DECEMBER 22, 2010 – BUFFALO -- What a difference a year makes. The Sabres played their 34th game of the season Tuesday night and are 14-16-4. Rewind to 2009 where they were 21-10-3 through the same number of games.

“We had a few growing pains early in the season,” said Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller. “We had about six regular guys out of the lineup and last year we got off to a great start and it kind of carried us through. This year we had a tough start.”

The Sabres won the Northeast Division last season in 2009-10 and if the playoffs started today, Buffalo (currently 12th) would not make the post-season. A big reason for this is a lack of execution. The team has the talent to be a contender in the Eastern Conference, but it seems as if they’re not putting in the required effort on a regular basis.

The club’s problems start at the blueline and work their way forward. Last year’s Calder Trophy winner Tyler Myers is suffering from a bit of the sophomore slump and team captain Craig Rivet is 1-2-3 through 15 games and is -4.

Tuesday night’s game against Anaheim marked the return of Rivet, who was scratched from the lineup the previous 11 games, leaving the team without a captain on the ice. Rivet picked up a goal and an assist in his return, but one has to wonder if a lack of on-ice leadership is contributing to the team’s decline.

“It’s not an issue,” coach Lindy Ruff said of Rivet’s absence. A captain doesn’t help you score.” That may be true, but there’s enough veteran leadership on this team and someone needed to step up and be a vocal leader for this team in the absence of Rivet.

Gone from the defensive corps are Toni Lydman (Anaheim) and Henrik Tallinder (New Jersey). Lydman is currently second in the NHL at +18. Tallinder is having a sub-par season for the Devils, but was a solid player for Buffalo in 2009-10.

Added to the Buffalo defensive corps for 2010-11 are Jordan Leopold (Pittsburgh), Shaone Morrison (Washington), and Mike Weber (Portland—AHL). Leopold is having a nice season (7-12-19) and Weber shows some promise.

Numbers don’t lie

As a team in 2009-10 the Sabres gave up 201 goals, for a 2.45 team goals-against average. So far this season they’ve allowed 97, for a 2.85 average. The defense is slumping a bit, but nothing that can’t be fixed.

Up front, the Sabres are behind last year’s scoring pace. In 2009-10 Buffalo scored 231 goals for a 2.82 average. Through 34 games this season, they’ve scored 86 for a 2.53 goals per game average.

So far in 2010, they seem to be hit or miss. They’ve been shutout in three games and had another five games where they’ve scored a single goal. With 34 games played, that’s almost 25% of their games with a goal or less.

On the flip side, they’ve scored four or more goals in seven games, including a pair of six-goal nights. That leaves 19 games scoring two or three goals and the reality is that in order to make the playoffs they have to score consistently. Scoring 2.53 when you give up 2.85 isn’t going to cut it.

One telling oddity from the stat sheet: The Sabres are 11-4-2 against the opposition’s backup netminder, and just 3-12-2 when facing the other team’s starter.

Personnel file

Buffalo picked up Raffi Torres last year at the trade deadline and he had a bit of an adjustment period after coming over from Columbus. He finished strong for the Sabres and was averaging just over a half point per game with the Blue Jackets. He picked up two points in four playoff games for Buffalo, and then signed with Vancouver in the off-season, and has eight goals (including three game-winners) with the Canucks. His departure has garnered almost no headlines in Buffalo, but is notable considering the club’s struggles.

Also gone are Clarke MacArthur 13-13-26 (Toronto) and Tim Kennedy 10-16-26 (New York Rangers). In 33 games this season, MacArthur has already equaled his total from last year (9-17-26) on a bad Toronto team. Kennedy was scratched in the Rangers first two games of the season, before being sent down to Hartford of the AHL and has yet to return to the Big Apple.

New to the team is feisty center Cody McCormick (Portland—AHL). McCormick has gone 4-5-9 for Ruff and has picked up 75 penalty minutes, while averaging 10:47 of ice time per game.

Not new to the Sabres, but now playing full time in Buffalo is 2008 first-round draft pick Tyler Ennis. The left wing was 3-6-9 in 10 games for Buffalo in 2009-10 and had an impressive NHL playoff debut, going 1-3-4 in six games last spring.

The core of the offense is Derek Roy (above), Tim Connolly, Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville. Of these four, only Roy is pacing slightly ahead of last year’s 69 points. The other three are way behind and if Buffalo is to have any success this year, Vanek, Pominville and Connolly have to snap out of their slumps and finish the season strong.

Nothing has changed in net for the Sabres with Olympic MVP and Vezina winner Miller and his backup, 11-year veteran Patrick Lalime. Both are slightly behind their pace for last season, but Miller is as good as there is in the NHL and Lalime is a solid number two netminder.

The bottom line is that the Sabres have all the pieces to be a playoff team and possibly win a couple of rounds. Teams like Colorado are doing more with less, while Buffalo is doing less with more. Ruff and GM Darcy Regier need to figure out a way to get this team playing up to their potential. If not, it will be an early summer for the Buffalo Sabres.

Is there good news down the road?

The news isn’t all bad in Buffalo this year. It’s not quite the halfway point of the season and the Sabres are only six points out of a playoff spot. They’re 5-4-1 in their last 10 games, including a big 5-2 win over Anaheim on Tuesday night. With the World Junior Hockey Championships being held at HSBC Arena, the Sabres will be on the road for five-of-six and have a great opportunity to build some unity as a team on the road.

They travel to Alberta for two games against the Flames and Oilers, before returning home for a New Years Day contest against Boston. After that, it’s a three-game west coast swing with trips to Colorado, San Jose and Phoenix. Finishing this six-game span with eight points isn’t hard to imagine and if they can pull that off, the Sabres are right back in playoff contention. After returning home, they have a 13-game stretch where they play eight teams not currently in the playoffs, including four against the last place Islanders.

If they beat the teams they should and steal a game or two along the way, the Sabres have a legitimate opportunity for a four or five seed come April.