BUFFALO, N.Y. — As the Buffalo Sabres’ losing streak grew to six games Saturday afternoon against the Utah Hockey Club, you could hear the sounds of fans at their wits’ end.
One day earlier, general manager Kevyn Adams spoke about the state of the team in a news conference that did not go over well with fans. His quotes about Buffalo’s not being a “destination city” weren’t a hit. Neither was his statement that “we don’t have palm trees. We have high taxes.” Those weren’t words fans were interested in hearing after they have endured 13 straight seasons without the playoffs, four of which have come with Adams as general manager.
So a few fans showed up for the Sabres game against Utah on Saturday with inflatable palm trees. Another had a sign with palm trees and a message that read, “Here’s your palm trees.”
That might have been the extent of the fan unrest if the Sabres had managed to play an inspired game and stop their winless streak at five. Early in the game, it looked like the Sabres might even get a badly needed feel-good day at the rink. In the first period, Tyson Kozak scored the first goal of his NHL career on a hard-charging play at the net. Two nights ago, the native Manitoban had what would have been his first goal in his first NHL game against the Winnipeg Jets, but it was called back after a goalie interference review. This goal counted, but it ended up as a footnote in an otherwise miserable game for the Sabres.
A moment Tyson Kozak will never forget! 😁 https://t.co/abTYN4BTS9 pic.twitter.com/And9zvtHtR
— NHL (@NHL) December 7, 2024
In the second period, the Sabres came unglued. They were outshot 13-5, and Utah had a 14-2 advantage in scoring chances and an 8-1 advantage in high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five. Utah scored three goals that period and ended up with five straight goals on its way to a 5-2 win. It was the second time in three games the Sabres have allowed five straight goals within a game.
That caused frustrated fans to become restless in the third period. There was a fan in the 300s trying to start a “Where is Terry?” chant, referring to team owner Terry Pegula, who was likely on his way to Los Angeles for the Buffalo Bills game against the Los Angeles Rams. Then there were the “Fire Kevyn!” chants that grew louder as Utah’s lead grew.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff was irritated after the game. The 64-year-old coach came back to Buffalo thinking he was taking over a team ready to win. Now 27 games into the season, he’s dealing with a group of players who are repeating the same bad habits and making the simple plays look difficult.
“I think you can guess how I’m feeling,” Ruff said. “My job is to get them out of it, to stay with the process, don’t deviate. This was mentally one of the weakest games I’ve seen, you go offside that number of times. You don’t execute the small play. If you look at the execution on two of the goals, we could have got it out of our zone. Getting it out of our zone has been a big deal. We’ve talked about, ‘Get it out of our zone.’ We turned two pucks over on two goals that it’s on our tape and it results in a goal. The execution part and us executing at a high level was not good. We have to get back on the ice and practice the simple stuff that leads to better results.”
“It’s not a care thing,” Sabres forward Jason Zucker added. “This room cares. This room has a lot of guys who care and want to do the right thing. It’s about doing it time and time again.”
Ruff explained some of the lack of execution as players “feeling pressure” but then followed it up with a question that will define this season for the Sabres as they slipped to 11-13-3, good for a .463 points percentage, 24th in the league.
“Can you handle pressure?” he said.
One player who has proved he can handle it in the past is Bowen Byram, who won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche. He thought the Sabres were “outworked” and “out-competed” and noted that’s not a recipe for winning many games.
“It hasn’t been good enough,” Byram said of the losing streak. “We’ve got to find a way to play well, especially when you’re down in the standings like we are right now. You can’t afford to give up easy points or get blown out of games. You have to be able to have a sniff every night.”
Quick hits
1. Rasmus Dahlin missed his second straight game since back spasms forced him out of the loss to Colorado on Tuesday. Jordan Greenway and Mattias Samuelsson are still out, too, but Ruff said they are getting closer to returning. Jack Quinn was a healthy scratch for the second straight game
2. Byram had a strong game filling in for Dahlin. The Sabres outshot Utah 9-1 and didn’t allow a single high-danger chance when he was on the ice at five-on-five. There’s not a lot of room for silver linings in a game like that, but Byram was solid.
3. Beck Malenstyn tried to put a charge into the Sabres in the second period. He went hard on the forecheck and laid a big hit. He dropped the gloves and fought Michael Kesselring. That was after Utah had already scored two goals 24 seconds apart earlier in the period. The Sabres allowed three more goals before finally answering. Malenstyn’s line with Kozak and Nicolas Aube-Kubel wasn’t on the ice for a single goal against.
4. Up next, the Sabres play the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers to finish a five-game home stand that has started 0-2-1. They came into this game with an 18 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to The Athletic’s model.
“We’re not playing well enough and we’re definitely not playing consistent enough,” Zucker said. “That’s on us in this room. We’ve got to fix it, and we will.”
(Photo: Chris Conaway Jr. / NHLI via Getty Images)
