Eichel scores lone goal for Sabres in loss to Blues

ST. LOUIS - Coming off a four-day break for the holidays and having to deal with a time zone change on top of it, the Sabres stressed the importance of keeping things simple ahead of their matchup with the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.
They stuck to their plan for 20 minutes, outshooting the Blues 10-6 during a scoreless first period. Then the second period came, and things changed.
Robert Thomas, Jay Bouwmeester and Pat Maroon scored goals in the first 10:55 of that period, which put the Blues on the path toward a 4-1 victory at Enterprise Center.

"I really liked the way we started," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "I thought our execution was high. We were fast, we had a shot mentality. Nothing went in, but that's one period. We've got to play a 60-minute game.
"I thought in the second period we were a little sloppy. Execution, three icings. I think that's what started the momentum change."

Jack Eichel provided Buffalo's lone offense late in the second period, when he drew a tripping penalty against defenseman Joel Edmundson as he crashed into the St. Louis net and then buried a wrist shot from the left circle on the ensuing power play.
On some nights, Eichel's effort might have stood out as the spark that ignited a comeback. The Sabres were unable to carry momentum into the third, however, at least beyond a strong opening shift from Eichel's line to open the period.

Thoughts of a comeback all but ended when former Sabre Ryan O'Reilly drove to the net and picked the far-side corner with 6:13 remaining.
"I just didn't think stuff was clean tonight," Eichel said. "It was a little bit sloppy. Maybe we were chasing it a bit. We just never really established our game after the first a little bit of the first."
Carter Hutton allowed four goals on 32 shots in his return to St. Louis while his former goalie partner, Jake Allen, made 30 saves for the Blues. Thomas opened the scoring during a scramble in the paint and later set up Maroon's goal with a pass across the crease. Bouwmeester scored his goal alone from the slot.

While the Sabres did make uncharacteristic mistakes in terms of checking, Hutton claimed his share of the responsibility afterward.
"I think sometimes when you're not getting run support you try to do a little too much," he said. "I've just got to get back to doing my thing. I can't control what we do on the other end, but I need to do better.
"Obviously four goals is unacceptable. I have to do a better job of battling and keeping us in games."
Housley pointed to the Blues' net-front presence as a missing ingredient in the Sabres' game that they'll need to re-establish in order to generate more secondary scoring. Eichel and Jeff Skinner account for 41 of their 109 goals this season, with their right wingers (Sam Reinhart and Jason Pominville) accounting for 17 more.
"I continue to say it, that if you want to score in this league, you're going to have to get dirty once in a while and you're going to have to go to the net," Housley said. "It's going to get harder as we move forward here. That's the challenge for us."
The next challenge for the Sabres: two games against opponents who are right in their rearview mirror. They host the Boston Bruins (three points back in the standings) on Saturday and then welcome the New York Islanders (seven points back) to KeyBank Center on New Year's Eve.
"Obviously, we've got to learn from this game," Eichel said. "We will tomorrow, and we'll get ready for another game Saturday. But we have a tough road ahead. We've a lot of guys in this room who need to take that next step and I think it starts with a good practice tomorrow.
"That's really all you can do. It's going to get harder from now. Everyone's pushing for points every night. We're in the same boat and we've got to do that."

Up next

The Sabres return home to host the Bruins on Saturday night, the second leg of a doubleheader with the NWHL's Buffalo Beauts at KeyBank Center. Admission to the Beauts game against Minnesota at 2 p.m. is free with the purchase of tickets for that night's Sabres game.
Can't make it downtown? Coverage on MSG-B begins at 6:30 p.m. with the GMC Game Night pregame show, or you can listen live on WGR 550. The puck drops at 7.