The Buffalo Sabres hold the NHL’s longest postseason drought, having failed to play beyond Game 82 of the regular season since 2010-11.
Based on their performance in the 2024-25 NHL campaign so far, that drought seems unlikely to end. The Sabres have lost five straight home games, including a humiliating 5-4 defeat to the Colorado Avalanche after squandering a 4-0 lead.
Ranked near the bottom of the Atlantic Division, Buffalo’s prospects for improvement appear bleak at best and could very well result in yet another year on the outside looking in at the postseason. They are getting production from the usual suspects like Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch, but continue to run into defensive issues.
What is it that stands out the most as a surprise and disappointment for the team now that a quarter of the season has gone by?
Sabres’ biggest surprise to start 2024-25 NHL season
One of Buffalo’s biggest surprises is the performance of goaltender Devon Levi, who was tabbed by many to be the goaltender of the future for the franchise. And unfortunately, the surprise isn’t a good one so far through the first quarter of the 2024-25 season.
Through seven games played, Levi has picked up just two wins and has a cringe-inducing 3.95 goals-against average along with a .870 save percentage. As he recently put it, his tough numbers are just something that he has to work through.
“Making sure my practice habits are good,” he said, via Bill Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey Beat. “Trying to allocate a little bit of practice time into like a game mentality. When there’s drills, where there’s like game situational, reads to be made, just kind of getting into a game mode, game mentality, like getting hungry to stop the puck and just try not to think, just play.”
Unfortunately in the meantime, Levi has hardly resembled the goaltender the team expected to lay a serious challenge to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for the starting role.
Sabres’ biggest disappointment to start season
In a bid to tap into nostalgia, the Sabres brought back former coach Lindy Ruff to lead this year’s team, hoping to recapture some of the magic from his lengthy first tenure with the franchise.
Unfortunately, Ruff’s return has yet to yield positive results for Buffalo.
After their stunning 5-4 loss to the Avalanche, Ruff opted against using a bag skate as punishment for his players. Instead, he chose to hold a film session to address the team’s issues, via The New York Times.
“After we were done, I thought everything was great,” Ruff said of the team’s mood. “I think, walking in, they didn’t know what to expect. That was my job to set the tone and say: ‘Listen, we’re going to learn from it. It’s painful. We’re in this together. We’re going to learn. We’re going to move on. We’re going to become better.’”
You can excuse Sabres fans for not immediately jumping onto that mindset, considering that they’ve been hearing it now for over the past decade with little to no meaningful progress or results.
For a team that was expected to be more competitive in the division, Ruff hasn’t (yet) been able to guide them in that direction.
