at KeyBank Center trying to avoid their first four-game regulation losing streak since Nov. 30 to Dec. 5, 2023.
Barely a week ago, the Sabres had a three-game winning streak and were enjoying a 4-1-1 run. Things have surely gone sideways in a hurry. Entering Monday’s schedule, their point total, nine, was the second-lowest in the NHL. Only the hapless San Jose Sharks had a lower points percentage.
So Ruff, whose patience is clearly wearing thin, said he has been talking to his players “about the standard” and “playing quicker.”
“Don’t accept what happened in Detroit as OK,” he said following Monday’s practice. “OK hockey is not good enough.”
Right now, their standard is too low. They can’t be satisfied they’ve played well for stretches. To get anywhere, they must consistently play full games.
“We got to win games,” Ruff said. “… Raise the standard, raise the expectation. I’m not going to stand here and talk about (it). We did good things, but finish the good things, finish some of those great opportunities, put it in the back of the net.”
The Sabres have registered 31 even-strength goals, the NHL’s 10th-highest total entering Monday’s games. However, they’ve scored just three during their three-game skid.
Their 32nd-ranked power play, which began the season zero of its first 22, scored in three straight games before getting blanked Saturday. But as they’ve found a bit of a groove on the man advantage, their penalty killing been awful.
Detroit captain Dylan Larkin burned the Sabres for two power-play scores in Saturday’s second period. Opponents have scored five power-play goals during the Sabres’ losing streak.
Ruff said failed clears have recently doomed them. Larkin scored his first goal after Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson couldn’t get the puck out.
“You can have a good kill and you fail on the clear, it’s in the back of your net” Ruff said. “Structure-wise, we’ve been limiting pretty good, but we’ll make that big mistake that costs us dearly.
“I think any time you have a failed clear it just seems like it’s going to bite you. The opposition keeps it alive, you ended up being a little tired in the zone, or you’re anticipating the puck going down the ice and you’re out of position for a couple seconds.”
To captain Rasmus Dahlin, who on Saturday played a season-high 27 minutes, 33 seconds, the Sabres’ recent skid “comes down to compete.”
“You should win every single battle,” he said. “We have to do better in terms of just wanting to win the battle and really dig in.”
Dahlin said the team’s belief hasn’t been shaken.
“We still have a lot of games left,” he said before reinforcing his earlier point. “We still have a lot of belief. It’s not even a question. We just got to dig in and compete harder.”
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Ruff moved Dahlin and Bowen Byram together during Saturday’s game and kept them as a duo in Monday’s practice.
“(Their) puck movement getting up the ice was real good, helped us out offensively quite a few times, where we got in the zone, we had lots of zone time,” Ruff said. “We didn’t get enough attack time sometimes.”
The defensemen skated together last season after the Sabres acquired Byram in a trade from the Colorado Avalanche, so there’s some familiarity.
“He’s a very smart hockey player in general,” Dahlin said. “He makes the right reads. He can play at a high pace.”
Based on Monday’s defense pairs, the Sabres will keep Jacob Bryson, who made his season debut Saturday, in the lineup against Ottawa and sit Connor Clifton again. Bryson practiced with Owen Power.