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Sabres have another start with no jump

Assertiveness is rewarded in the NHL. In fact, it’s rewarded in an astounding way.

In the first 592 games of the season, the team that scored first was 423-115-54. That’s a .715 winning percentage and .760 points percentage.

The Sabres are not good at scoring first. That leads to not being good.

Buffalo lost its fifth straight game Tuesday night with a 5-1 setback to Florida. The Panthers scored the opening goal, making it 25 times in 40 games that the Sabres fell behind. They dropped to 6-15-4 in those games.

“I don’t think we were focused enough to start, and that killed us,” center Ryan O’Reilly said.