We’re a half-dozen games into the 2024-25 season and the Buffalo Sabres are as frustrating as ever. As was the case in the 6-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Sabres were horribly inconsistent en route to losing 6-4 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.
It was hard not to have the most negative opinion of all time writing this piece. Instead, let’s focus on the three biggest takeaways from what can only be considered a disaster of a game across the board and a blaring alarm for the season, as a whole.
The Inconsistency Is Maddening
Coming into the season, the Sabres needed a lot from guys like Jack Quinn in order to return to the playoffs. Six games into the season, it is painfully obvious that the more optimistic takes surrounding the Sabres have turned out to be a joke. This team is the same as it has ever been, new coach or not.
Related: Buffalo Sabres’ 2024-25 Season Predictions
The first period was without a doubt the worst period of hockey they’ve had this season. At roughly the 15-minute mark, they had a whopping ONE shot. No one skated with a sense of urgency, going through the motions as the Blue Jackets continued to push the pace and apply pressure.
The second period saw them show life before they were content to cede the action to the Blue Jackets again in the third. Players talked about being able to cut corners under the old regime, but it feels like nothing has changed under the new one (more on that below).
The Offense Is Starting to Look Good
When the Sabres are motivated and skating, the offense can be quite good from top to bottom. They answered in the second with three goals, including one from Owen Power, to cut the deficit to 4-3. Sabres fans know that fleeting hope all too well and saw the real Sabres emerge in the third period.
As of now, the Sabres are 20th in the league at 2.83 goals per game but that’s a bit skewed because some teams have only played a handful of games (the Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets have only played three, for example). The problem is that they are now giving up four goals per game and have to score in bunches to even remain in these games.
We are starting to see the offense turn it up in stretches. The problem is that they’ve had to come from behind several times already this season. The top of the lineup has been pretty good as well, thanks to J.J. Peterka (three goals, four points in four games) and Alex Tuch (four assists, six points).
Matt Ellis Needs to Be Fired Part III
This will be shouted from the mountaintops until it comes to be. The power play laid another egg, going 0-fer on a pair of power plays. That brings the current streak up to 0-for-17 with the man advantage and it sadly is just one of many embarrassing things for the franchise.
Part of the reason the team is so imbalanced and bad is that they can’t score when given a better chance to do so. It would be one thing if they were peppering goaltenders with shots, but they aren’t. They struggle to gain the zone and spend most of the two minutes chasing the puck back into their own end.
At this stage, the power play is a microcosm of the team. It is an abject failure and something that needed to be changed yesterday. Whether Matt Ellis is fully at fault at this point is irrelevant. He’s the connective thread that needs to be cut immediately.
The Same Old Sabres
For seemingly decades now, the Sabres remain the same team. They flash promising young talent from time to time but can’t ever seem to put together a consistent effort for one whole game, let alone a stretch of them. On paper, this is a better team than what we’re seeing but it never translates.
There is still a lot of season left to be played but it feels like that’s an optimistic stance. In reality, the Sabres are no better than they were a season ago. They are incapable of playing a strong game from start to finish and there is little to no reason to believe that it is going to change with the makeup of the current roster.
