Anders Nilsson

Buffalo Sabres Game Day: Sabres Looking To Hand Out More Than Coal For Christmas

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:28 a.m. ET

Fansided, Richard Spalding/FanSided via Sabre Noise

Can the Buffalo Sabres give their fans something to actual be merry about? We’ll find out tonight!

The other day, I wrote a piece about how bad the Buffalo Sabres suck when it comes to the shootout.

I really could have left out the “in the shootout part” for that post, because right now, this Sabres team kind of sucks at, well, everything. Scoring goals? They suck – the Sabres have already scored one goal or less 14 times this season, including a home loss last night to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Playing defense? For every game they bottle up a player like Connor McDavid, they make teams like the Hurricanes look like offensive juggernauts. And how many odd-man rushes did they allow last night – 20? More? Sure felt like it!

Quality goaltending? Okay – I’ll stop from saying the Sabres suck in this regard, as Robin Lehner and Anders Nilsson have combined to stop 953 of the 1,034 shots they have faced, good for the 6th-best save percentage in the NHL at .922. Those two guys are the reasons why those 1-goal efforts from the Sabres tend to finish 2-1 or 3-1, instead of 7-1 . . . but Buffalo’s goaltenders do suck in the shootout, a glaring weakness for a team that needs more than 65 minutes to settle a game as often as the Buffalo Sabres do (the team has 8 OT/SO losses, most in the NHL).

So, despite the semi-high expectations that many fans had heading into the 2016-17 season, and despite some 2-3 game stretches in which this team looked like it was gelling and gearing up for a respectable push, the Buffalo Sabres are a bottom-ten team in the NHL yet again. Will they give their fans a bi of holiday cheer heading into the weekend? Or will Sabre Santa be handing out coal to fans in the 716 and beyond for the umpteenth year in a row?

How the hell should I know?!?!? I’m currently out of ideas when it comes to what this team can do to turn things around.

The Buffalo Sabres; last win came against the Islanders, so let’s hope lightning strikes twice tonight in the Barclays Center!