Frustration sinking in for fledgling Sabres
by MATT KRUEGER Reporter
A year ago, the Buffalo Sabres could do no wrong.

Center Derek Roy and the rest of the Buffalo Sabres have been having plenty of trouble finding the net this season, as the team ranks 15th in the league with 2.75 goals per game. Photo by Patrick McPartland

The team opened the season with 10 straight wins and was well on its way to winning the first Presidents Trophy in team history.

Flash forward 12 months and you find a locker room of angry players trying desperately to find some kind of catalyst to dig the team out of its funk.

Buffalo has lost five of its last six games and posted a sub-standard 6-9-1 record.

"It's tough," defenseman Nathan Paetsch said after Friday's 3-0 loss to Toronto. "It's early in the season, though. You never want to lose them. Everybody's frustrated when you lose, whether it's one or seven or however many games it is. But you've got to stick with the system and keep doing what you're doing."

Buffalo is tied for last in the league with 13 points (Washington, Edmonton) and six wins (Washington, Edmonton, Calgary), as of Tuesday.

"Every time you lose, it's frustrating," center Jochen Hecht (four goals, four assists) said. "But we've got to stay focused on our game. It seems like we're improving every game a little bit."

The loss of co-captains Chris Drury and Daniel Briere to free agency seems to have thrown a serious wrench into the offense. Last year, the Sabres scored more goals than any other team in the league. This year, the Sabres are 15th in the league with 2.75 goals per game, despite ranking fifth in the league with 31.3 shots per game.

Buffalo also had three scorers in the top-10 last year, but you have to go all the way down to 93rd on the league ranks to find a Sabre, defenseman Brian Campbell, who leads the team with 12 points.

Winger Thomas Vanek realized he is not living up to his expensive new contract with just four goals, six assists and a minus-six rating last week when he put much of the blame for the team's struggles on himself.

Center Derek Roy also signed a new contract in the offseason and is sitting at five goals, six assists and a minus-six rating.

Maybe the worst start for Sabres forwards belongs to winger Maxim Afinogenov, who has just three goals, three assists and a staggering minus-nine rating.

"It all comes back to getting chances," winger Drew Stafford (two goals, three assists) said. "If we're not getting those chances, then we have to reevaluate what we're doing. Sometimes you get the bounces, sometimes you don't. But it's not really about that. It's about us sticking with it and not getting too frustrated by this."

The defense isn't exactly pulling its weight either. The Sabres rank 24th in the league with 3.12 goals against per game.

The shutdown tandem of Toni Lydman (minus-two) and Henrik Tallinder (minus-three) hasn't performed up to last year's standards and has had to lead an injury-filled defensive corps.

"If it is happening, you can't really sit back and reflect back on it too much," Stafford said of the team's recent down streak. "You gotta always try to get better, show up and work even harder to try to improve yourself. You can't get too frustrated. You can't get too down on yourself, because then it's only going to get worse. You've got to pick yourself up, stick up for each other and help each other out."

Buffalo plays again Thursday, when the Sabres travel to the league-leading Ottawa Senators (14-2-0).

e-mail: mkrueger@beenews.com