theathleticuk
Buffalo, N.Y. — Lindy Ruff's dissatisfaction with his team's effort was evident Saturday morning. The Buffalo Sabres head coach, unhappy with a 2-2 start, shook up his lineup ahead of the game against the Utah Mammoth. Rookie forward Konsta Helenius and 22-year-old Jiri Kulich were scratched, replaced by fourth-liners Sam Carrick and Tyson Kozak.
"If you want to stay in the lineup, you have to play hard and you've got to be bringing something to the table every night," Ruff stated. When asked about Helenius specifically, Ruff explained, "When it gets right down to it, it's hard to compete, compete on pucks — there's a lot of details that goes into every shift, whether it's 50-50 help on faceoffs, so the compete part is the heavy compete on pucks where we got smoked the other night." He added, "He's going to be a good player; just part of being young is that up and down, that consistency part, and some of it is the details for the game."
Following Thursday's loss to the Dallas Stars, goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen accepted the criticism. Ruff started Colten Ellis in net against Utah, but his decision and comments suggested the team's problems went beyond goaltending. The lineup changes failed to address those issues, as the Sabres delivered an uninspired performance in a 4-1 defeat.
"We just haven't been connected," Ruff said postgame. "We're trying to find who we are."
For the second consecutive game, Buffalo was outplayed throughout the lineup. After Tage Thompson scored an early power-play goal — the team's first of the season — the Sabres generated little offense. Utah entered the third period with a 3-1 lead that could have been larger. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Mammoth controlled 70 percent of the expected goals at five-on-five through two periods.
All four Utah goals were preventable. On the first, Ellis kicked out a rebound too far, allowing Barrett Hayton to quickly set up Kailer Yamamoto, who had beaten Zach Metsa and Peyton Krebs into the zone. The second came on a power play via a backdoor feed to Nick Schmaltz that eluded Mattias Samuelsson. Anders Lee then scored after Kozak turned over a breakout pass, getting behind Buffalo's defense. John Marino capped the scoring with a power-play one-timer from the point that beat Ellis five-hole.
Goaltending was subpar, the Sabres gave Utah's dangerous power play too many chances, defensive zone coverage was flawed, and again, the Sabres couldn't score.
Key Analysis
Entering the season, captain Rasmus Dahlin and others acknowledged this year would be tougher than last because they wouldn't surprise anyone. Thompson is already seeing evidence of that. "The way we played last season, we got a lot of respect," Thompson said. "We were a really good rush team, and we've got a lot of skill and speed off the rush. You get pre-scouted. Teams are going to try to take that away as much as possible. Utah did tonight. They really didn't give us anything on the rush. The gaps were tight and forced us to dump it in. You have to be comfortable playing in those games — It's not always going to be clean. It's not always going to be pretty. That's something we need to focus on mentally a little bit more going into games, is just keeping it direct."
The Sabres' 2-3 start isn't disastrous. Their comeback wins against the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild resembled last season's form. Buffalo still appears capable of generating plenty of offense, ranking fourth in the NHL in scoring chances per 60 minutes at five-on-five. But the first five games have raised legitimate concerns.
Josh Norris, Josh Doan, and Zach Benson are all top-six forwards, and none has scored. "They need something good to happen," Ruff said. "When I say they're squeezing the sticks, it means they're not making plays I think they can normally make."
Top-six scoring isn't the only issue. Kulich and Helenius, two young players expected to help replace Alex Tuch's production, were in the press box. The team is searching for an answer in net, as Luukkonen and Ellis have just one quality start between them in five games. The power play, despite scoring Saturday, remains a problem carried over from last season.
Some of this is expected from a team trying to replace Tuch and Bowen Byram. They're also without Jason Zucker and Alex Lyon, who are on injured reserve. Those four made a significant impact on and off the ice last season.
The Sabres were too good last season for panic to set in after five games. But this is an early gut check. The next four games are against the Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Canadiens again — four matchups with Atlantic Division contenders.
Another point the Sabres emphasized entering the season was that they couldn't rely on a streak like last season's 41-12-5 run from Dec. 9 to the end. They don't want to depend on such a stretch to make the playoffs. That's why early issues matter and need to be treated with urgency.
Originally reported by theathleticuk.