NHL
No secret why Sabres are losing
by MATT KRUEGER Reporter

You don't need Sherlock Holmes to solve this mystery.

The mistakes made by the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference finals read like a shopping list: anemic power plays, too few shots on goal, frequent turnovers, tentative attacks, missing blocked shots and, obviously, lack of scoring.

Yes, the Sabres looked like a much more reserved team through the first three games against the Ottawa Senators than they did during their Presidents Trophy winning season. The team that charged hard to the net, skated circles around opponents and scored almost at will, suddenly found itself getting hogtied.

The most conspicuous problem was the play on special teams.

In the 5-2 loss in Game One Thursday night, Buffalo was 0 for 5 on the power play, while Ottawa was 2 for 6. And you can add Mike Fisher's short-handed goal in the first period, after a bad turnover from Dmitri Kalinin, to Buffalo's woes on the power play.

Things got even worse in Saturday's 4-3 loss in Game Two. Buffalo was a horrific 0 for 7 with the man advantage, while Ottawa scored on two of its four chances. Wade Redden's goal late in the second period came on a 5-on-3 advantage for Ottawa.

"When you look at penalty killing, I think they were one of the top teams, if not the best team, at scoring goals when shorthanded," Buffalo winger Jason Pominville said. "They were good pressuring us hard. We didn't win enough battles and that's why we didn't generate anything."

It wasn't until Monday's Game Three, a 1-0 win for Ottawa, that Buffalo finally got the penalty kill working. Ottawa went 0 for 7 on the power play, as the Buffalo defensemen, especially Henrik Tallinder, made strong stops in the Sabres' zone.

Buffalo is 0 for 18 in the series, which just continues a trend from the first two rounds. In the playoffs, the Sabres have scored just nine goals on 82 power-play chances.

"That hurts you. We have to be better there," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "That's an area where they've been very strong, killing the penalties. They've been very aggressive. After we had a couple bad ones, I think it just snowballed."

The shots-on-goal stats lean to the Ottawa side, as Senators goalie Ray Emery has been much less active than Buffalo's Ryan Miller. In Game One, Miller faced 34 shots compared to Emery's 20. Buffalo turned up the offense in Game Two to outshoot Ottawa, 37-32, but the Senators had better scoring opportunities. Game Three was as lopsided as it could get, with Ottawa more than doubling up Buffalo in the shots department, 32-15.

Buffalo's turnovers, especially in Game One, have been one of the main reasons the Sabres will face elimination in Game Four Wednesday at Ottawa's Scotiabank Place.

In Game One, Ottawa gave up the puck eight times, while Buffalo turned it over a stunning 19 times. The worst, of course, was Kalinin's misplay on Fisher's goal.

"I think that we weren't very good with the puck," Ruff said. "(Kalinin) was one of them, but I think that there was a number of players. Our puck management wasn't very good. That was the reason we ended up losing the hockey game. We weren't good with it. We gave it away. We had a lot of passes, but they were telegram passes and casual passes. Those types of situations usually end up hurting you in the long haul."

Buffalo turned over the puck 15 times in Game Two and nine more times in Game Three, while Ottawa combined for just 12 turnovers.

"It's important, especially against them," Pominville said of the turnovers. "They've got a team that has a ton of skill up front that can make plays. And their defense will join the rush. They've got a lot of creative guys. We definitely (didn't) want to turn the puck over as much as we did."

The pressure is all on Buffalo now, needing to win all four of the remaining games. With a win Wednesday, Buffalo will come home for Game Five Saturday at HSBC Arena.

e-mail: mkrueger@beenews.com