It's no secret that the Buffalo Sabres' defense has struggled so far this season.
In the past three games, the team has allowed 14 goals, and very few, if any, can be attributed to Ryan Miller's play.
So going into tonight's tilt with the Ottawa Senators, the Sabres need to get their defensive corps straightened out to have a shot to compete in the offensively stout Northeast Division.
So what is the Sabres' problem?
Realistically, a Lindy Ruff coached team is never expected to be defensively weak. Ruff's system is defense-first, and teams with far less talent on the blue line than this one have been extremely tough to score on in the past. So what's different now?
The long and the short of it is the passivity with which the Sabres' are playing in the defensive, and especially the neutral zone.
For example, take the second and third goals from Sunday's loss to the Florida Panthers, and break them down. The second goal was a cluster of issues, stemming from a shallow offensive zone turnover by Alex Sulzer. Marcus Foligno made the correct positional play, rotating in for Sulzer and covering the blue l ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Matt Clouden
Buffalo Sabres: Why Is the Defense so Bad Right Now?
February 5th, 2013 by Matt Clouden Leave a reply »
Advertisement