Buffalo Sabres: Phil Housley reaching breaking point

When even head coach Phil Housley can’t see the positives after a loss, you know the Buffalo Sabres are in pretty big trouble.

We recently criticized Buffalo Sabres coach Phil Housley for almost reaching for positives sometimes, following a bad loss. While appreciating his attempts to create and maintain a positive outlook, in some respects it felt like he was in denial, refusing to accept how bad the team has been this season.

Well, you can’t accuse Housley of any such approach, following Friday’s 3-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. He’s finally had enough, as his players continue to underperform.

Entering Saturday’s slate of games, the Buffalo Sabres find themselves bottom of the Eastern Conference. In addition they have the second-fewest points in the entire NHL, with only the awful Arizona Coyotes sitting below them.

As a result, Housley didn’t sugarcoat the performance, when speaking to the media afterwards. As reported by Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News, he said:

"“We’ve got to be smarter. We just got outbattled, outworked and outcompeted tonight. At times we even looked slow and I don’t know why that is. We played one game in six nights. It’s disappointing.”"

Perhaps the key point in Housley’s comments, was that the Sabres were only playing their second game since last Saturday. A poor work ethic should have been the last problem, but there it was for all to see against the Red Wings.

In truth, the level of effort alludes to a lack of confidence within the team. Everywhere you look, there are players struggling to raise their game when Housley needs them most.

For example, Sam Reinhart‘s struggles have been repeatedly highlighted this season. Even allowing for his excellent three-point effort in the recent overtime loss to the Penguins, he has totaled just eight points in 19 games.

Jason Pominville got off to a fantastic start, with 12 points in 12 games. However, we warned it wouldn’t continue, with him notching a solitary assist in his last seven outings.

Even Jack Eichel has had his issues, despite leading the team in assists and being second for overall points. In his last 10 games, he has only managed one goal, to go along with four assists.