The Buffalo Sabres coasted through the first 35 minutes of Wednesday night's 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Careless passes, minimal effort win space in the most dangerous areas of the ice and zero urgency to win puck battles. In short, they had no desperation in their game.
That lack of a consistently high compete level is the hallmark of the 2025-26 Sabres so far. They have stretches where they look like a potential playoff team, but that crucial element of building a winning environment goes missing far, far too often.
Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff discussed how often his team was hemmed in its own zone as the Pens clogged the neutral zone and kept outworking the Sabres for the puck.