The Buffalo Sabres have the longest ongoing postseason drought of any of the 32 NHL clubs, having not appeared in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2011. And all signs point toward that streak extending into 2025.

The Sabres were embarrassed by the last-place San Jose Sharks in Tuesday night's game, losing by a 6-2 final score on home ice and hearing boos from the frustrated fans that hadn't yet gotten a head start on the traffic.

Head coach Lindy Ruff, who was convinced to return to coach the club that he led for several years before this season began, blasted his players' poor effort afterwards.

“Too many passengers,” the frustrated Ruff explained, per TSN. “They won the compete, they won the puck-play game. Our puck play was awful. Just too many guys took the night off.”

Meanwhile, it was a tough admission for forward Tage Thompson that he and his teammates simply didn't compete hard enough.

“It doesn’t matter what happens throughout the year,” Thompson said. “There’s no excuses. Everybody is playing 82 games. Everybody has a tough schedule. You can sit here and try to make all the excuses in the world, but when you lace them up in the locker room and go out you better battle, you better compete. We didn’t. We took tonight off.”

The Sabres will look to get back in the win column against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.

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The Sabres will miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs yet again

Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff watches the play against theagainst the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period at Scotiabank Arena.
Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

Not even bringing back former head coach Ruff has been able to light a spark under the Sabres, who are in last place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 24-30-6 and could very well be looking to shed expiring contracts by the time the NHL Trade Deadline is complete on Friday afternoon at 3:00 PM EST.

Among the players on the Sabres who have been included in trade rumors are Dylan Cozens, Bowen Byram, Alex Tuch and Henri Jokiharju. It wouldn't be overly surprising if any of those players are dealt as Buffalo looks to find a recipe for success.

That is something that just hasn't happened in the last decade-and-a-half, and it'll be interesting to see if the roster's continued futility will lead to wholesale changes this offseason.

The Sabres have 22 games left in their 2024-25 campaign.