The Buffalo Sabers’ 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins was similar to many of their recent losses, as the club was in the game but was put off by one mistake or bad luck. Tied 1-1 in the third, the Sabers had just killed a penalty kick on Sam Lafferty when David Pastrnak hit Morgan Geekie for the game-winner as the power play expired with 1:45 left.
Replay showed that Bruins forward Justin Brazeau made contact with Sabers goaltender James Reimer before the goal, but there was no basis for a video review as the contact was caused by teammate Mattias Samuelsson knocking the winger down.
The Sabers’ winless skid has reached an incredible 13 games (going back to a 1-0 loss to Minnesota on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving in the US) and has ended any realistic hope of Buffalo ending the NHL’s longest drought at 13 seasons. .
The focus will now shift to what the organization will do with more than half of the season remaining, including the status of Kevyn Adams and whether owner Terry Pegula will allow the GM who assembled the current club to trade to restructure or recycle the current system.
There has been speculation that Buffalo may have considered a deal before December 20th Christmas trading is frozen. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the story 32 Thoughts podcast that Sabers assistant GM Jason Karmanos was spotted in Detroit for the Red Wings – Philadelphia Flyers game, but the deadline passed without a move.
Friedman said he believes Karmanos may have been focused on the Wings, but there have been trade talks involving the Sabers and Flyers going back to the offseason, so he doesn’t rule out a possible move involving Buffalo and Philadelphia after the freeze. on Saturday.
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