Some losses are so distressing that they lead to high-profile players getting traded.
Others so upset management that they can cost a coach his job.
Those things probably don't apply to any team that is beaten by Buffalo this season.
A more reasonable reaction to that might be to simply fold the franchise.
Oh, it's true that the Sabres have won six games this season, but they also have played 31. A batting average that low wouldn't have been good enough to secure steady work with the 2020 Pirates.
Fact is, if hockey operated like soccer, the Sabres would be on the verge of being relegated to the American Hockey League. Or maybe the ECHL. If not a local rec league.
Their 5-2 loss to the Penguins Wednesday night at PPG Paints Arena stretched their winless streak to 0-13-2, the longest such slide in the NHL since shootouts were introduced in 2005-06.
That 15-game pace projects -- OK, rounds up -- to 11 points over an 82-game season.
That's not very good.
Not for Buffalo, anyway.
But it's great for the Penguins, who are 3-0 against the Sabres this season and have five games remaining with them.
Those are 10 potential points that could come in handy when the East Division standings finally are sorted out.
While the Penguins' record against the Sabres this season is unblemished -- you might have noticed that the franchise is still in business today -- the victory Wednesday night was something of a novelty, since the Penguins had been 0-2-1 in their previous three meetings with the Sabres on home ice.
There never was much danger of that streak swelling to four, however, even though the Penguins' inability to pad a one-goal lead for most of the second period injected a little unexpected suspense.
That might be because, while it would have taken just one bad bounce -- or one inspired play by someone from Buffalo -- to tie the game, the Penguins' relationship with these Sabres is a lot like the one cats have with a ball of yarn.
They toy with Buffalo for a while, bat the Sabres around a bit and then move on.
Which is pretty much what happened after Evan Rodrigues and Kris Letang of the Penguins and Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin got goals in the first period.
The Sabres flirted with a tying goal a few times in the second, but never got one before John Marino and Zach Aston-Reese scored two minutes and seven seconds apart as the second intermission was approaching to all but seal the outcome.
Sidney Crosby took care of that detail at 3:59 of the third, after Jake Guentzel put him in alone on goalie Dustin Tokarski, who was making his first NHL start since Dec. 21, 2015 -- that was a few days after Mike Sullivan replaced Mike Johnston as coach of the Penguins -- and who spent last season with the Penguins' AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre as Casey DeSmith's backup.
The Penguins welcomed Tokarski back to the league by launching 42 shots at him. That total included a game-high eight by Rodrigues, a Sabres alum who never had had more than three since joining the Penguins.
"Sometimes, the game treats you well," he said. "I tried to get it on net as much as I could."
It worked.
And if Rodrigues has any particular sympathy for what his former teammates are enduring in 2020-21, he didn't let it affect his game. Or detract from his satisfaction about scoring.
"It's always nice to get one against your former team," he said. "It definitely felt good."
Rodrigues' goal was the first of four the Penguins got from outside of their No 1 line, a much-needed diversification of the offense. Getting contributions from around the lineup is critical because the Penguins, already missing second-line forwards Evgeni Malkin and Jason Zucker, lost their linemate, Kasperi Kapanen, when he left the game during the second period because of an unspecified lower-body injury.
"It's hard to win in the absence of contributions throughout the lineup," Sullivan said. "We get them tonight, and you can see the difference in the outcome."
They will try to replicate that performance when they take on the Sabres, who are anchored at the bottom of the overall standings with just 16 points, again Thursday at 7:08 p.m.
And while most hockey players would rather block slap shots with their incisors than to offer a public utterance that could be construed as questioning the capabilities of an opposing club -- even one that has gone 15 games without a victory -- Marino effectively acknowledged that the Penguins, currently wedged into third place in the East, can't afford to salve Buffalo's bruised psyches by donating a couple of points to the Sabres.
"You just can't take any games off, especially in this division," he said. "Even against ... it doesn't matter what team it is."
Or how long it's been since that team won a game.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Victor Olofsson scored Buffalo's second goal on a penalty shot at 14:35 of the third period. It was awarded when Mike Matheson wrapped him up from behind as Olofsson broke in on Tristan Jarry.
• Mark Jankowski got the second assist on Rodrigues' goal. He did not have an assist in the previous 27 games, a drought that stretched back to Jan. 15.
• Aston-Reese's shorthanded goal was the Penguins' fourth of the season.
• Buffalo ran up a 33-17 advantage in hits, led by Rasmus Dahlin and Rasmus Ristolainen, with five each.
• Crosby (14-5) was the Penguins' best faceoff man, while Jankowski (1-6) was their worst.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Video highlights
• NHL scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE THREE STARS
As selected at PPG Paints Arena:
1. Sidney Crosby, Penguins
2. Zach Aston-Reese, Penguins
3. Frederick Gaudreau, Penguins
THE INJURIES
• Winger Brandon Tanev is day-to-day with an unspecified upper-body injury.
• Center Evgeni Malkin is "week to week" because of an unspecified lower-body injury sustained March 16.
• Forward Jason Zucker is out "longer term" with an unspecified lower-body injury sustained Feb. 23, but has resumed skating on his own.
• Center Teddy Blueger is out "longer term" with an unspecified upper-body injury sustained March 15.
• Defenseman Mark Friedman is day-to-day with an unspecified upper-body injury sustained March 4, but has been practicing with the team.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Zach Aston-Reese-Jared McCann-Kasperi Kapanen
Evan Rodrigues-Mark Jankowski-Sam Lafferty
Colton Sceviour-Frederick Gaudreau-Anthony Angello
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Mike Matheson-Cody Ceci
Marcus Pettersson-John Marino
And for Don Granato's Sabres:
Victor Olofsson-Eric Staal-Riley Sheahan
Taylor Hall-Dylan Cozens-Sam Reinhart
Jeff Skinner-Curtis Lazar-Casey Mittelstadt
Rasmus Asplund-Cody Eakin
Rasmus Dahlin-Colin Miller
Jacob Bryson-Rasmus Ristolainen
Henri Jokiharju-Brandon Montour/Matt Irwin
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins and Sabres will play again Thursday at 7:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena.
THE CONTENT
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