Another day, another embarrassment for the Buffalo Sabres. The last time out, they not only lost on home ice to the Pittsburgh Penguins but gave up a goalie goal to Alex Nedeljkovic in the process. It feels like the Sabres make headlines for all the wrong reasons this season and that’s just the latest example.
Instead of rebounding in the first game of their West Coast road trip, the Sabres gave up a couple of multi-goal leads and lost to the Seattle Kraken. There are takeaways in here somewhere, so let’s get into them as the Sabres lost yet another game.
Jason Zucker Continues to Be a Revelation
Let’s start with something positive, shall we? It is too easy to look at all the negative aspects of this Sabres season, so it helps to focus on something that is working. Jason Zucker has been hands down the best part of the season for the value he has delivered from night one.
Zucker scored a power play goal and added an assist in the loss to the Kraken. He is now second on the team in goals with 16 and points with 35, trailing only Tage Thompson. For what was supposed to be a decent third-line signing, he has paid for his deal over and over again.
Zucker’s success has been nice to see because it shows that the front office can evaluate talent. He’s been one of the few consistent special teams performers, too, one of the areas for the Sabres that has been woefully lacking. He’s very close in terms of pace to his best season, when he scored 33 goals and 64 points with the Minnesota Wild in 2017-18. It would be nice to see him have his best season in six years.
You Can’t Teach Drive
This is arguably the biggest issue with the Sabres, the one that leads to young core players being mentioned as trade targets. The Sabres jumped out to another lead (some would say their inability to hold a lead is the biggest issue) and saw the Kraken come roaring back with three goals in quick succession.
Related: Sabres Trade Target: Casey Mittelstadt
Though they worked hard to tie the game with less than five minutes left in the second period, they gave up another marker within a minute. From that point on, the game never really felt like it was in danger for the Kraken, who swept the season series.
This team doesn’t feel like it has fire or fight to it. They battle back in bursts, but ultimately lay down in the end. There isn’t anyone on this team that will drag everyone to a win because they refuse to lose. That’s part of the problem when you’ve done nothing but lose for the better part of the past 15 years.
Jack Quinn Slowly Finding His Game
Back to the positives! From this stage on, we are basically looking ahead to next season and trying to take any positives with us as we go. One major positive has been the re-emergence of Jack Quinn as a legitimate scoring threat, something that felt like a fever dream through the first 20-plus games.
Since Dec. 15 (15 games), Quinn has eight goals and 13 points. He even has five multi-point games in that span, looking more like the breakout star we all anticipated at the beginning of the season. This just leads us all to wonder what happened in those first 20 games that even his existence seemed questionable.
His goal wasn’t overly impressive – he fired a quick shot from the point – but it hit a body in front and found its way in. Sometimes, you need to score ugly goals and that’s what the best scorers do. Quinn is finally starting to realize that putting a multitude of shots on net will make good things happen.
Waiting for the End of the Season
At this stage, Sabres fans and those forced to write about the team alike are waiting for the end of the season. Even on the rare occasion that the Sabres build momentum by winning a few games, they give it right back in the worst way possible.
Every team in the Atlantic Division is at least within shouting distance of a playoff spot. They are seven points back of the Detroit Red Wings and six back of the New York Islanders for last in the conference. It’s as pathetic a showing as the Sabres faithful could have hoped for but it’s become the hallmark of this franchise.
