The Sabres don’t have the zeal, the hungry attitude that they had to start the season. Instead, they just go through the motions and seem to have a careless attitude. That was evident in both losses over the weekend. With the way the Sabres have been playing, they should change their names to the Zombies. That’s exactly what they have been since the start of the New Year and a little before.

While it is almost impossible that the Sabres will slip so bad that they will miss the playoffs, it is likely that they will not finish first in the Eastern Conference and their division...unless there is a complete turnaround in the level of play by the team who took the league by storm in the first 6 weeks of the season.

Saturday night, for the second straight game, Buffalo squandered a 1-goal lead going into the third period to lose to a team that had no right beating them. Friday, the Sabres were leading 2-1 after the second period but failed to show up for the third. That was astonishing as half the arena in Columbus was filled with Sabres fans who had made the 5-hour trek to support their team on the road.

Against the Blue Jackets, the team was lifeless except for the two powerplay goals that Chris Drury scored. They were outworked and out-hustled by the Blue Jackets for the entire third period.

In Long Island on Saturday, the Sabres once again were skating zombies in the third period. While the Sabres played a little better in the first two periods than they did the entire game in Columbus, they just couldn’t finish the job. This is getting very worrisome for a team that most people had penciled in for the Stanley Cup Finals this spring.

"We're finding ways to lose instead of finding ways to win right now,"admitted Jason Pominville. "Once they do tie it, there is a little frustration. But we put that behind us and try to get the next one, and lately we haven't been able to do that."

The Islanders scored first when Trent Hunter got the puck past a dazzled Ryan Miller, who has not been sharp in 2007. Miller would allow 3 more goals that he would want back, especially the 50 footer by Randy Robitaille that gave the Isles the lead for good in the third period. Before that, it was a long shot from the blue line by Arron Asham that also trickled through Miller’s pads.

Miller has developed the bad habit of allowing goals through the 5-hole, and shots from the point are mysteriously finding their way in the net these days.

"You probably want both those goals back," reflected Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. "Early in the year when we had some tough nights in goal, we scored enough goals. But it's a team game, and nights like that you have to be able to come back, you have to be able to get one late to help him out."

With the Sabres trying to remove Miller for the extra man late in the game, they could not get him out as the Isles buzzed in around him. With 54 seconds left, the Isles put away the game when Andy Hilbert scored on Miller.

Ted Nolan has the answer for the Sabres current doldrums. Hard work. That's what he is famous for instilling in his teams. The Islanders were the hardest working team on the ice Saturday night in Long Island. The Sabres obviously were not. Nolan's work ethic transfers to his teams, and when in Buffalo, the Sabres were called the "hardest working team in the NHL." Now, the Islanders are starting to earn that acclaim, especially after they have played first place teams on two consecutive nights, getting 3 points from them.

Friday, the Isles loss to first place Atlanta in overtime, but picked up a point in the process. Against the Sabres, who they hadn't beaten since before the lockout, the victory was even sweeter for Nolan. Nolan, who extracted a little revenge for the way he was kicked out of Buffalo after winning the Jack Adams trophy as the top NHL coach ten years ago, was all smiles after the game.

"This just happened to be against Buffalo, but it's special anytime you can come back in the third period," said a very happy Nolan after the game. "There are no easy games, but to come up with three points out of four against these two teams is a good sign."

Meanwhile, in the other locker room, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff was trying to pick up the pieces. The Sabres now are in their second 3-game losing streak in two weeks and he knows that he has to do something to get the team motivated again. January has not been kind to the Sabres or Ruff and he now has to take action to get the team back on track.

"Every loss matters," fumed Ruff. "I think we have some players who are a little out of synch now. With the break, and having some guys at the All-Star game, we need to get a few heads back on shoulders."

The Sabres need to get a little of that Nolan hard-working theme back in their game if they want to get back to their winning ways.

When the Sabres were in their first 3-game losing streak in mid January, Ruff issued a statement that players would lose some playing time if they didn’t start putting more effort into their game. Now with their second straight 3-game losing streak in the books in less than two weeks, Ruff may have to put his threat into action.

Some fans may be ready to push the panic button and say the Sabres should make some major trades. The view from these cheap seats is different. The Sabres were the best team in the league at the start of the season. They were determined and stormed from behind on many occasions to win. For some reason, they have lost that drive, that enthusiasm and it is now up to Ruff to get it back. In order to get the Sabres to be "Scary good" again, Ruff better do it fast as teams are closing in on the Sabres.

     HOME           SEASON'S RESULTS      SABRE TALK MESSAGE BOARD      NEWSROOM      99 PLAYOFFS    
THE PLAYERS      STATISTICS      SCHEDULE      PROSPECTS      LIVE GAME RADIO      HISTORY      TEAM INFO     
PHOTO GALLERY     MULTIMEDIA      SABRES POLL      TROPHY CASE      LINKS      THE STAFF      E-MAIL SABRESWORD

Copyright © 2007 Sabres Central, all rights reserved