BUFFALO – Three straight losses to open the season. Two goals scored. One team going nowhere fast.
Less than a week into the season, the Sabres are in a heap of trouble.
Right now, they’re clearly feeling the heat. Players are already agitated and at a loss to explain their first 0-3-0 start since, well, last year.
To wit: as winger Tage Thompson spoke following Monday afternoon’s 3-1 loss, he grew more frustrated as questions persisted about the Sabres’ struggles and the rash of injuries they’ve experienced.
“We have a long season to go,” said Thompson, who scored the Sabres’ only goal against the Colorado Avalanche. “You guys are acting like the world’s ending right now. “We’ve just got to find a way to claw ourselves out of this. We’re obviously in a hole that we don’t want to be in, and just got to find a way out of it.”
When Thompson was asked about the Sabres’ morale, he said he wanted to forget about the past and focus on the immediate future: Tuesday’s practice and Wednesday’s home game against the Ottawa Senators.
“I’m a big believer that negativity breeds negativity, and that’s kind of how we’ve snowballed things in the past,” he said. “Can’t keep looking back – last three games, last four seasons, last 14 seasons, whatever you want to do. We’ve just got to keep our sights set on what’s next. …
“So I’m tired of talking about the past and tired of talking about, well, we’re in three games. So I’ll take some questions on Wednesday if you got them.”
Things ended there.
Captain Rasmus Dahlin acknowledged he’s shocked the Sabres, who appeared to be in a good place coming out of training camp, are in another rough situation.
“It’s a mix of everything – not good enough on the ice, a lot of injuries,” he said. “We have to step up. This is not acceptable, that’s for sure.”
The Sabres have to snap out of this funk soon, right?
Yes, they’ve been ravaged by injuries. Right now, five players are sidelined, including No. 1 center Josh Norris, who could be out until late November, coach Lindy Ruff said. Still, they possess other high-end talent and depth.
But the Sabres, who own an NHL-record 14-year playoff drought, have been known to, you know, let things spiral out of control.
Fans are beaten down by years of losing. One threw their jersey on the ice shortly before the final horn sounded.
“It’s not good enough, a lot of the areas,”Dahlin said his team’s play. “Better start today, worse ending. Not good on the power play, good PK, goaltending. I mean, we can’t catch a break there. We got to get out of this bull(crap).”
Through three games, the Sabres’ stars haven’t made much of a difference.
On Monday before a surly crowd of 16,462 in KeyBank Center, Dahlin struggled, taking two interference penalties and committing a huge gaffe by turning the puck over in his own zone in the second period as he tried to feed winger Jack Quinn.
Superstar Cale Makar quickly converted the mistake, putting the Avalanche up 2-1 4:32 into the second period.
“I was going for a breakaway the other way,” Dahlin said. “It was a bad play.”
Perhaps the Sabres can generate some confidence from outshooting Colorado 13-10 in the first and ending the period tied.
“We’ve got bodies that need to produce for us, for sure,” Ruff said. “A little bit of squeezing right now, but I think, for me, there was some good signs in that game. And I know we’re a little short, but there was opportunities to produce. The Boston game (Saturday, a 3-1 loss), not near as much.”
What were those good signs?
“We had good O-zone time, we skated around people, we had opportunities where we got to the inside,” Ruff said. “We missed the net on quite a few. I thought we mishandled too many pucks that would have turned into better a chance.”
After adding Quinn and center Jiri Kulich to the top unit, the Sabres frittered away three power-play chances. They’re now zero of 11 this season.
“The killers probably dominated,” Ruff said. “We didn’t handle their pressure well again. I thought you got to you got to get that bumper release, or you got to be able to get away from that pressure.”
With the Avalanche up 3-1 in the third period – superstar Nathan MacKinnon scored his second goal of the day in the second – the Sabres mustered just three shots on goal before they pulled goalie Alex Lyon.
So much for a late push.
