The Buffalo Sabres have a goal scoring problem that showed it’s face again in Boston

The Buffalo Sabres have a goal scoring problem that showed it’s face again in Boston

Another game, another pretty poor effort and result from the Buffalo Sabres. Two games in, it’s not going great. What happened in Sabres Bruins coming up here on the Locked On Sabres podcast. [Music] You’re Locked on Sabres, your daily podcast on the Buffalo Sabres, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. What is up everybody and welcome in to this Sunday night into Monday morning edition of the Locked on Sabers podcast and thanks for making us your first listen every day. We are free and available wherever you listen to your podcast or wherever you watch your podcast. If you want to watch along on YouTube, you could do that there. Hit the like and subscribe button if you do. And if you want to become a part of our Locked On Sabers text club, hey, maybe you just want to be checking in and out of some of these games. If you want to know what’s going on, you could do that by going over to joinsubttext.com/lockedonavers. Today’s episode presented by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app right now by visiting fanuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. Sneaky Joe Debbiosi here after game number two of the Saber season. And uh vibes are not any better or higher than they were after game number one. Although at least we did have a single goal. Hallelujah. We got a goal. It took a a long time. It was into their sixth period of the season. I did look up. We reached the point, you know, we’re midway through game number two. And I just wondered, all right, let me just find out how long the longest a team has ever gone to start a regular season without scoring a goal. I did find the answer. The 1930-31 Montreal Maroons were into their fourth game of the season early early in their fourth game, scoring their first goal almost 100 years ago. And that’s the record in the NHL. So, Sabres didn’t break the record, but man, it looked like they uh it looked like they might get close. Uh but they got a goal. We’ll talk about what we saw in the game. We’ll take a brief look up ahead at the Colorado matchup that’s coming up on Monday afternoon. Lindy Ruff’s attitude about this team so far. But we’ll start with my thoughts on the game overall. Go through some of the moments of it and through some of the stats of it as well. The Sabres fall 3 to one in Boston. Their first road game of the Buffalo Sabres regular season. And to quote Lindy Ruff, uh the start of the game was, this is Lindy’s quote, the worst I’ve seen. Lenny Ruff has coached a lot of hockey games in the National Hockey League. Um he is I mean thousands of games in to his NHL career as a head coach. In fact, Lindy has coached the third most games in NHL history at 1858 games. And he uh you know reasonency bias, he’s in the moment. It’s probably not the worst he’s ever seen, but maybe it is. They’re getting outshot 14-1 at the time of the Bruins first goal in the first period. It is almost exactly the same to what it was in the home opener. So fans not happy to see the exact same thing play out in this game against a a Bruins team that yes, they are 3-0. They won their first two games. They beat Washington. They beat Chicago and now they beat the Sabres. So, you might be going, “Okay, any belief that the Bruins decline was this bad is exaggerated.” I still don’t believe that it is. They got three games, three wins off to start the season, but I still believe that that Bruins team is going to be one of the worst teams in hockey, or at least one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference throughout the season. But so far so good, I guess, on their front. The Sabres were outplayed in this game from beginning to end. And the overall arching sentiment that I have through both games, I it’s the same thing for me in both games. They do not look like a team that is going to be able to score all season without the dirty goals. And that’s how they got a goal in this game. It’s not the dirtiest of goals. It’s not a puck that ricochets off three different people in front of the net, but so far we’ve got 120 minutes of Sabres hockey to go off of. We have one single goal. And how do they score it? It was a wrist shot coming in on a rush from a moderately dangerous area. We’re talking on the right side of the left faceoff circle. We’re not in the slot. We’re not right in front of the net. It’s not a breakaway. It is a fine quality scoring chance. And the Zucker shot takes a deflection off of a Bruins defender stick and that’s how it gets past Jeremy Swayman. So far, a Saber has not beaten a goalender cleanly straight up and I think that’s going to become a big big problem if they don’t turn that around. It’ll be a big problem all season long. Sabres are missing, guys. I know as you go through this game, it wasn’t just about their inability to score. They didn’t generate a lot of chances in the first place. Shots in this game 31 for the Boston Bruins, 22 for the Buffalo Sabres. Shot attempts 66 to 57 in favor of Boston. 