Sabres suffer latest ugly defeat to Sharks: 'Guys took the night off'
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A rough season for the Buffalo Sabres hit another low point Tuesday in a 6-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on home ice.
The Sharks, who own the worst record in the NHL this season, outshot the Sabres 28-22, pulling away in the third period after being up 3-2 after two.
“Too many passengers,” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said of his team's performance after the loss. “They won the compete, they won the puck-play game. Our puck play was awful. Just too many guys took the night off.”
Both teams were on the second half of back-to-backs, with the Sharks defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in a shootout Monday and the Sabres suffering an overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
The Sharks were forced to start Alexandar Georgiev for a second straight night as Vitek Vanecek was out of the lineup for trade-related reasons.
“It doesn’t matter what happens throughout the year,” Sabres forward Tage Thompson said. “There’s no excuses. Everybody is playing 82 games. Everybody has a tough schedule. You can sit here and try to make all the excuses in the world, but when you lace them up in the locker room and go out you better battle, you better compete. We didn’t.
"We took tonight off.”
The Sabres sit last in the Eastern Conference this season with a 24-30-6 record. The team is on track to miss the playoffs for the 14th straight season.
It remains unclear if any big changes are on the table for the Sabres ahead of the trade deadline, with Dylan Cozens, Bowen Byram and Alex Tuch all receiving interest.
TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reported Wednesday morning the team is continuing to hold contract talks with pending unrestricted free agent Jordan Greenway.
The Buffalo Sabres and forward Jordan Greenway's camp have continued to talk contract extension over the last 24 hours, according to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun.
The 28-year-old is in the final year of a three-year, $9 million deal that pays him $3 million annually. He has three goals and five assists for eight points in 25 games so far this season, his third with the Sabres after coming over in a deal with the Minnesota Wild two years ago.
The Sabres will visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday in their final game before Friday's deadline.