from Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News,

The point of this column was supposed to be the whole fresh-start theory for the Buffalo Sabres. The first 10 games were one season, then came the two-week pause due to the Covid-19 situation, and what's essentially a new season finally opened Monday night.

Next thought.

Even if there were a few different guys in the lineup, it sure seemed like a lot of the same.

The Sabres did some decent things during their 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders. Victor Olofsson scored a lovely power-play goal and there was plenty of time in the offensive zone in the first 40 minutes.

But the Sabres still do just enough to stub their toes, and it makes a difference on a nightly basis because there are too many good teams in the East Division.

They don't score at 5-on-5, they constantly play from behind (giving up the first goal for the eighth time in 11 games), they get confused on defensive coverages too much and they just don't get enough saves. It also sure seemed, after two weeks off, that they had nothing left in their tanks for the third period.

They had no shots on goal in the final 20 minutes. None. Zip. Nada.

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