13-6 the scoring chances in favor of the Bruins. Really, you break down any of these metrics and the Bruins are going to be coming out on top. The biggest of which in this game, one of the biggest disparities you’ll see in a game, expected goals in this game, 4.9 for the Bruins, 1.8 for the Buffalo Sabres. 0 for four on the power play. Now, that was true of both teams. The thing I want to point out though about the power plays, both teams went 0 for four. It was night and day difference between Boston and Buffalo. The Bruins peppered the Sabres. They made Alex Lions stand on his head repeatedly, especially of course as we’re talking when they were on the man advantage. When on the man advantage on those four power plays for each team, the Bruins scoring chances nine, the Sabres one. How embarrassingly pathetic is it to have eight full minutes of power play and to come away with one scoring chance? The Sabres right now look like they’re going to be one of the worst offensive teams in the league this season. in the final minute of play down one before the Bruins added the empty netter because here you are again where you know what your defenses kind of kept you in it while the effort might have been poor I think this is what the Sabres maybe built their offseason around and this is why I think it might have been overrated um or I thought for a lot of the offseason it was overrated is sure you’re a better team at playing in your own end I think this was another game where that was true I think The Sabres were blocking shots. I think they did a moderately good job of keeping the Bruins out of the best quality scoring chances, but sure, you were better at playing in your own end. You were in your own end all night. They couldn’t get out of their own end. So, I don’t care how good you are in your own end. If you spend the whole night there, you’re not going to win hockey games. I don’t care if you’re the best team in your own end in the National Hockey League. If you’re there for 40 minutes, you’re going to lose. And this is kind of how that game felt to me. The Bruins spent all night in front of Alex Lion and Alex Lion played well. He played well and he in part with that defensive effort in front of him, you know, kept them in it. Um, but at the final minute, you got to get a goal and you’re only missing Zack Benson and Jordan Greenway up front. That is 13 goals from last season that you are missing out of your lineup. And Josh Norris, need to point that out. Of course, Josh Norris is maybe the bigger one. But who’s on the ice? Justin Danforth. Danforth is on the ice. That we cannot be three injuries is not nothing. We can’t be three injuries away from Justin Danforth playing the most important minutes to go out there and tie a hockey game. It’s just it’s an embarrassing it’s embarrassing scoring depth to have that be the case on any front. His careerhigh in goals is 10. 10. Come on now. He last year scored nine 10 the year before, two the year before, 10 before that. Just that can’t be the case and that’s not the biggest issue on the night, but it’s just representative I think of what their core issue is right now is they don’t have scores. Um, so a bad bad game. One moment that would be representative of that as well. You are in the second period and I think the best scoring chance the Sabres had of the night by far. You’ve got a glorious opportunity where Payton Krebs has the puck and he is right in front of the goal line on the right side and he cannot get it past Jeremy Swain all day. It was an amazing pass actually by Ryan Mloud. It was during a delayed penalty. It was six to five. Uh, six on five, excuse me, with 14 minutes to go in the second period. You’re getting pumped. You’re getting peppered with shots. You’re down 19 to7 in the shot total. You’ve not played well, but it’s still a one-goal game. And Krebs floats down below the faceoff circle. Mloud with an excellent pass finds him. And you could freeze frame it at the 1425 second mark. Swayman is not in position at all. Krebs legitimately has 99.9% of the net to shoot at. But it takes him half a second to corral it. So no one-time. But even after he corrals it, Swayman has gotten over, but he’s only covering the lower third of the net. All you got to