It’s hard to maintain patience while watching the Buffalo Sabres these days. They’ll have dazzling performances then follow it up with losses like the 6-2 embarrassment at the hands of the Seattle Kraken. It’s more interesting talking about who may be traded than it is actually watching the games these days.
With a unique 6 PM start time, it seems like their latest opponent – the Carolina Hurricanes – were thrown off. The Sabres jumped out to a big lead and managed to hang on in the most Sabres way possible for the 4-2 win. Let’s get into the takeaways from this one.
The Ryan McLeod Show
First and foremost, hats off to Ryan McLeod for netting his first career NHL hat trick. He’s been a solid addition since arriving in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers, providing speed and occasional offense as a member of the third line. It’s the kind of depth scoring the Sabres need more of.
McLeod scored just 0:43 into the game, ripping a nasty wrister past veteran goalie Dustin Tokarski. To make matters even worse for the Hurricanes, he also scored with just 0:04 left in the second period to give the Sabres a huge 3-0 lead heading into the final frame.
With 24 points in 44 games, McLeod is delivering more than could have been hoped for out of a third-line center. He has been a welcome addition to a Sabres lineup that desperately needed an overhaul to the bottom six. Hopefully, he can build on this performance moving forward.
Luukkonen Needs Help
Looking at his stats on a game-to-game basis, you would never know that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was having a pretty solid season. The Sabres are seeing improvements from critical pieces like Jack Quinn and Dylan Cozens (who scored in this one), but it hasn’t been enough to support Luukkonen’s performance this season.
Related: Sabres’ Jack Quinn Showing Improvements Heading into Second Half
He was fantastic again on Wednesday night, stopping 35 of 37 shots from the Hurricanes. But this is the kind of game that Luukkonen has been having all season long. He is steady, calm, and borderline dominant for two periods before the team collapses around him.
On a team like the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, or the Montreal Canadiens (of late), Luukkonen could make a big impact. On the Sabres, he keeps them in games and gives them a chance to collapse late. They need to give him more help on a nightly basis if they don’t want his efforts to go to waste.
The Epitome of This Team
There is one interesting stat from this game that feels like peak Sabres. They managed exactly zero shots in the third period, yet still ended up with a goal. They became the first team in NHL history to score a goal without registering a shot in a 20-minute period. Two teams have managed to score a goal without registering a shot, but both of those happened in overtime.
This is such a perfectly Sabres stat. Even when something positive happens, it is simply underscoring something negative. It also shows that YET AGAIN, the Sabres were in the midst of blowing a lead and just happened to have a little bit of positivity at a random moment.
It’s truly incredible how bad this team is when they have a multi-goal lead. Several times this season, they have jumped out to two, three, and even four-goal leads only to see them evaporate rapidly. Is it coaching? Is it the locker room? How can a team be so bad after being so good for the majority of the game? It’s astounding at this point.
The Gap Is Growing
Even with the win, the Sabres are nine points back of a wild card spot. They’re five points back of getting out of the basement of the Atlantic Division. They have proven themselves incapable of putting together an extended winning streak, something they desperately need because of the 13-game losing streak.
It’s even more frustrating watching and writing about this team. It should be nice to get a win over a team like the Hurricanes, but it just feels like an anomaly preceding another disappointment. The Sabres need too much help to make a comeback in the standings and it feels like we’re all just treading water until another tumultuous offseason.
