The Sabres have now lost six straight games courtesy of their 4-1 loss to the Tampa Lightning. The Sabres cannot score goals right now. They have scored just 8 goals in their past 7 home games. Even worse, the Sabres have scored only 11 goals in their past 9 games.
Next up: The defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in Buffalo in Saturday night.
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Evander Kane was very forthcoming in his assessment of the offensive struggles that he and his teammates are experiencing in the recent losing skid.
Kane noted that the Tampa Bay Lightning always seem to be resilient and find a ways to win games despite serious injuries to their best players like Steven Stamkos, who will be lost to his team for the next 4 months due to meniscus surgery.
"We need to do something like that in this room".
Kane lamented the lack of finish that his team is being plagued by in the month of Movember.
"We've scored 11 goals in the last 9 games. You're not going to win many games if any scoring like that. We've got to find a way to bury them"
"We have to bury the chances we get, me included"
"You've got to want to have the puck on your stick... be s difference maker", Kane said.
"It must be a joke right now that "if you score two goals against the Buffalo Sabres, you win the game". We have to end that", Evander Kane
Thanks, Sabres TV
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NHL general managers met in Toronto earlier this week. There was talk about Rule 48 and head shots like the Kadri-Sedin cranium shot. There was also talk abot the Las Vegas expansion team.
There was also face to face trade talk amongst NHL GMs.
Buffalo Sabress GM Tim Murray told WGR Thursday that his ears are open and his smart phone is fully charged. Murray didn't deny that he's had some discussions.
"I've made some calls just to see what's going on and what's out there. It's very hard to make a trade because it has to be money for money," Murray said.
Murray and Dan Bylsma are tasked daily with having to manage their patch work roster due to th eglut of injuries to key contributors. Good thing Rochester is right down the I-90 from Buffalo. Murray can easily call up and then send down Amerks players who are being used as bondo to fill the glaring holes on the body of Murray's vehicle, so to speak.
"We've had 27 guys on our roster right now and we're right up against the cap so it's a daily grind."
The old addage in NHL GM circles is that when teams are struggling, their peers and cohorts are not quick to throw them a life preserver. Instead, they throw cinder blocks and anchors.
GMTM isn't exactly attracting care package proposals from his fellow NHL GMs these days.
Or, so he says.
"There's no GM out there going into his office in the morning saying, "Let's give Tim Murray a hand here. Let's help him out here. We feel bad for him." That's not going to happen...plug away and see if we can get something done. Right now there's just been a lot of vague talk and nothing specific."
Murray is a poker player from the word "go". Murray's poker face is on 24/7/365. He isn't a newbie GM who is going to divulge his trade secrets. He will not tip his hand. You have to pay to see Tim Murray's cards.
Injuries are a part of the NHL. They are a reality. Murray said Thursady that Ryan O'Reilly's is suffering from an oblique injury. That can be a killer injury for a premiere face off man who has to rely on twisting, turning and contorting his body with regularity inside shifts. Murray won't say how severe the injury is but it has to be weighing heavily on his mind otherwise he would have kept his news to himself.
"I'm concerned for sure," Murray said. "In the position he plays, there's a lot of twisting and turning when you're taking draws and shooting the puck. I would like to see it settle down and rehabbbed and do the right thing. He's a competitive guy and he thinks he's around 70 percent now or so. When he gets to 80, he'll want to play so what's the right thing?"
Ryan O'Reilly at 70% is a huge concern for Dan Bylsma . ROR is a 60.5% faceoff man. He wins draws like no other center on Buffalo's roster or the NHL for that matter. When O'Reilly is in street clothes, the Sabres spend their time chasing the puck to get it back after lost draws. Bylsma can't play his puck possession game when the other team wins the draws and holds the puck.
Dmitry Kulikov's "mid-body" injury is also of paramount concern. The big Russian has been injured since training camp and he can't help the club when he is sitting in a cold tub. Ditto Zach Bogosian, Nic Deslauriers, Tyler Ennis, and, oh yeah, Jack Eichel.
Murray can't be happy with his team's inability to score goals in front of the home fans.
Heading into Thursday night's tilt with Tampa Bay, the Sabres had only been able to muster 7 goals in their 6 home games. In their first 16 games, the Sabres had scored just 30 goals, 10 of them on the power play. The Sabres ranked dead last in goal scoring in the NHL when action began on Thursday night.
Murray and Bylsma are also having to reconcile having to play 2 career AHLers in the six man D corps. Justin Falk, Taylor Fedun and Casey Nelson are AHL caliber defenders who are doing their best to adjust to NHL speed and skill. Factor in a largely ineffective veteran defender in Cody Franson ad life has become difficult for Robin Lehner and Anders Nisson, who are literally having to stand on their heads every night to keep the Sabres competitive and in games.
Buffalo's goalies are the only relaible roster players to date. The scorers who are not injured are not scoring. There is no secondary or tertiary scoring to speak of. Through 16 games, the Buffalo D corps has yet to score a goal. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
Don't let Murray fool you. He's doing more than just chit chat over coffee and danishes with his NHL GM counterparts.
Several NHL teams continue to scout the Sabres on a consietnt basis.
Vancouver, linked to Evander Kane for months via yours truly, have their assistant general manager here tonight. Why are the Canucks scouting the Sabres so closely? Is it a coincidence? Haven't I been telling you for five months about an Evander Kane-Ben Hutton trade opportunity? Funny how "insiders" started talking about Kane for Hutton just this week, isn't it?
The Minnesota Wild, frequent flyers to Buffalo this season, are also said to be looking at Kane to add scoring to their lineup, are also here tonight.
The Winnipeg Jets are also here and continue to watch the Sabres live and in person.
How long can the patchwork Sabres stay in the playoff hunt?
The Sabres are presently find themselves in an oblique angle in the Eastern Conference standings. They are slanting more towards the cellar than they are the middle of the pack.
The Sabres entered the Bolts games with a 5-7-4 record.
How long will it be until Murray finds himself a dance partner to create a win-win, dollars in-dollars out trade?
Murray's fortunes may be waiting for him in the Emerald City of Vancouver.