from Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News,

When Jack Eichel went down last month, Murray said he would watch his Buffalo Sabres closely and pick up the phone if it looked like things aren't working.

Memo to the GM: Things aren't working.

Eichel isn't coming back any time soon and the Sabres need help. Their season is already slipping away because of an offense that looks historically impotent.

Tuesday's 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues in Scottrade Center was yet another exhibit for the prosecution of a Buffalo offense that has fast become a punchline in the NHL.

The Sabres are 5-7-4 and have either been shut out or scored just one goal eight times -- exactly half their games. They're 0-3-2 in the last five games, scoring only five goals. They have 30 goals overall, a last-in-the-league average of 1.88. Those are astonishing numbers, injuries or not.

You can say 16 games into an 82-game season is early and you would be right. But when you look at the standings, it's not early. Teams usually don't make the playoffs in October and November but they can sure miss them in the season's first two months.

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