do is have the ability to finish a goal like this and roof it. And Payton Krebs gets robbed by Jeremy Sway and he doesn’t get the puck high enough and it doesn’t go in. Why? Why does that not happen? Krebs is playing right now meaningful minutes, is being asked to score goals, and we have four seasons of sample that tell you he’s not going to score that goal very often. These are all problems. You’ve got guys being asked to play roles that they’re not capable of playing. And part of that is their offseason plan, not bringing in any goal scoring. And I have you have to criticize them for putting so many eggs in the Josh Norris basket and to know that he is totally injuryp-prone and that if he gets injured, this is where you’re going to end up. So, it’s a 3-1 result in your face against a team that’s not supposed to be all that good. And you see a lot of issues that I think I really hope are not going to be representative of the season, but right now it’s kind of how I feel about it. Will they score more than one goal in two games? Yes. Uh will it happen against the Colorado Avalanche? I’m not that confident, but it’s possible. So, the Sabres at the end of the night, a bad bad effort. If I were to get to anything on a positive front from this game, um I think the Timonss and Samuelson pairing continues to look good. Timonss did a pretty good job on a one-on-one with David Posternok in the first period. Postnock was able to kind of shield him off and get a backhand chance, but I think he could have done a lot worse than that. Uh Postnaugh could have abused a different defenseman. I think Timonss held his own. That was a nice play by him. Samuelson, of course, makes the goal for Jason Zucker. He forces a turnover at center ice. He gives it to Zucker and then he charges to the net, which took one of the Bruins defenseman with him and that goal is able to happen in part because of Samuelson. So, I like those two right now. That’s my favorite part of the team. Other than that would be number two. Uh, Alex Lion looks great. Another great performance from Alex Lion. 4.9 expected goals for by the Bruins in this game and Lion allowed two. So, he was great. I phenomenal. I mean, the the glove save he makes where the puck kind of got bounced around and it comes out to a Bruin on his left and he flashes the glove. I mean, that was on Sports Center top 10 and it should have been. It’s the best save through the two games that we’ve seen by either team and I think it arguably it could be the best save of the season for the Savers. So your best news is your goalie looks good. The bad news is that was our biggest question of the off season coming in and you’re getting a good answer on that and it’s not mattering. So this is where we are through two games. It’s not good. This is not good at all. There are bigger questions about this that we’ll get to later in the week. Alex Tuck. Um, his future is being discussed now even more after I know only two games, but I think everybody’s got the gears grinding now about Tage’s future and Dalene’s future and Tuck of course and just not a great place. It’s not where you wanted to be after less than a week. when we come back, what Lindy had to say about this game and kind of where I think Lindy currently resides um as this team falters at the beginning and then a little bit of a preview of the avalanche that’s coming up here on the Locked On Sabres podcast. Today’s episode of the Locked OnS podcast is presented by Monarch Money. Have you? Most people can’t name all their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it is 401ks, properties, or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. That’s why there’s Monarch Money. It’s an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy to use interface on your laptop or on your phone. Monarch is built for people with busy lives. If you’ve put off organizing your finances, Monarch is for you. Monarch does the heavy lifting for you. You can link all your accounts in minutes. See clear data visuals. Get smart categorization of your spending. Finally, feel feel in control of your money without ever touching a spreadsheet. So, don’t let financial opportunities slip through the cracks. Use code locked on NHL at monarchmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. It’s 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with the code locked on NHL. Stinky Jody Biosi back here on the Locked On Sabres podcast. The Sabres fall to the Boston Bruins by a score of 3 to one. They are 0 and2 uh this season. Lindy Ruff really harsh things to say about his team. He seems angry after this game and I believe he deserves it or deserves to be and um it’s not a great start. So