Sabres still waiting for Alex Tuch, Tage Thompson to kick offense into gear

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Montreal Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson remembers a version of Alex Tuch that the Buffalo Sabres are missing right now. Matheson was the captain of Boston College when Tuch played there, and needless to say, he wasn’t surprised by Tuch’s scoring outburst in Buffalo last season.

“It just seemed sometimes when he got the puck no matter where it was on the ice, you could start celebrating,” Matheson said before the Canadiens beat the Sabres 3-1 on Monday. “You were like, ‘This is going to be a goal. I don’t know how he’s going to do it yet, but it’s going to be a goal.’ He’s just so powerful, has every tool, so big and strong. I enjoyed playing with him a lot more than playing against him.”

The Sabres got a taste of that feeling with Tuch last season when he had 36 goals and 79 points in 74 games. He was third on the team with 218 shots on net and scored on 16.5 percent of those shots. Both of those numbers were easily career highs.

But this season, the Sabres haven’t yet gotten that type of production from Tuch. He has one assist and zero goals through six games with only 10 shots on net. He has only four shots on net at five-on-five, which is 16th on the team.

“He’s a guy, we need to get him going more than he is to this point,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “Let’s just say that. As you go through your days, priorities shift based on needs. You can’t tackle everything. We’ll spend a little more time with Tuch and try to get him going in the right direction. He’s a big asset and I don’t think he’s found his game yet.”

Tuch is not alone, either. The Sabres haven’t picked up where they left off last season when they were third in the NHL in scoring. Tuch was among a long list of Sabres who had career-best seasons. But through six games, the Sabres have just 13 goals as a team. Tuch and Tage Thompson, who each averaged more than a point per game last season have one point each through six games. While the team has turned its attention to improving its defense, the offense has dried up.

That was particularly exasperating on Monday night when the Sabres generated 69 shot attempts and put 37 shots on goal but only got one puck behind Canadiens goalie Jake Allen. The Sabres had control of the game but let it slip away in the third period when Montreal scored twice. This was a game emblematic of some of Buffalo’s struggles this season. While the Sabres are 12th in the NHL in shots on goal per 60 minutes, they are 29th in the NHL in high-danger chances generated per 60 minutes.

“We didn’t get to the net with enough conviction,” Granato said.

Unlike Tuch, Thompson is getting chances at his typical rate. He leads the team with 29 shots on net, 10 more than the next-best player on the team. He also leads the team in high-danger chances. He had another five shots on net against the Canadiens but only one of those came at five-on-five.

“It’s frustrating, but I think as soon as you let frustration set in — negativity, you’re never going to get out of it,” Thompson said. “I think goals come in waves. … and you get streaky. You just got to do the right things every shift. I thought tonight we did. Obviously, that’s why that one hurts so much. But we can’t change anything. We got to play like that. That’s two games we’ve strung together in a row now that I think we took away the will of the other team — had them kind of defeated mentally. And, obviously, they get one in the third there and it gives them some life. But we keep playing like that, that’s a winning recipe. We’re going to win a lot of games playing like that.”

The Sabres are now 2-4 on the season and had to head straight from the rink to the airport to fly to Ottawa for a game against the Senators on Tuesday. After that, the New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche are next on the schedule. The Sabres have plenty of time to get things straightened out on offense, but they can’t dig too deep a hole in the meantime.

1. Eric Comrie made his second straight start for the Sabres, stopping 24 of 27 shots. All three of the goals were on high-danger chances. Comrie played a strong game against the New York Islanders on Saturday and earned this start. But with the Sabres playing on back-to-back nights, Granato said Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will likely start against the Senators on Tuesday. Devon Levi is still nursing a lower-body injury, so Granato said the team is going to give him some extra rest. A reset isn’t the worst thing for Levi, who started each of the Sabres’ first four games and wasn’t sharp in his last outing against the Calgary Flames. The Sabres are asking a lot from a rookie goalie if they want him to handle the bulk of the starts, so they need to find out what they have in the other backups. This stretch of games will allow them a chance to see what they have.

2. Zach Benson also missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury, but he was on the ice for the morning skate on Monday and Saturday. Granato said he would have a chance to play against the Senators but he’s not 100 percent yet. He can still play five more games before the Sabres would burn a year of his entry-level contract. And when he’s healthy he’s capable of bringing a spark to this group.

3. The Sabres made a decision on Matt Savoie over the weekend, sending the 19-year-old forward to Rochester for a conditioning stint. Savoie has been out since Sept. 18 when he injured his shoulder and elbow in the final game of the Sabres’ rookie tournament. He was unable to participate in any preseason games but has been practicing with the team for more than two weeks.

This is the next step in Savoie getting a crack at playing NHL games this season. But it’s also setting in motion the timeline the Sabres will need to make a few additional roster moves. Savoie can be down in Rochester for 14 days. In that time frame, the Americans play six games, so that gives the Sabres a good chance to evaluate Savoie and how ready he might be for NHL action.

(Top photo of Tage Thompson, Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch: Bill Wippert / NHLI via Getty Images)