The Buffalo Sabres have found their offensive game after a slow start, but now, their defensive play has taken a hit. They'll try to get their full game back on track when they close out a three-game road trip with a visit to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
After scoring just three goals in their first three games, the Sabres have put up 14 in their past three. And while nine of those have come in the past two outings, they've given up 12 goals in those contests while going 0-1-1.
The latest was a 6-4 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, a game in which they were able to cut several two-goal deficits in half only to have Columbus restore the advantage shortly thereafter. Most notably, Buffalo scored with 25 seconds left in the second period to pull within 4-3 only to give up a goal 15 seconds into the third.
"It's just winning those battles," forward Alex Tuch said. "It's focusing on tiny little details, just not being careless. It's working hard for your full shift, not for 35 of the 45 seconds. It's making sure you bear down in certain areas, and we haven't had that consistency yet in the last couple of games."
One night earlier, the Sabres' defensive breakdowns factored into their overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, a wild back-and-forth outing in which they weren't tight enough around their net to hold off the tying goal with 46 seconds left in regulation.
Offensively, Buffalo ranks 10th in the NHL heading into Friday's schedule with 17 goals to its credit. All but three of those have come at 5-on-5. The team is still waiting for its first power-play goal, stuck in an 0-for-17 rut with the man advantage through six games.
It's also been a tough start for center Dylan Cozens, who has one point so far, an assist picked up against the Blue Jackets.
The Blackhawks, meanwhile, head into the matchup seeking a second straight win after a 4-2 victory against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. Chicago has won two of three after losing its first two games of the season.
Though the Blackhawks aren't expected to be a playoff contender, their offseason additions were made to provide even more depth to help sophomore center Connor Bedard.
One of those was the repatriation of winger Teuvo Teravainen, and he's delivered what Chicago was hoping for. Teravainen, who returned after eight seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes, shares the team lead in points (seven) with Bedard and co-leads in goals (three) with captain Nick Foligno.
"He just sees," coach Luke Richardson said of Teravainen. "He sees openings and he knows exactly what the next play is before he gets it on his stick."
Bedard, for his part, has been looking to take the next step in his game on both sides of the puck.
"I know my job, in the big scheme of things, is to create and produce," Bedard said. "But I want to be good all around. Last year, there were a lot of times I was the guy (who was the) reason we were getting scored on. That's going to happen here and there, but if I can limit that as much as possible, that would help us win games."
