Peyton Krebs (left), Jack Quinn and the rest of the Sabres have their work cut out for them to get in the playoff chase. ©2025, Micheline Veluvolu

Sabres blow another lead, implode late in loss to Kraken: ‘Hard one to explain’

BUFFALO – Don’t blame the Sabres’ problems on talent. They possess plenty of it. No, their sorry standing and penchant for blowing multi-goal leads can be traced to between the ears.

They’re fragile mentally, and at the first sign of adversity they often crumble.

Saturday afternoon’s embarrassing 6-2 loss to the hapless Seattle Kraken, a game in which the Sabres led 2-0 in the first period, only reinforced that.

“Mental, all mental,” captain Rasmus Dahlin said of an ugly third period during which the Sabres completely collapsed and allowed four goals. “It’s that simple.”

The Kraken limped into town a mess, having lost four straight games and nine of their last 12 outings (3-8-1). Meanwhile, fresh off Thursday’s 4-0 road win against the Ottawa Senators, the Sabres seemed to pick up where they left off.

Of course, no lead the Sabres grab feels safe, and in the final minute of the second period, the Kraken tied it.

“I don’t know if we thought it was going to be an easy game after that,” center Dylan Cozens said of the Sabres’ strong start. “They came out and they wanted it more after that. We just gave it to them. We just gave the game away.”

They kept giving it away, committing mistakes and making ill-advised plays while unraveling before the crowd of 16,759 fans in KeyBank Center. Despite starting the third period tied and with a two-minute power play, the Sabres trailed 5-2 by the 5:26 mark.

The Kraken only needed Oliver Bjorkstrand’s goal at 3:08, which deflected in off Sabres defenseman Jacob Bryson’s glove. Kappo Kaako scored at 3:08 and again on the power play at 5:26.

In a span of 2:18, the Kraken blew the game wide open.

“Horrendous plays,” said coach Lindy Ruff, who sounded disgusted with the Sabres’ play. “Bad puck management. Shifts that got too long on the ice.”

The Sabres, after throttling the Kraken early, had no pushback. Incredibly, they’ve lost six games this season in which they’ve held multi-goal leads. They’ve been tied 10 times entering the third period. They’re 2-5-3 in those games.

If they had managed to hold just half of those leads, they’d be challenging for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card spot. Instead, they’re in the basement.

“We’ve got to figure it out because it happens too much,” Cozens said of the third periods. “I think when we give up a goal we’ve just got to forget about it. Every team gives up goals every game and you’ve just got to find a way to forget about it and move on.”

Building mental toughness is tricky. The Sabres can likely find some by simply plowing ahead and sticking to what made them successful earlier in the game.

“We’ve just got to keep pushing for the next one and we can’t change anything,” Cozens said. “We can’t try to play an easy game and try and go through sticks and try to make plays at the blue line. We just got to keep doing what we did in the first and get it behind them and play the right way and win battles down low and get to the net.

“Yeah, it’s happened too much where we’ve gotten the lead right away, we’ve had a good start and then we just crumble and give the game away.”

After center Sam Lafferty and winger Jack Quinn put the Sabres up 2-0 by the 17:17 mark, they began crumbling in the second period.

Seattle ended goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s 102-minute shutout streak when Sabres defenseman Dennis Gilbert blindly backhanded the puck from behind his net. Chandler Stephenson intercepted it, and Ryker Evans scored 12:48.

Andre Burakovsky tied it at 19:12, easily potting a rebound at the net with no Sabres around him. The Kraken moved back into the Buffalo zone after defenseman Bowen Byram couldn’t get the puck deep when he managed to exit once.

“I thought the second period, embarrassing the way we played,” Ruff said. “We had O-zone time, didn’t get to the inside, didn’t get pucks to the net, passed the puck around the perimeter, looked for the pretty play, and eventually it caught up to us.

“And to give up a goal in the last couple minutes on the play, unacceptable. Just embarrassing, actually.”

The Sabres, having won two straight games and five of their last eight contests (5-2-1), seemed to have picked themselves up after their 13-game winless streak kicked them to the bottom.

But an ugly loss like Saturday’s feels like it erases any recent progress.

“It is a hard one to explain,” Ruff said. “We’ve been working hard at trying to maintain a real consistent style of play. Manage the puck, make sure the puck gets deep. You look at the goals that got them back in the game. We didn’t manage it.

“The behind-the-back pass on the late second-period goal, a defenseman that’s on the ice too long and we turn it over at the blue line, now you’ve got to go play tired in your own end and then you end up with bad coverage, you’re outnumbered at the net. It’s just painful.”

Notes: The Sabres scratched defenseman Mattias Samuelsson (illness) and wingers Beck Malenstyn (illness) and Nicolas Aube-Kubel (healthy). Malenstyn has started practicing. … The Sabres dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the second straight game, using Gilbert as an extra defender. He fought Bjorkstrand in the first period after the Seattle winger hit him into the boards. … The Sabres have scored first in 26 of their 43 games this season. … Cozens and linemate Tage Thompson were each a minus-4. … Dahlin’s assist on Quinn’s power-play goal extended his career-long assist streak to five games. … Seattle’s Dan Bylsma coached his first game in Buffalo as a head coach since the Sabres fired him in 2017. … The Kraken have a lifetime 4-0-0 record in Buffalo. … Former Bills linebacker Darryl Talley banged the Sabres drum prior to the opening faceoff to rile up the crowd.

2 thoughts on “Sabres blow another lead, implode late in loss to Kraken: ‘Hard one to explain’”

  1. Pathetic. I turned the game off when it got to 5-2.
    Bryson & Gilbert solely responsible for 2 ugly goals.
    After going up 2-0, the Sabres got complacent.
    This loss ended their season.
    Disgusted.
    Inconsistent play.
    Weak leadership.
    Too small & Too soft.
    Adams needs to trade Power, Cozens, Jokiharju.
    Sign Byram long-term. If he doesn’t want to sign, trade him too.
    Fire Adams !!! He put together this mess. Bunch of Smurfs out there.
    This team is in shambles.
    Not Lindy’s or UPL’s fault.

  2. Agree 100% with your sentiments, except for Bryson. He looked like a confused little boy on goal #3, horrible. The fact that Adams extended turnover machine Power and always hurt underacheiver when he’s healthy Samuelsson is reason enough to fire Adams. UPL is the best player on this team, followed by Dahlin who often tries to do too much, and JJ Peterka, who is not dynamic but at least consistent. Sadly, it’s time to blow it up & for crissakes, can we get a President of hockey operations already?!

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