Two teams in dire need of a turnaround meet in Buffalo on Wednesday night when the Sabres host the New York Rangers.
The Sabres are in the midst of a season-long seven-game losing streak. They are tied with the Nashville Predators, who host Calgary Tuesday night, for the longest current drought. Both teams also have three overtime or shootout losses during their skids.
Buffalo’s streak has been frustrating for the youngest team in the NHL, and Monday’s 6-5 shootout loss to visiting Detroit was endemic with how the Sabres have played recently. They held a 3-2 lead after one period and a 5-3 edge after two, with two goals from Jason Zucker and another from team leader Tage Thompson — only to see the Red Wings force overtime in the third.
Buffalo has held first-period leads in five games during the streak and led twice after two periods. The streak has led to fans loudly booing the Sabres during home games.
In talking to reporters after practice on Tuesday, coach Lindy Ruff said the team did not make the right decisions as the Red Wings were applying pressure, and that has been happening throughout the streak.
“We were making some good plays,” the coach said. “We just didn’t get comfortable enough when they were trying to stress us out by pinching down the walls and coming at us.”
The losing streak has also coincided with a dismal nine-game stretch from Buffalo’s power play units. Starting with the game at Anaheim on Nov. 22, the Sabres have scored just once in the 24 times they have had the man advantage. Prior to that, the Sabres scored at least one power-play goal in 10 of their previous 11 games (11 of 37).
While Buffalo is tied for the longest current losing streak, the Rangers will enter Wednesday’s game with the worst overall record over their past 10 games (2-8-0).
That stretch has come during a turbulent time for Peter Laviolette’s team. Last Friday, the Rangers traded defenseman and team captain Jacob Trouba to Anaheim for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, who remains on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, and a draft pick. The team’s front office had been trying to move Trouba since the offseason.
They lost at home Monday for the second time in as many days. The Rangers mustered only a short-handed goal from Will Cuylle in a 2-1 loss to Chicago, which is tied with Nashville at the bottom of the league’s standings. The defeat was met with a loud chorus of boos from the Madison Square Garden crowd.
Laviolette told reporters after the loss he understood the fans’ sentiments. Whatever is causing the letdown in play, he said, is something that needs to be fixed inside the locker room.
“There’s been some positive signs inside the room, (but) not (Monday),” he said. “… I thought the intention in the first was good. The execution was off, and both slipped in the second and third.”
Ruff said Buffalo may welcome back Mattias Samuelsson to the lineup on Wednesday. The defenseman has been dealing with a lower-body injury and last played on Nov. 11.
The Sabres coach also added that Rasmus Dahlin is “progressing” as he recovers from back spasms that have sidelined the defenseman since Dec. 3, but Ruff did not indicate when the team captain may return.
