Housley calls for defensive urgency following loss to Jets

Following seven straight games away from KeyBank Center, the Buffalo Sabres returned to their home ice on Tuesday night and lost 7-4 to the Winnipeg Jets. Phil Housley was quite blunt when speaking afterwards in saying that the fans who came out to watch them deserved more.
Sure, Housley admitted that the Sabres could have used a save early, and Robin Lehner accepted responsibility for allowing three goals on 17 shots in 21:07 of ice time. But the greater problem, according to the Sabres coach, was the reoccurring lack of urgency the team has shown defensively.
"I think there's a lot of cheat in our game," Housley said. "I think they think that points are more important than playing solid defense and you can see the results that are coming. And the one thing that really irritates me is that we've got really good fans coming to the game.

"If there's something for our guys to play for, let's play for them. They're coming here and spending their hard-earned money and we have to be better at home. I believe we might have [22] games left on home ice, we've got to take advantage, we've got to give our fans something to cheer about.
"And if requires to win a 1-0 game," Housley continued, "well then so be it. We'll have to win a 1-0 game. But we'll have to have more urgency in our defensive game."

The Jets entered the game with the league's second-ranked power play, and staying out of the box was a point of emphasis for the Sabres after they allowed two power-play goals in their visit to Winnipeg last Friday.
Buffalo quickly found itself shorthanded, however, when Brendan Guhle was called for hooking 4:47 into the contest. The Sabres killed all but four seconds of the ensuing penalty, falling behind when Patrik Laine took a shot that beat a screened Lehner from the top of the left faceoff circle.
Jack Eichel evened the score for the Sabres later in the period, but Winnipeg reclaimed the lead less than a minute later on a shot from the blue line by defenseman Dustin Byfuglien. Nikolaj Ehlers added to that lead 1:25 into the second period, beating Lehner to his glove side for the first of his two goals on the night.
Lehner was pulled in favor of Chad Johnson following Ehlers' goal.
"I think the first goal, I've got to have that," Lehner said. "The second goal, I just couldn't pick it up, couldn't pick up where it came from. I just felt it high up between my legs and it went in … I've got to be better. I take responsibility for this.
"We've got to take strides, we've got to do things better as a team here and I'll look at myself in the mirror first because this wasn't good enough from me today."
Winnipeg kept pouring it on even after the change in net, answering the bell each time the Sabres would tighten the score. Ehlers scored the second of his two goals on the power play, sandwiched between a pair of goals from fellow Jets forward Kyle Connor.
Eichel assisted on a power-play goal for Ryan O'Reilly in the second period and added a second goal of his own to complete his three-point night in the third. That, combined with a goal from Jason Pominville, cut the deficit to 6-4 with 5:07 remaining.

Any thought of a comeback was quashed, however, when Joel Armia sent a puck end-to-end and into an empty net with 1:05 remaining.
"As a group, I think we all need to work on just our play in our own zone, breaking the puck out as a unit, helping our goalies out," Eichel said. "I think we're just giving up too much right now. All four lines, all D and both goalies want to get better and myself included, I think I obviously need to get better in the D zone.
"… We need to work better as a five-man unit to break the puck out and keep our game simple. When we've done that this year, we've had success. I think when we get away from our game and maybe get a little too cute between the blue lines, that's when we find ourselves getting into trouble."
What's added to the frustration, Lehner said, is that the Sabres have proven that they're capable of finding success when they stick to their game plan. He cited Sunday's 4-1 loss in Philadelphia as an example, a game in which the Sabres dominated the first 20 minutes but ultimately changed their approach in the second and third periods.
"That's what I think all of us are trying to figure out, is why don't we stick to that?" he said. "Because as soon as we play an east-west game, it just comes right back at us. When we chip and support and do what we're told, we're in games.
"It's frustrating. It's very frustrating, and it must be very frustrating for the fans in Buffalo."
Housley said that the team's struggles defensively stem from a lack of urgency in the offensive zone.
"We sit and wait at times," he said. "We're hoping that somebody's going to make a play and we don't get back and then their D are ahead of us, and that's where it starts. It gets back into our defensive zone. There's going to be times where you're going to have to sustain some defensive zone pressure from other teams. But it's just having that urgency to kill a play, to suck it up and play solid defense.
"There's some holes we have to fix. It will be evident tomorrow when we get back here to work. We're going to learn from it, we're going to show them and we'll get back on the ice and try to improve that area of our game."

Guhle's debut

One tendency that Guhle displayed in his past experience with the Sabres - be it in exhibition play or in his brief stint with the team last season - is an ability to move on from mistakes. The defenseman was playing just his second shift of the season when he took the penalty that led to Laine's first-period goal.
Later on in the period, however, Guhle was able to put his offensive prowess on display. His quick decision making while countering in the defensive zone led to Zemgus Girgensons drawing a hooking call, and his activity in the offensive zone was crucial to Eichel's game-tying goal:

Guhle finished the night with four shot attempts and an even rating in 17:45.

Josefson leaves with injury

Jacob Josefson left the game with 3:28 remaining in the first period after appearing to take a slap shot from Jets defenseman Tyler Myers off his right leg. Josefson tested the injury ahead of the second period, but could not return. Housley said he'll be reevaluated on Wednesday.
Josefson has already missed 24 games this season due to a reoccurring ankle injury. He entered Tuesday having scored two goals and two assists while averaging 11:45 in 18 games.

Up next

The Sabres will play their final game before the bye week against the Columbus Blue Jackets at KeyBank Center on Thursday night. Coverage on MSG-B begins at 6:30 p.m. with GMC Gamenight, or you can listen live on WGR 550. The puck drops at 7.