Lindy, we said earlier the the most damning comment was him to open up his press conference with that was the worst level of compete that I’ve seen to start a game as he’s coached 1800 plus games in the National Hockey League. Um he also and now this is one that I’d want to separate one guy. I think there’s a certain player he’s talking about with one comment and this is a guess. So, you know, I maybe it’s not fair to Lindy that I’m I’m guessing at what he means by this, but he said that got asked about your best players needing to be your best players. And he said that it wasn’t a good night for them. Just generally wasn’t a good night for them. Best players being your best players. Could be talking about Ta. I don’t think he’s talking about Dene. Diene brings it every single night. He played 27 minutes on this night. And um when Diene was on the ice, by the way, uh I guess it wasn’t his best game for that. Actually, when he was out there, expected goals in the Sabres um was 78 to 26 against. So that’s actually not that great from Dene, but when he was out there, shots were nine to six in favor of Boston. That was fine. The guy I think he might be talking about more than anybody is Alex Tuck. just a guess because I think Alex Tuck of your best players has been their worst player through two games. Dene was great in game one. I guess it wasn’t as great in game two, but still fine. Taage, I don’t know. Like he’s getting he’s taking his shots, but they’re kind of coming from poor angles, but I don’t really want to blame him for that because he’s not really he’s playing with Krebs in game number one, right? And then in game number two, everything’s being jumbled around and he’s missing Josh Norris now. Like Taage is not playing with Tuck and Skinner like he was a couple of years ago. The But either way, like he’s taking shots when he could get him. Like I don’t really want to blast him yet. I think he’s doing all he can. Tuck is the one. Alex Tuck no impact through two games. No quality scoring chances. obviously hasn’t produced any offense. Um he’s been one of the problems I think on the power play so far through a couple of games. Um and the numbers are pretty down pretty downright horrific when he’s out there so far through a couple of games. So I wonder if he’s talking about Tuck. And what’s interesting about that is I mean where are we with Tuck? No extension coming into the regular season. Um, and teams have been been sw circling around like vultures for him for over a year now. There are all the reports that Tampa wanted him, that there would be a bunch of teams that would really want him in his services. Um, where are we with Tuck? Because if he’s not going to perform well and the team is going to kind of fall apart, then I think every game where you see that the likelihood increases that he is going to be dealt before the trade deadline or maybe even in the fall. So that landscape seems to be shifting where I thought that deal is definitely getting done before the season. Every game you see like last night is going to have me believing more and more that this relationship could end between Tuck and the Sabres. Because while Dene and Thompson, if they were to really want to get out of here because they just can’t stand it anymore, they would have to make it ugly. They would have to go to the organization, they’d have to demand a trade. Maybe that gets honored. The Sabres pretty typically are soft on that and just let guys out for whatever reason. So, but but but you don’t know that. You don’t know what’s going to happen. For Tuck, it’s a lot easier. Tuck can just not take a call on an extension anymore. He could make up in his own mind like, “Okay, I’m 30. This thing’s going in the wrong direction. I’m not signing up for a rebuild at 30 years old. So, yeah, like I’m not doing an extension.” And if that message gets delivered at any point, whether quietly or loudly directly to the Buffalo Sabres, then I think a trade instantly becomes the most likely outcome for Alex Tuck. I know I’m reading a lot into one Lindy comment. It’s a lot more than just that Lindy comment, which might not even be directed at Tuck, but he definitely was a part of it. There’s no question he was at least a part of it. Um whether or not it was all directed at him, whether some of that blame is on tage, who else could he be talking about? You know, your best players got to be your best players. Uh, Power was playing hurt. I don’t know if you want to bang him for that. Um, it could be Mloud. Mloud would be the one other guy I want to throw in here. He did have that nice pass to Krebs. Mloud though is being asked to play on like power play one when like that is not