Copyright yardbarker
Zach Benson, Jason Zucker, and Tyson Kozak are on injured reserve. Jiri Kulich has a health issue relating to fluid in his ears and is doubtful for Thursday’s game against the St. Louis Blues. This was already a team desperately thin even at full strength and that non-existent depth is being put to the test. The Sabres are still somehow competitive, but they can’t stand much more of this. Losing a player like Alex Tuch or Tage Thompson would be devastating. Unfortunately, there is nothing to be done with depth issues of this kind other than to ride out the wave and hope it doesn’t sink the season. They Still Can’t Win in Overtime Yes, the game prior to this, they beat the Capitals in a shootout for their first overtime victory of the season. Yes, they have gotten points in four games that would have otherwise been parked in the loss column. But in a hyper-competitive Eastern Conference, you can’t keep leaving points on the table. While it is a positive that the Sabres aren’t the same incompetent, uncompetitive team they have been in the past, these “loser points” are only going to go so far. It is helping buoy them so far, but if they have two overtime/shootout losses instead of four, they are tied for fifth in the conference. The simple fact of the matter is that the good teams find ways to win. Teams like the Sabres hang on those extra points while they can and then those losses move over one place in the record column. Figure it out in overtime before these loser points become straight-up losses. Alex Lyon is Far and Away the Sabres’ MVP Josh Doan has had the single largest impact on the Sabres lineup so far this season. Having said that, there is one player who is miles above him when it comes to the most valuable player for the team this season and that is goaltender Alex Lyon.
