Goaltending, rookies, luck all playing a part as Buffalo and Edmonton figure out how to win

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Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
Holtby made 33 saves in a 1-0 shutout of the Edmonton Oilers on Monday, including 13 in the first period.

Michael Hutchinson, Winnipeg Jets
Hutchinson made 25 saves but still took the loss in the Jets' 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche, dropping his record to 1-4-1 in November.

What's the problem in Buffalo and Edmonton?

@ESPN_Burnside: Some frustrating times for the Buffalo Sabres, who are trying to hang with the playoff kids in the Eastern Conference. The Sabres dropped another close one Monday night, 2-1 to the St. Louis Blues, a game that was notable for a couple of reasons. First, the Sabres are now winless (0-3-2) in their past five games. Unlike the past couple of seasons, though, the Sabres are keeping it close and have allowed just 12 goals over that stretch against quality opponents, including the Blues twice, the San Jose Sharks, and the Dallas Stars twice. The offense has gone soft, though, and the slide has coincided with a six-game goal drought for standout rookie Jack Eichel, who has just one assist during that span. It's also worth noting that the Edmonton Oilers, without the services of No. 1 overall pick Connor McDavid, lost a tight one last night too, a 1-0 defeat by a very good Washington Capitals team. The Oilers have won just two of their past eight games and are last in the NHL. It's not too early to say that as Eichel goes, so go the Sabres, or to say the same about the Oilers and McDavid.

@Real_ESPNLeBrun: Growing pains for rebuilding teams, for sure, but both the Sabres and Oilers laid it out there in terms of effort. In fact, if it weren't for a gem by Holtby, the Oilers' strong effort would have netted them two points. But c'est la vie in the NHL. We talked last week about how there are no doormats in the NHL this season, which I believe is true. Still, it's interesting to note that the Sabres and Oilers are currently last in their respective divisions. They're not far behind a few other teams and that can change in a hurry, but can you imagine if either Buffalo or Edmonton ends up with the top overall pick in 2016 and the right to draft super-prospect Austin Matthews next June? My goodness.

@DownGoesBrown: Edmonton and Buffalo are providing the latest cautionary example for bottom-feeding teams who load up with young talent: It's never as easy to "flip the switch" into win mode as you hope it will be. But the two teams have something else in common, in that they both went out and traded for new starting goaltenders this year and haven't really seen results yet. In the Sabres' case, that's because Robin Lehner got hurt, which is just bad luck. But things are getting interesting for the Oilers, where Cam Talbot seems to have at least temporarily lost the starter's job to young Anders Nilsson. You never want to see a big offseason acquisition struggle, but after years of awful goaltending, the Oilers are probably just happy to see anyone grab the job and play well.

@CraigCustance: Sean, you're right about the goaltending in Edmonton. Nilsson played well against the Capitals, but I'd still like to see Talbot given an opportunity to find his game. He looked strong in the early going and then hit a rough patch, but the Oilers need to see what they have in Talbot and they only have one season to do it. Yes, he wasn't great in the past few starts, but the degree of difficulty in his early schedule was high and the team in front of him was still working out a new system. There has to be a spot on this road trip where coach Todd McLellan can get him a start to try and regain some confidence, because if the Oilers are going to claw back to respectability, they'll need Talbot. 

@ESPNJoeMac: I wouldn't describe it as lucky, but the Oilers and Sabres were fortunate to land McDavid and Eichel. Both organizations are in rebuilding mode and I will say, though, that luck will a big help when it comes to either team winning in the foreseeable future. Edmonton was unlucky when McDavid suffered a broken collarbone. Buffalo was left shaking its head after Lehner suffered a high ankle sprain on Oct. 8 that put him out indefinitely. On Monday, the Sabres were on the receiving end of an unlucky bounce that allowed the St. Louis Blues to pull off a 2-1 win. It didn't help that Buffalo couldn't hold a one-goal lead in the third period. Not only are both McDavid and Eichel learning how to play at the NHL level, but both organizations are dealing with growing pains too.

• New York Rangers coach Alain Vigneault is having trouble figuring out the team's glaring void at right wing on the second line. 

• Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman finally affirmed that superstar winger Patrick Kane is "absolutely" a part of the team's long-term plans. 

• After scoring just one goal in the team's first 20 games, the forward Jakub Voracek has been demoted from the Philadelphia Flyers' first line to the third unit.