In a matchup of a team with eight straight losses (Buffalo Sabres) and another team with six straight losses (Minnesota Wild), something had to give. In the end, the better team prevailed in the Wild.
Minnesota sent the Sabres to its ninth straight loss on Tuesday at the First Niagara Center with a 7-0 thrashing on home ice. The Sabres were horribly outshot by a total of 37-18, and were embarrassed in front of the Sabres faithful.
“There’s no excuse for it,” Sabres defenseman Josh Gorges said following the loss. “There’s no way this should happen over and over and over… We need to find answers.”
“There is not going to be one guy that come in here and magically everything changes. Collectively, we need to decide if we are going to be a team or not. We talk about this day in and day out, but talk is cheap.”
“I think we’re all embarrassed,” Sabres head coach Ted Nolan said. “We’re here for a certain reason, you sign a contract to give your best effort and best foot forward, and tonight there was none… I’m speechless. I don’t want to say anything I’ll regret saying.”
The Wild scored two goals in the first, three in the second, and two more goals in the third period to put an end to a six-game win streak. Former Sabres forward Jason Pominville led the Wild with three assists in the game, while another former Sabres forward Thomas Vanek had a goal and an assist in the win.
Nikita Zadorov led all Sabres players in total ice-time, playing a total of 22:56. Zadorov also had a shot on goal and three hits in the matchup.
Gorges had a rough evening for the defense taking a penalty and also being a minus-3 on the ice. Gorges also blocked three shots and have two hits in the contest.
Jhonas Enroth made 30 saves in the contest, but one could tell he was frustrated by his body language he presented throughout the night.
The Sabres now fall to 14-28-3 on the season, and remain right behind the Edmonton Oilers in the bottom of the standings. The Sabres will try to look to snap its nine-game losing streak on Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers at the First Niagara Center. The Sabres will then travel to Detroit on Sunday before having the next week off for the All-Star break.
Opening face-off on Saturday is scheduled for 7:30p.m. The game can be seen on MSG Network and also heard on WGR 550 A-M.