Following a comeback win over the St. Louis Blues, the Buffalo Sabres needed to be feeling fairly good. In any case, the lineup going into the sport with the Philadelphia Flyers could be lacking some key items, however the Sabres had proven they’ll cling with out them.
Then, the sport towards the Flyers occurred. It was forgettable almost from the opening faceoff. Let’s simply get proper into the three takeaways from the Sabres’ 5-2 loss to the Flyers, as a result of it’s greatest for the followers and gamers alike to maneuver on from it.
Sabres Have a Main Self-discipline Drawback
Considered one of Rob Ray’s keys to the sport was for the Sabres to not take pricey and premature penalties. So, what occurred? Connor Clifton took a cross-checking name just below seven minutes into the sport. Zach Benson adopted it up with an egregious slash that the Flyers finally cashed in on.
The Sabres are actually tied with the Los Angeles Kings for the third-most penalties taken per recreation at 4.56 per contest. Satirically, solely the Flyers (4.67) and Boston Bruins (5.11) take extra penalties. It has confirmed to be a serious concern.
Furthermore, you possibly can correlate how nicely the Sabres do with their penalty kill. When the group is on, the penalty kill is on. When it’s not, they’re giving up power-play objectives. These sloppy, lazy penalties have to start out being lowered if something goes to get constantly higher.
Sabres’ Worst Effort of the Season
That was a prepare wreck. It’s comprehensible that there are main challenges with Mattias Samuelsson and Tage Thompson being injured, however that doesn’t excuse the form of effort the Sabres put in towards the Flyers.
Associated: Mattias Samuelsson’s Harm Points Creating Issues for Sabres
Aside from a stretch of about 4-5 minutes within the first interval, the Sabres appeared like they have been collectively chickens with their heads minimize off. They ran round, frantically making an attempt to maintain up with the rather more energetic Flyers.
Each space of the sport was dangerous for the Sabres, except for one other power-play purpose. Since ending their 0-for-22 stretch, they’ve been working at a 30% clip on the facility play, in order that’s promising. Nevertheless it was the one constructive factor in regards to the recreation.
Devon Levi Must Be Despatched Down
Let’s make one factor clear instantly: the group round him was not good, however Devon Levi was dangerous. He routinely overplayed photographs, discovering himself method out of place as a rule. The rating would have been worse if not for well timed defensive performs.
Since Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen discovered his groove, Levi has grow to be the clear backup. However now with James Reimer again within the fold, the play must be to ship Levi to the American Hockey League (AHL) as quickly as UPL returns from harm.
Levi must play each night time within the AHL to hone his recreation and work on his confidence. This isn’t the form of group that’s constructed to restrict what sort of motion its goaltender sees. Retaining him round is just asking for his confidence to be eroded slowly over time.
Too Many Errors
From begin to end, there have been just too many errors made by the Sabres. Sure, it hurts not having UPL and Thompson within the lineup (Samuelsson’s absence may very well be a blessing in disguise). Having mentioned that, it isn’t an excuse for the kind of efficiency they gave in Philly.
The additional into the season we get, the lesser the margin for error. The Sabres can not trip within the win-loss column like this. They should string collectively wins sooner quite than later. With performances like that, it isn’t going to occur any time quickly.
