Phil Housley says his positivity shouldn't be viewed as lack of accountability. The coach showed that to his struggling team Monday with a detailed meeting and hard practice.

Housley seemed to be lowering expectations Saturday night when he said Buffalo played well in a 5-1 loss to Dallas. On Monday, he showed the 4-8-2 squad what it did wrong.

"I tend to look at things in a different perspective just as a former player and now a coach," Housley said in KeyBank Center. "It's easy to be a master of obvious and really hammer the nail. I try to put the players in a position to succeed.

"We're going to still hold the players accountable – believe me. I think the message today was pretty strong in our meetings of doing the right things, playing the right way. That's where the accountability comes in because I think we have to have more urgency in our game defending when we don't have the puck.

"Until you see it on film, you can see what I'm talking about. That's more about the accountability. I don't think it's a negative message. It's just where we're at right now as a group."