This has already been a nightmare season for the Buffalo Sabres and there are still four months left to go. After managing to put together a three-game winning streak, the Sabres lost their first game to a real team, a 4-2 decision to the infinitely better Dallas Stars.
On Thursday, they were tasked with facing the team that destroyed their season: the Colorado Avalanche. And just like the first time around, the Sabres blew a huge lead late, eventually losing in overtime. Let’s just get into the takeaways and try to be productive here, shall we?
This Team Is Comically Bad With a Lead
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Sabres blew a lead. It has been the hallmark of this season. They had yet another hot start, jumping out to a 3-0 lead by the midway mark of the second period. And like in all those other games, they allowed the opposition to claw back into the game.
This one happened a lot faster than the last time they blew a multi-goal lead to the Avalanche. They were up two goals with less than two and a half minutes to go, yet ultimately lost in overtime after Devon Toews bullied Tage Thompson, took the puck, and scored on the following breakaway.
It’s games like this that lead to trade talks and rumors. It’s games like this that absolutely break a fan base that doesn’t have much life left as it is. It’s games like this that have everyone questioning whether the current leadership will be here six months from now. Something has to change but after nearly 15 seasons of ineptitude, it’s hard to believe that it ever will.
Line Shakeups Worked
In order to keep this from being 100% negative, let’s talk about the lineup changes that had people talking ahead of this one. The biggest news was the move of Dylan Cozens to the top line to center Thompson and Jason Zucker. Unlike almost anything else the Sabres did, this move actually worked.
Related: Projected Lineup for the Sabres vs. Avalanche – 1/2/25
Zucker went off, scoring a hat trick and adding an assist for good measure. Thompson had a trio of assists. Cozens was absolutely dominant in the faceoff circle, though he did lose a few draws late in the game that could have potentially swung things in the Sabres’ favor.
Offensively, the Sabres managed better puck movement at both five-on-five and on the power play than they have in a while. Thompson, in particular, had a jump to his game that hasn’t been there in some time. It was nice to see such a strong response, especially with the kid line of JJ Peterka, Zach Benson, and Jack Quinn having a solid night as well.
For 57 Minutes, This Was a Great Effort
Unlike the last time the Sabres played the Avalanche, when literally anyone could have told you that the Avalanche would not only catch up to but surpass the Sabres, this one felt a bit different. After the Avalanche cut the deficit to 3-2, the Sabres twice responded to raise the lead back to two goals.
In the end, two things did them in. The superior offensive firepower of the Avalanche, with a great effort from Cale Makar, was a major factor in the game. The other factor is that the Sabres routinely sit back on their heels when they have a lead and just hope to make it to the end of the game. Spoiler alert: they rarely do.
Even Rob Ray had a tinge of “oh no, not again” in his voice after Makar’s second made it 5-4 with 2:26 remaining. When Jonathan Drouin tied it with 0:08 left, literally no one was surprised. The term “60-minute effort” sounds cliché, but the Sabres are a living example of why it is so important.
Change the Record
At this stage, it’s just getting tiring to talk about the same Sabres collapses. They have a hot start, they level out, then it’s almost as if they stop playing entirely. The opposition presses, gets one to build some momentum, and then eventually ties the game up before taking away important points.
This should have been the fourth win in five games for the Sabres. It should have been an important momentum-builder. Instead, it is just proof that this team was never a threat to make the playoffs to begin with. They’ll talk about staying the course and how the fix is in the dressing room, but it’s not. And there are still four more months left in the season to endure.
