THE Buffalo swords lost 2-1 against Detroit Red Wings on Saturday evening. It was their third straight loss, dropping their record to 4-7-1 and putting them tied with the Canadians And Leaflets for last place in the Eastern Conference.

This is Kevyn Adams’ fifth season as general manager, and it marks the Sabres’ worst record through 12 games during his tenure. It was the Sabres’ worst point total through 12 games since 2017-18. It was Jason Botterill’s first season as general manager, and the Sabers finished last in the standings. NHL.

This wasn’t supposed to be one of those years. That wasn’t the organizational message when Adams hired Lindy Ruff to replace Don Granato as coach after a disappointing 84-point season in 2023-24. Adams said this team is ready to win now, this core of players is hungry for responsibility and the team needs to raise its level.

But the first twelve games of the season felt familiar to anyone who watched the Sabers during their record 13-year playoff drought. For starters, special teams play has been an anchor. The Sabers allowed two more power play goals against the Red Wings, dropping their penalty kill rate to 71 percent, fifth-worst in the NHL. They also went 0-2 on the power play in Detroit, which puts the power play at 8.6 percent this season, last in the NHL.

It’s a glaring problem that keeps coming up, but it’s not the only one.

The Sabers continue to miss the net at the second-highest mark in the NHL. They have scored a combined six goals in their last three games after scoring 13 during their three-game winning streak before this streak. They have been inconsistent, in part because they are incapable of solving all their problems at once.

We’re live with head coach Lindy Ruff after tonight’s game in Detroit.

– Buffalo Sabers (@BuffaloSabres) November 3, 2024

When the power play was scoring, the Sabers in the same game were missing defensive assignments, leading to odd runs. The Sabers had at least 10 high-danger chances at even strength in five of their first games, but haven’t reached that number in the six games since.

You could make a list of disappointing metrics and individual performances for this team. Jack Quinnwho was supposed to be a breakout candidate for the Sabres, has one goal (an empty net) and looks like a shell of the player who excited the team as a rookie in 2022-23. Dylan Cozenswho is an assistant captain and earns just over $7 million per season, also has only one goal. The Sabers are still too dependent on Tage Thompsonthe line and Rasmus Dahlin to generate offense. They also had some bad luck and had subpar goaltending at times through the first 12 games.

The big change was supposed to happen behind the bench. Early season results have shown that it will take some time for Ruff’s training points to sink in with players. The Sabers take untimely penalties like Quinn’s delay of game penalty against the Red Wings. They also miss defensive assignments too often and don’t get enough traffic in front of the other team’s net.

Lindy Ruff, left, and Kevyn Adams during the June draft. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

There’s a lot to fix and Ruff is looking for answers. He mixed up every piece of Buffalo’s lineup before this game. The four forward lines and three defensive pairs were different from the previous night against the Islanders. Here is the composition to start the game:

Attackers

Jason Zucker -Tage Thompson- Alex Tuch
JJ Peterka – Dylan Cozens – Jack Quinn
Jordan Greenway – Ryan McLeod – Jiri Kulich
Beck Malenstyn – Peyton Krebs – Sam Lafferty

Defense

Bowen Byram –Rasmus Dahlin
Owen Power – Henri Jokiharju
Mattias Samuelsson – Jacob Brison

Even with all the changes, the results remained the same, which is a familiar story for this franchise. Ruff can’t tinker much. The real question going into this season for the Sabers is whether the roster as constructed is good enough to become a playoff contender. Adams is in his fifth season as general manager and he has drafted most of these players. Five players on this team already have long-term contracts. Five other players are restricted free agents at the end of this season.

Since the start of last season, Adams has traded Casey Mittelstadt for Bowen Byram, purchased Jeff Skinnertraded for Ryan McLeod then signed Jason Zucker, Beck Malenstyn, Sam Lafferty and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel. Even though some of these players played well, the needle didn’t move for this Sabers team. And the Mittelstadt trade looks worse with every point he scores for Colorado.

Adams said early in the season that he was confident the Sabres’ scoring would bounce back because of the players on the roster. The Sabers are now 15 percent finished on the season, and internal improvement has not occurred. The Sabers also have $7.2 million in unused cap space and plenty of prospects and picks, so there’s no excuse not to add to this roster at some point.

A 2-1 loss in early November is usually no cause for alarm, but the Sabers would now need to play at a 105-point pace for the remainder of the season to reach the 95-point mark. Are they able to play well with what they have? Adams needs to answer this question quickly. And if the answer is no, his job might depend on what he does about it.

(Top photo of Detroit’s Dylan Larkin scoring on Buffalo’s Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen: Brian Bradshaw Sevald / Imagn Images)