Miscues, Unfortunate Bounces Sink Sabres In Loss to Coyotes

Thompson scores lone Buffalo goal in loss.

Score: Sabres 1, Coyotes 4

Shots: Buffalo 33, Arizona 24

Buffalo Sabres Goals: Tage Thompson (8)

Arizona Coyotes Goals: Lawson Crouse, Clayton Keller, Liam O’Brien, Matias Maccelli

Minus 1: From the Get-go

It took only 23 seconds of game action before the Sabres found themselves in a hole. It’s obviously an unfortunate start to any game, as a miscue between Owen Power and Kale Clague led to Lawson Crouse’s sixth goal of the season:

Thankfully for Buffalo, they’ve got Tage Thompson in their repertoire, and he was able to tie the game later in the first period on the power play. Regardless, it’s not a good way to start a game and was a sign of more struggles to come as the night went on.

Arizona’s second goal was an incredibly unlucky one for the Sabres, as a shot went right off Dylan Cozens and past Eric Comrie. Sometimes, things go your way and sometimes… they just don’t.

Minus 1: Failure to Capitalize

The Sabres had four power-play opportunities on Tuesday night, and were able to capitalize on one of those chances. Special teams can be critical to a team’s success, and there were certainly times when a power-play goal could’ve helped swing the game in Buffalo’s favor.

Their first chance of the night came just 49 seconds in, shortly after Arizona’s opening goal. Scoring on that – tying the game quickly – would’ve helped even the momentum and take off that early jump that the Coyotes got. Another power play a few minutes later, same thing.

The Sabres’ power play this season is effective at 24.0 percent, 13th in the NHL.

Final Thoughts

It was a bit of a ho-hum of a game, honestly. The best part may have been that the Sabres blueline is finally, hopefully, rebuilding. Rasmus Dahlin was back in the lineup after a one-game absence and played a team-high 27:37. Ilya Lyubushkin also returned and played 13:32.

Next up for the Sabres: the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.