going to go well. You should not be expecting Ryan Mloud to play on the right flank of the power play and have that be a solution. So, if that is being asked of him and you’re mad about that, like I just I don’t know what to expect. That is not his game at all. So, where we go? Two and two losses, two games in. And next up, it does not get any easier. The Colorado Avalanche. Quick preview of that game when we return here on the Locked On Sabres podcast. Today’s episode of the Locked On Sabres podcast is presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. And you know, I got a I got a nice little bet that I like for tomorrow against Colorado. So stay tuned for that. And when we do that, that will be courtesy of our buddies over at FanDuel Sportsbook, which you could check out Futures Bets. Right now, the Savers are going in the wrong direction for that. But maybe you like Ottawa a little bit more. Maybe you like Florida after seeing them through a couple of games. And of course, football. It is football season, college football, NFL season. You don’t want to miss it. Right now, new customers to FanDuel can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you get $300 in bonus bets that you can use all across the app. You can use that on futures, you can use that anytime gold bets, you use on home run bet, whatever you want, football, anytime touchdown. A lot of great stuff you could check out. Um, so pick a bet, put down five bucks. If it hits, $300 in bonus bets that you can use everywhere. Makes watching football even more exciting when you’ve got a little something riding on the action. Whether you’re a casual fan or you love diving into the stats, FanDuel makes the game day experience so much better. By the way, like on your lock screen on your phone, you could turn it on to have it track it so that when you turn your phone on, you you got a certain bet on a game. I had this for Arizona Indianapolis today and it pops right up on my phone. Super user friendly. I mean, I go into the app. Just it’s going to tell me right there on my lock screen. So, check it out. Go to fanduel.com, download the FanDuel app today, and get started. Wrapping things up here on the Locked On Sabers podcast. the Colorado Avalanche Monday at 12:30. A lot of people are off. A little afternoon hockey against the the ABS. The Sabres don’t have a lot of afternoon games this year, so take advantage of it. Um the Avalanche are over the last five years my favorite team to watch in the league. And it’s because of their two stars. They’re awesome. They’re dynamic. They’re amazing skaters. Uh in Nathan McKinnon and Cal Mar. And those two are off to good starts. McKinnon through three games, two goals, four assists for six points. Kale Macar, no goals yet, but an assist um per game, three assists in his three games. So, the Avalanche are 20 and one. They so far did just lose in a shootout to Dallas. Um and this is the first of a little mini road trip where they’ll go to Columbus as well. Uh, but they opened up with wins against LA, wins against the Utah Hockey Club, and then that overtime loss, shootout loss I mentioned to the Dallas Stars. So, this this Avalanche team, it’s not exactly the same, of course, as some of these recent teams you’ve seen. I mean, remember last year the Sabres blow a fourgoal lead to the Colorado Avalanche. Remember, that’s the beginning of the losing streak. Dene gets hurt, he leaves, the ABS come back. Sabres don’t win again for like a month. That team had Miko Rantin on it. This team does not. However, they’ve done a pretty good job at replacing that production. Not fully because Rantin’s one of the best goal scorers in the league, but Martin Nichas on the top line. I mean, that’s a very good replacement. It’s about as good as you can get. And he’s off to a roaring start for them. They added some veterans. Brock Nelson, welcome to Colorado, Brock Nelson this year. and he’s opened up the season as their number two center. Also guy that wouldn’t have been available last year that now is Gabriel Landiskcog finally returning to the picture after a long injury history and recovery that um that took years. He finally gets back into the rotation and so far through a uh through a through a couple of games you’re not seeing big big minutes um by Gabriel Landiskog. I mean, I think that middle six is going to be pretty well balanced. So far, 14 minutes a night for Landisk Cog. Uh doesn’t have a point through those three games. Haven’t seen shift to shift for him. So, it would be curious to see what he looks like tomorrow, what level of form he’s in. He’s 33 years old. Um but again, he hasn’t played regular hockey since his 20s. I mean, 2122 was