BUFFALO, N.Y. - Jason Pominville is one of the new faces on the Sabres' power play, and he has a critique of why the Blue and Gold have struggled on man-up situations this year.

"Sometimes, I think we're too predictable," he said. "It's usually pretty simple. Your entries have to be good, you have to generate shots and create an opportunity."

A silver lining from last year's dismal season was the team's power play unit -- the Sabres scored on nearly a quarter (24.5 percent) of their man-up chances, a better rate than any team in the league. One year and one coach later, the Sabres have converted on six of 48 power plays (12.5 percent) to begin the season, the third-worst mark in the league. The Sabres are also the only team in the NHL that hasn't outscored opponents during their power plays; there have been six power-play goals and six shorthanded goals allowed.

"Last year, we had a quicker strike mentality," said center Ryan O'Reilly."We're trying to do it. I feel it's been better in our last few games -- we're creating opportunities, we're just not putting it in. We have one more player out there, we have to work and things will open up."