Mike Harrington
Sports Columnist
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I can report Jason Zucker’s deadpan, which generally has no equal in the Sabres’ locker room, is already at regular season levels. No problem from this point of view. Through his joke, Zucker was making a point late Tuesday night after the Sabres’ 2-1 exhibition victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets in KeyBank Center.
Reminded of all the talk in training camp about the team’s need to improve its defensive mentality, Zucker initially gave reporters a hard stop when he straight-faced “first I’ve heard of that” as his answer.
Zucker smiled, we chuckled and then things got back on the straight and narrow.
“It’s something we knew we needed to be better at from last year and I think’s been a good step,” Zucker said. “But two preseason games isn’t enough to be happy about it, so we have to keep working on it and keep getting better.”
He’s got that right. You can’t overanalyze these things. Especially when an opponent plays as much of a non-NHL lineup as the Blue Jackets did here Tuesday. But you can only play those who are in front of you, and the bottom line is the Sabres swept two games against Columbus while only allowing one goal.
They hounded the puck in the neutral zone in both games and protected a late lead Tuesday in a 5-on-6 situation the way they needed to have done more last season. This is a team that gave up 289 goals last season and coach Lindy Ruff has already said in camp he wants to cut that number by 40 to 50, which is a necessary but difficult task.
The Buffalo Sabres played solid defense in the final five minutes of a 2-1 win against Columbus on Tuesday in a preseason game at KeyBank Center.
Zach Benson called the Sabres “menaces” in Tuesday’s win and the numbers back him up: The shots on goal were 34-19, the attempts were 62-35, the scoring chances according to Natural Stat Trick were 33-10 and the high-danger chances were 12-4. Pressure the puck and control it and you won’t play defense as much. If the other team is chasing it around the rink, it can’t score.
“It’s a quality of a good team a lot of times where you can kind of get into them and frustrate them,” said Ruff. “I think we were doing a good job.”
Now, the Sabres needed to score five or six goals in this game and they had plenty of chances to do it. The power play was 0 for 4 but before you channel 2024-25 panic, you should note the 10 shots on goal and oodles of zone time the units maintained in this game.
Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has not shied away for admitting when his game drops off. But let’s not forget he was at 2.57/.910 in the 2023-24 season, so there is some positive history to go on, too. Bottom line: The Sabres’ goaltending, wherever it comes from, has to be better.
Tage Thompson got Buffalo’s first goal on a ridiculous backhand pass from Benson and he finished with six shots on goal and 10 attempts in the game. Rasmus Dahlin also had six on goal in nine attempts and had a few puck-on-the string moments.
Here’s some other jottings in my notebook from the first couple games:
Goaltending: Alexandar Georgiev and Alex Lyon have been more than sufficent thus far in net with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen remaining on the shelf. No real spectacular saves but no massive headaches in goal either. The goal against Lyon was a no-chance tip-in on a Columbus power play, and it was the only shot the Jackets had in the second period until the final 10 seconds.
“Not too much to make of it. Good place to start,” Lyon said. “Just trying to get comfortable and play my game. Gotta give credit to the guys. We locked it down pretty good.”
Lyon wasn’t here last year, of course, but said the coaching staff’s goals-against mandate shouldn’t be treated as unique.
“The reality is every team in the league wants to cut down on goals and everybody wants to put more pucks in the net,” Lyon said. “Everything is relative and you’re competing with every other team in that category, so it’s just about creating good habits and sticking to day-to-day details.”
Josh Norris looks to rebound from several injury-plagued seasons in Ottawa to become a top-line center with the Buffalo Sabres.
Faceoffs: The Sabres had a huge 35-17 advantage in the circle, led by Josh Norris’ 11-3 mark. He’s going to make a big difference at the dot, especially on the power play.
“Look at the number of opportunities just because you win the faceoff,” Ruff said. “Zone time goes way up, the opportunities go way up. … It’s a big deal.”
Major caveat: Tuesday’s Columbus lineup was filled with Cleveland Monsters. The Sabres’ top players should have dominated and, for the most part, they did. We’ll see how the team’s game progresses in the two games Thursday and Saturday against Detroit, and things will look much more realistic next week with the final two exhibitions against Pittsburgh.
Musical interlude: The Sabres’ fan poll for their Blue and Gold goal song is apparently going to get some crowdsourcing during the preseason for its five finalist choices. “Swords of a Thousand Men” by Tenpole Tudor played after Thompson’s goal and “Everytime We Touch” by Cascada was the choice on Zucker’s game-winner.
It should be no contest. On name alone, how can “Swords” not be the choice? Remember: It’s preseason. We can’t take this stuff too seriously. Gotta add some levity to the proceedings.
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Mike Harrington
Sports Columnist
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