Sabres drop 3rd straight game

Scoring1st2nd3rdTotal
Sabres2002
Coyotes0325

If you thought any of the last three games were categorized as a “must-win,” the Sabres looked worse in each of them. The loss against Colorado was okay because at least the team showed a strong effort. The loss against Vegas was deserved. The loss against Arizona tonight was even more deserved.

The Sabres went out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Marcus Johansson and Jeff Skinner.

The Coyotes came out of the 1st intermission looking like a completely different team and the Sabres were not able to keep up with them.

Per.TimeEVGoalAssistAssist
17:59Marcus Johansson (8)Dominik Kahun (18)Jake McCabe (10)
18:43Jeff Skinner (14)Wayne Simmonds (17)---
22:20Jordan Oesterle (3)Clayton Keller (26)Oliver Ekman-Larsson (19)
23:13Phil Kessel (14)Alex Goligoski (28)Jordan Oesterle (10)
27:30Clayton Keller (16)------
313:59Clayton Keller (17)Jason Demers (10)---
319:40ENOliver Ekman-Larsson (8)------

This three-game losing skid pretty much does it for any last gasp playoff hopes.

It seems that Jack Eichel is well aware of that.

With Toronto winning, the Sabres are 12 points back of the 3rd spot in the Atlantic. They would need an incredible run down the stretch, but they haven’t won more than three consecutive games all year and don’t appear to be doing so any time soon.

It looks like many of the players have given up more with each loss this week. After such a great weekend last week, the Sabres could’ve gotten themselves back in the race, but they lost three while Toronto won three.

It’s another year where the team can’t even get to play important games in the month of March. Jason Botterill had stated that was the team’s goal during the Trade Deadline and they haven’t won a game since.

It’s not a good look for Botterill and it may put him, and the entire organization, on the hot seat again.

Victor Olofsson left the game with an injury and didn’t return. Here’s the play:

Buffalo will take on the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.

Kevin Freiheit
Kevin Freiheit
I founded Buffalo Hockey Central in 2008 and have poured hours and hours into this site. Luckily, we have a great team of writers and designers who have helped keep this up and running despite a ton of out-of-pocket costs. We do this because we enjoy it, and we're desperate to see the Sabres win the Cup someday, but they have to make the playoffs first.
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