Sabres’ winning streak ends at 10 games with ugly loss. How will they respond?

Well, Marty Wilford can change his suit.

Before the Buffalo Sabres’ game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Lindy Ruff said his superstitious defensive assistant hadn’t changed his game-day suit during the team’s 10-game winning streak.

On Saturday, the Sabres’ winning streak ended with a clunker of a 5-1 loss to the Blue Jackets. Buffalo fell behind 1-0 early when Denton Mateychuk took a shot that deflected off a Sabres stick and beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen blocker side. That was the start of a sloppy first period that set the tone for a rough afternoon for the Sabres.

The Sabres managed to tie the score at 1 on a Josh Doan goal, but the game unraveled from there. Luukkonen, who had allowed just three goals in his previous three starts combined, let in three goals in the first period as the Sabres fell behind 3-1. The Blue Jackets got a fourth goal midway through the second period, and the Sabres couldn’t get any traction on a comeback attempt.

“We didn’t look like ourselves,” Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin told reporters after the game.

It’s true that the Sabres didn’t look anything like the team that won 10 straight games. This looked more like the team that showed up too often early in this season. They had careless puck management, resulting in 21 giveaways. They weren’t as sharp on the forecheck and generally seemed a step slower than they were for much of their winning streak.

That this loss came against an Eastern Conference opponent and one that is in last place in the conference makes it sting a bit more. By points percentage, the Sabres are still clinging to a wild-card spot, but that could change by the end of the night, given how tight the Eastern Conference playoff picture is.

One loss in January isn’t the end of the world. The Sabres worked their way back into the playoff race with their hot streak. But to stay in that race, they need to make sure this game was just a blip and not the start of a slide.

“This is when we have to see if we’re a really good team,” Dahlin said.

That starts Tuesday at home against a beatable Vancouver Canucks team that is second-to-last in the NHL. January is going to be a big test for Buffalo. Before the Olympic break on Feb. 6, the Sabres have seven games against division opponents and an additional five games against other teams in the Eastern Conference. How they fare in those games will go a long way in determining what their playoff chances look like down the stretch. Most models give them roughly a 50 percent chance at qualifying for the playoffs. But if they can find their way back to the type of games they played during the streak, those odds will steadily improve. They just need to remember this is just the start of the race.

“It has nothing to do with winning 10 anymore,” Ruff said. “Now it’s about not losing two in a row, about responding to the game we just played, going back in our building and playing a good hockey game.”

Here’s what else we saw in Buffalo’s loss.

1. The Sabres went 0-5 on the power play. The Blue Jackets came into the game ranked No. 29 in the NHL on the penalty kill, and the Sabres mustered just four shots on net across five power plays. They also let up a short-handed goal when Tage Thompson stumbled over his own feet and turned the puck over at the offensive blue line. Buffalo had improved to around league average on the power play, but lately, that unit has gone cold again. The Sabres have gone six consecutive games without a power-play goal. Their last power-play goal was against the Islanders on Dec. 20.

One thing that should help is getting Jason Zucker back into the lineup. The Sabres have 9.54 goals per 60 when Zucker is on the ice for the power play. That’s the best mark on the team. His net-front presence has been sorely missed. He should be back against the Canucks on Tuesday.

2. This wasn’t the best game from Luukkonen. He had been solid in his three starts before this one and came up with a few strong saves early in the game. But the Sabres needed a few more saves. It’s something worth monitoring because Alex Lyon is still out with an injury and it’s unclear when he’ll be able to return. That puts added pressure on Luukkonen to carry the load, unless Ruff feels he can turn to rookie Colten Ellis, who hasn’t played a full game since Dec. 3 and hasn’t won a game since Nov. 29. Goaltending carried the Sabres for a lot of the winning streak. But it has the potential to become a question again. In the short term, it’s on Luukkonen to bounce back.

3. The Sabres missed Michael Kesselring. He was out with a lower-body injury and is considered day to day. But multiple lower-body injuries have lingered for him throughout the season. This seems like a situation the Sabres will be dealing with for a bit. On Saturday, the top four defensemen played 20-plus minutes each, with bottom pair defensemen Jacob Bryson and Zach Metsa getting just 9:59 and 9:46, respectively.

With Kesselring fighting an injury and Conor Timmins out for at least another month with a broken leg, the Sabres are lacking the necessary depth on the blue line. They don’t have a lot of internal options Ruff trusts. The ice time Bryson and Metsa got is evidence of that. Ryan Johnson hasn’t gotten a long look in any of his call-ups, either. The same has been true for Zac Jones. This seems like a clear need that new general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen should be targeting on the trade market. And sooner is better given the Sabres’ injury report at the moment.