Game 11: A handout

If it seemed like the Buffalo Sabres gave away the game to the New York Islanders in their 4-3 loss on Friday night, you'd be right.

BUFFALO — Losses have a way of leaving a bad taste in the mouth of everyone associated with it. You know, because losing is bad and it should make you feel bad.

Sometimes a loss has a little extra on top of it for the way it came to be and that would be an apt way to feel about the Buffalo Sabres’ 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders at home on Friday.

The Isles entered the game without Mat Barzal, having not scored in their past eight periods of play, and having one of the worst offenses in the NHL. There’s been drama on Long Island with coach Patrick Roy and GM Lou Lamoriello (that’s probably not true but when things are down, rumors be happenin’) and when losses pile up, things get uglier as they go. The Isles were also down two defensemen midway through the second period.

With all of that information and the Sabres on the first game of back-to-backs, the “Trap Game” alarm was blaring loudly and should’ve been heeded.

Buffalo had a lead for all of 40 seconds in this game when Dylan Cozens finally scored his first of the year, on the power play no less, at 9:03 of the first period. It was 40 seconds later that Bo Horvat caught the Sabres defense out of whack for a breakaway which Devon Levi got a pad on, but it still went in.

The Sabres didn’t play crisp hockey throughout and were careless with the puck too often. Lindy Ruff put a lot of the blame on himself for not having the team in better form, but players play, and the players did not play well.

“Let's be real, we handed them three goals,” Ruff said. “We've been playing pretty tight, it started to slip, and again, we get beat 1-on-1, we got a defenseman caught deep where our forwards covering and gets on the wrong side of the puck on an easy—really an easy—coverage play. You're not going to win a lot of games if you hand the opposition two or three breakaways or two-on-one, on-nothing plays.”

You’re not and they didn’t. More ahead on a less-than attractive loss at home.