Things keep going from bad to worse for the Buffalo Sabres.
Fans expected them to make a push for the playoffs this year, with their young squad one year older and one year more experienced.
They have a talented group but haven’t made the playoffs since April 2011. Every team in the NHL, besides the Seattle Kraken, has played at least 25 playoff games since the Sabres were there.
The Sabres rank 7th in the Atlantic Division, and the only team behind them, the Ottawa Senators, has played seven games less than the Sabres.
On Wednesday, they didn’t stand a chance against the Colorado Avalanche, losing 5-1. They were down 3-1 early in the second period when things got even worse, as Nathan McKinnon stepped up and delivered a monster hit on Jeff Skinner.
McKinnon is most known for his skating, incredible stickhandling, and goal-scoring, and on Wednesday, he scored his 800th NHL point.
But he also stepped up with some physicality, absolutely leveling Jeff Skinner, who was caught with his head down.
Jeff Skinner left the ice and went to the locker room but returned to the bench shortly after. He took a shift on a power play before heading down to the tunnel.
He didn’t return to the game, and the Sabres said it was because of an upper-body injury.
Jeff Skinner has 12 goals and ten assists for 22 points while averaging 18:06 minutes of ice time this season.
Skinner recorded a career-high 47 assists and 82 points in 78 games last season, and if he would be sidelined for some time up ahead, it would be really bad news for a Sabres team that’s already struggling.
