Plenty of seats were available for Thursday's game in Buffalo, and franchise center Jack Eichel completely understands.

The Sabres have been averaging 18,742 fans per game this season, but the 4-3 win over the New York Islanders was played in front of a crowd of 16,872, well below the KeyBank Center's capacity of 19,200.

Eichel, for one, understands it's hard to fill the rink as the team continues to sit near the bottom of the standings.

"You can't really blame them at this point," he said, per Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. "It's not like we're putting the best product on the ice. Hopefully if we start winning here with a couple months left, we start getting the people back in here and they start getting excited about it."

With Eichel emerging as a superstar, and with a new general manager and head coach at the helm, the Sabres were expected to take a step or two forward this season after years of rebuilding.

But Phil Housley, who has guided the team to a record of 15-29-10 in his first year behind the bench, recognizes the job is far from done:

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