his last game action before this season. uh not including the playoffs where he got a couple of games in last year and actually looked pretty good. So, Landis Cog back in the fold. So, keep an eye on him for this game. Uh revenge game for Victor Olivesson who was playing on that third line for the Colorado Avalanche as well. In goal, Scott Wedgewood. Believe that’s the guy we’re going to see tomorrow night um as they deal with some injuries. So, Wedgewood is I think who’s expected, but we’ll see about that on, uh, well, we won’t get a morning skate, but I guess we’ll see when they show up in the coaches talk for Monday. In terms of best bets for Monday’s game. So, uh, so far I chose not to pick a best bet for the Bruins game. I did not like anything. And sometimes you got to do that to be a good batter. Like, you look around at a game. I don’t need anything here. There’s nothing that really, you know, that I love. Let me just uh let me pass on it. So, I’m 10 and one for my best bets record on the season. And uh my goal was to beat the Sabres record and so far that’s happening who are uh they’re of course 0 and2. So, tomorrow night’s game, let’s take a tomorrow afternoon’s game. Let’s take a look at it. Sabres are home. They’re underdogs, no surprising, at plus 136. The Avalanche atus 164. The overunder is at 6 and a half. And I think this is going to be a trend for me as long as that number holds there. Whenever you see a six and a half and it’s minus 110 for the under, I’m taking that for the Buffalo Sabres. It isn’t even really about their opponent. Sure, the Avalanche could score seven on their own, but I’m not buying the Sabres are going to score three goals in a game until I see it or until they get fully healthy up front. And that’s not going to be a while because Josh Norris them definitely. So, if the Sabres can’t score more than three, then the Avalanche got to score five or more to get to that number. And four to two and I still win the underb bet. I’m taking the under. Six and a half. So, it’s the same bet that I had on opening night. It was down to five and a half for game number two. It’s back to six and a half here. I’m gonna go with the under. There’s nobody in terms of it anytime. Goal guy. Um, Tage 155. I don’t like it. I don’t like the way Tuck’s been playing, so I’m not taking him. Um, I guess my favorite if I had to pick one would probably be Payton Krebs at plus 725 because he’s way way down the odds and he’s getting some of these opportunities. Um, and I don’t think he’s very good at scoring these goals and these opportunities, but he’s getting them. Like he he could see top six minutes. He could see power play time. Uh, he’s an injury away from being like the first line center. So, Krebs at plus 725. if I had to pick a guy for anytime goal, but I’m going to stick with the under six and a half in this one. And I would fully expect Alex Lion back between the pipes. You don’t get a backto-back. Um, don’t need to see Colton Ellis just yet. Keep rolling with Lion. He’s the only thing keeping them, one of the only things keeping them in these games. I would go right back to him against the ABS tomorrow. Enjoy the game. We’ll talk after it is over. It’s a rare day where the Sabres and Bills play on the same day. So, watch your hockey during the afternoon. get your football at night. So, check out Locked on Bills with Joe Marino, of course, because tomorrow’s going to be a busy one. We’ll talk to you after Sabres and ABS. If you want to check out all that’s going on around the NHL, uh you can check out locked on NHL game night. That’s available wherever you listen to your podcast and on YouTube as well. So, tomorrow afternoon, Sabres and ABS go for the under six and a half. Um and we’ll see. That’ll do it for us today here on the Sabers podcast subtest.com/lockdons. We’ll talk to you tomorrow night here on the Lockdown Sabers podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. [Music]

Through two games the Buffalo Sabres are showing an inability to score goals and generate any consistent scoring threat. Against the Bruins, the Sabres came out flat, again, and had Lindy Ruff calling their effort one of the worst he’s ever seen. Sneaky Joe looks at the offensive issues, that starts with their lack of talent up front, and ends with their terrible start to the season on the powerplay. How have we arrived already at Justin Danforth on the ice in the final minute to try and tie a hockey game? Plus, Alex Tuch’s struggles through two games, and Alex Lyon being the best player on the ice for Buffalo so far.

Also, a look ahead to the Sabres matchup with the Colorado Avalanche.

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