Game 43: Reruns in syndication
The Sabres were in control up 2-0 after the first period, but six unanswered Kraken goals and yet another obvious meltdown left everyone looking for answers.
BUFFALO — The classic snarky trope for this one would be to ask, “Stop me if you’ve heard this one before,” but had that been the opening this time or any of the other times the Buffalo Sabres blew a lead this season, this post would be over.
The setting for Saturday afternoon’s game against the Seattle Kraken had all the vibes of a late-season tilt between two teams that know they’re fighting it in different ways and the way the game played out… it was the kind of win for Seattle that could spark them.
The Sabres got out to a 2-0 first period lead on goals by Sam Lafferty and a power play marker from Jack Quinn. With just under four minutes to go in the period, they were out-shot-attempting the Kraken 26-4 and held a decisive 15-7 shots on goal advantage at the end of the period.
The Sabres were cruising and opened the second period with an abbreviated power play. The lack of impulse and killer instinct to try and get another goal in that moment and the overall pushback from Seattle was notable, but when Ryker Evans got a pass from Chandler Stephenson and got a shot past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen after a series of mistakes, it was yet another moment where the collective “uh-oh” was clear as day and the road to unraveling opened wide as the Kraken would score five more goals through the end of the second and through the third period on the way to a 6-2 come-from-behind victory on the road.
“We’ve seen it too many times this year where we give up one and it’s just a disaster,” Dylan Cozens said. “And then they get another and then another. I don’t know why it keeps happening, but we’ve got to figure it out and find a way to not let that happen.”
“Disaster” is the right word for what happened on Saturday. Not knowing why these blown leads and games keep happening is a problem for everyone on the ice, behind the bench, and in the management box needed to figure out before the Sabres crashed into the basement of the Eastern Conference.
"I thought the second period, embarrassing the way we played,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “We had O-zone time, didn’t get to the inside, didn’t get pucks to the net, passed the puck around the perimeter, looked for the pretty play, and eventually it caught up to us. And to give up a goal in the last couple minutes on the play, unacceptable. Just embarrassing, actually.”
More on the Sabres’ latest “embarrassing” “disaster” ahead if you’ve got the stomach for it or you find some grim sense of comfort in these hockey reruns.
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