This was supposed to be the year for the Buffalo Sabres to end their NHL-high 12-season playoff drought.
Instead, it’s turning into yet another disaster for the border city’s pro hockey team.
Head coach Don Granato’s job status is now coming into question after fans chanted “Fire Donnie” toward the end of an embarrassing 9-4 loss to the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday in Buffalo. Columbus scored seven goals in a row after the Sabres took a 1-0 lead.
“Listen, I’m not going to sit here and bash the coaches,” an emotional Sabres captain Kyle Okposo said after the game. “Not going to talk about us quitting, not going to talk about Donnie and us not listening. That’s not right. Donnie has our full support. We are going to play hard for Donnie and that’s it.”
Added star forward Tage Thompson: “Well, he’s not on the ice playing. That’s on us. He can only do so much. He can put the guys on the ice, he can drop the system on the boards, but he sends guys over the boards, if they’re not doing their job, it’s not on him, it’s on us. Everyone in this room knows that and we’ve got to take accountability for that.”
A young and talented Sabres squad made a 16-point jump last season, falling one point behind a playoff spot after a big charge in the second half.
But like the Ottawa Senators, in a similar situation after a promising 2022-23, the Sabres have not taken that next step. Senators coach D.J. Smith paid for that problem earlier this week when he was fired, after he heard similar chants of “Fire D.J.”
The Sabres (13-17-3) are second-last in the Atlantic Division and have won consecutive games just once this season.
As Buffalo News beat reporter Mike Harrington pointed out, Tuesday’s 9-4 defeat came just over a year after Thompson scored five goals in a 9-4 win in Columbus.
Fellow Buffalo News beat reporter Lance Lysowski wrote Tuesday’s loss was an eye-opener.
“We’ve seen the Sabres reach rock bottom numerous times throughout their NHL-record, 12-year playoff drought. None were as mindboggling as the one Tuesday when you consider the talent on the roster, the playoff expectations laid out by their general manager (Kevyn Adams) three months ago and the team’s inability to string together wins or consistently beat lesser opponents,” he wrote.
Granato, who has been head coach since March 2021, wasn’t about to rip the fans for the chants and the boos.
“I have a lot of respect for our fans, lots of respect,” Granato said. “We go to work hard for them and will continue to work hard.”
Okposo feels the crowd’s reaction has a lot to do with the drought as a whole.
“That’s 12 years for them, for sure,” he said. “Not all of that’s on us. It’s a lot of frustration and it’s understandable. As a group, we bear obviously some of that responsibility from tonight. That’s a lot of deep (expletive) that’s pent up in the fans and that’s OK.”
The Sabres have been wildly inconsistent this season, beating powerhouses like the New York Rangers, Vegas Golden Knights and Toronto Maple Leafs while delivering pitiful performances against the likes of the Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils and Arizona Coyotes.
Defence and goaltending have stood out as problems. After a strong seven-game run at the end of last year to start his NHL career, Devon Levi has struggled this season — recently returning from AHL Rochester and then getting pulled versus Columbus.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Eric Comrie also haven’t been able to take the net and run with it. Just three teams have given up more goals than the Sabres.
Granato is the seventh head coach to work under owner Terry Pegula since he purchased the club in 2011, so it’s easy to see why he could be in danger. Still, Granato is maintaining confidence
“I’ve stood here before in situations like this and told you I have conviction and confidence we’ll resolve it, and we will,” he said.
But it won’t get any easier — and it could get uglier.
On Thursday, the Sabres host Toronto — games that traditionally see the rink filled with Leafs fans.
— With files from AP.
