Sabres Need More Consistent Scoring Moving Forward

The Buffalo Sabres recently moved to 8-5-3 (19 points) after they defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Nov. 6. The game before that? They lost 2-1 to the Ottawa Senators in a game where they could not find any scoring, and it broke their three-game winning streak heading into the matchup.

During the team’s loss against the Senators, Colten Ellis was phenomenal, stopping 28 of 30 shots, including an incredible pad save early in the first period. The loss ruined an incredible performance by Ellis, and it’s strictly because the team in front of him could not score.

Scoring has been an ongoing problem all season, as before their win against the Blue Jackets, the Sabres were ranked 23rd in the NHL in goals for per game at 2.93/game. They are now ranked 18th in the NHL at 3.06 goals for per game after beating Columbus. The production they got from Josh Norris and Josh Doan specifically is what is going to take the team from being at the bottom of the league in scoring to at worst around 3.1 goals per game.

Secondary Scoring Needs to Improve

The Sabres have gotten very little goal scoring from their depth to start the season. Outside of Tage Thompson, Jack Quinn and Rasmus Dahlin, the rest of the team has scored 27 goals in 16 games. Less than two goals per game. If you exclude Dahlin, who only has three goals, that makes it 30 goals in 16 games by everyone not named Thompson or Quinn.

Thompson has scored 10, while Quinn has nine. Nineteen goals out of the team’s 49 goals for. They make up 38.7% of the team’s goals, which is not sustainable for a team that is trying to keep up in the Atlantic Division.

I’m not saying the fourth line needs to score 10-plus goals by season’s end; this is more aimed at the second- and third-line players who are off to extremely slow starts and have not been great. That starts with Norris, Ryan McLeod, who was scratched Saturday night, and I’ll even include Doan in there, although at least he’s been noticeable defensively, and he’s generated some chances.

Either way, Norris is the highest-paid forward and has five points (four goals); McLeod, who was given a four-year extension at $5 million per season back on July 1, 2025, has three points and has not been good in the faceoff dot. Lastly, Doan was given a contract extension last season for seven years worth $6.95 million per season, and has four points as well.

The offensive production is not there from these three specific players. The Sabres need them to start producing more, or else the offensive struggles will continue.

The Power Play’s Two Faces

How about the power play? It’s been sub-par for most of the season. Outside of their West Coast road trip, in which they were successful four times out of nine attempts, their power play has been lackluster. When they started the trip, it was at 10.5%. Now, after the trip and even after their win over the Blue Jackets, they sit at 15.1%, good enough for a measly 28th in the league.

There have been times when the power play looks good, even if the Sabres don’t find the back of the net. They are quick on their passes, find and create good shot lanes, and get opportunities. Their first power-play attempt against the Senators was just like that, except the thing that made it unsuccessful was that they fumbled a few passes and fanned on a few shots.

Then sometimes the power play can’t get going. They lose faceoffs, can’t enter the zone, they miss their passes, and it looks messy. My biggest pet peeve with it is the zone entries. Half of the time, they have four players standing at the blue line, then the puck carrier has to dangle through half of the opposing players to gain the zone, and they turn it over almost right away.

At the end of the day, the Sabres need more secondary scoring and the power play needs to get going. If both of those end up happening, then they will find themselves in the top half of the league in scoring. Until that happens, though, they will stay in the bottom half in goal scoring.