You Are The Worse Coach That I Ever See Star Player Disparaging The Buffalo Sabres Head Coach Don Granato

In what was easily their most important game of the season, the Buffalo Sabres had very little to show against the Detroit Red Wings as they were defeated by a score of 3-1. The first period was an absolute disaster as they collapsed in every sense of the word, the second period was mostly just a bit of a back-and-forth between the two teams, and the third was just a further display of disappointment. Despite an attempted comeback late in the third, the only goal they could muster was from the first period, and things never got better from there.

It’s not a first period if the Sabres aren’t losing by at least two goals. They were lax defensively, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen looked fairly average as they were down 3-0 in the first ten minutes of the game. It took multiple power-play opportunities, and a great play from Zach Benson to feed Tage Thompson for their only goal of the period, but that was the only real good offensive chance they could muster. The fire in this team was not completely dead despite the score, as there was some physical pushback from Bowen Byram and Dylan Cozens. Both ended up with fighting majors, but both fights were also fairly uneventful.

All in all, the Sabres had very little to show in regards to effort and general hockey awareness. They allowed Dylan Larkin, Patrick Kane, and Lucas Raymond to run all over them as the top three Red Wings players scored their goals in absolutely spectacular fashion. Larkin was left alone in the slot on a power-play, Kane split the defense for a highlight reel goal, and Raymond had an absolute snipe to beat Luukkonen. By the end of the first, things were not looking good.

Second Period Chances Were Not Enough
The Sabres came out swinging in the second period as they were throwing shots on net and pressuring the Red Wings goalie fairly well. They played pretty well defensively in the first half of the second as they did not allow Detroit a single shot attempt for the first nine minutes. Once the second half of the period came around, the Red Wings turned it on and started getting even better chances than the Sabres were. Despite trading chances back and forth, neither team was able to muster up another goal, and they progressed into the third period.

As a whole, the Sabres looked a little better in the second, but it wasn’t enough to bring them back to where they needed to be. If they really wanted to push back and make a difference in this game, the time to tie it up was in the second. They failed to do so, and they weren’t able to properly recover. On top of that, there was an injury to Jacob Bryson that handicapped them by a man going into the third period.

Sabres Third Period Push Falls Flat… As Always
The Sabres made a decent attempt to create some sort of offense at the start of the third period, but they were unable to break through the Red Wings’ defense, and the apparent stone wall that was Alex Lyon. Once again, the Sabres made a point to make an opposing goaltender look spectacular by having only menial chances, and average effort throughout. Poor passing and clustered players made for a frustrating sight, and it made defending for the Red Wings fairly simple.