The Buffalo Sabres have been on a tear since losing their third in a row in regulation on February 16th. The following night they garnered a point vs. Montreal which helped them finish the month with a 5-0-2 record and a ticket out of the 14th spot in the Eastern Conference.
They continued that a strong pace throughout March going 10-4-2. But the last two regulation losses vs. Pittsburgh March 30 and at Toronto March 31 put a damper on their record. It also put a damper on their playoff aspirations as the team fell two points behind Washington for the eighth and final playoff spot.
But...there are still three games to go.
The big news for the team was the ramifications of the trade deadline. Gone was defensive stalwart and faceoff specialist Paul Gaustad (to Nashville for a #1 pick) and in came center Cody Hodgson and defenseman Alexander Sulzer (for Zack Kassian and Marc-Andre Gragnani.)
On the surface the trade-off was more offense in the top-six for less defense. Looking at the stats, it would seem as if that was the case with the Sabres going from 25th in the league in goals/game to 18th.
It took Hodgson 10 games to register his first point but he and his linemates--Thomas Vanek and Corey Tropp--eventually started hitting the scoresheet with regularity during the last couple of weeks.
The biggest contributing factor to the jump in goals/game was the Tyler Ennis/Drew Stafford/ Marcus Foligno line. In the 11 games since the rookie Foligno was called-up, and that line put together, they tallied an impressive 20 goals, 24 assists and were a combined plus-34.)
On the defensive side the loss of Gaustad meant little stats-wise as the gaa got slightly better (goalie Ryan Miller had an outstanding month) while shots against, penalty kill and faceoff percentage all registered very little movement.
One would need to question whether or not "Goose" could've prevented goals with less than five seconds on consecutive nights (Montreal and Colorado) that sent the games past regulation. The Sabres did manage to beat Montreal but lost to Colorado and lost a critical point.
The formula for success this past month has been stellar goaltending and increased scoring. It was a formula that had the team in eighth place twice, albeit for a very short period of time.
That was until the team went out like a lamb.
Wins:
- October--6 (T-9th)
- November--13 (T-10th)
- December--17 (T-23rd)
- January--21 (24th)
- February--28 (T-22nd)
- March: 38 (18th)
Points:
- October--12 (12th)
- November--27 (T 15th)
- December--38 (T-23rd)
- January--47 (T-24th)
- February--64 (T-23rd)
- March: 86 (T-19th)
Eastern Conference Standing:
- October--7th
- November-7th
- December-11th
- January--T-14th
- February--12th
- March: 9th
Northeast Division Standing:
- October--3rd
- November--3rd
- December--4th
- January--T-4th
- February--4th
- March: 3rd
Goals/Game:
- October--2.90 (8th)...(#1, Wash-3.78)
- November--2.75 (15th)...(Philly-3.48)
- December--2.58 (T-17th)...(Bos-3.43)
- January--2.38 (26th)...(Bos-3.54)
- February--2.38 (25th)...(Philly-3.24)
- March: 2.54 (18th)...(Pitt-3.27)
Shots/Game:
- October--29.4 (18th)...(#1, Det-35.7)
- November--30.9 (10th)...(Det-34.9)
- December--29.0 (T-19th)...(SJS-34.6)
- January--28.8 (20th)..(SJS-34.7)
- February--28.9 (19th)...(SJS-34.4)
- March: 29.1 (18th)...(SJS-34.1)
Goals Against/Game:
- October--2.20 (T-5th)...(#1, Edm-1.46)
- November--2.58 (T-14th)...(STL-2.00)
- December--2.90 (23rd)...Bos-1.91)
- January--2.96 (25th)...(STL-1.96)
- February--2.79 (20th)...(STL-1.91)
- March: 2.70 (T-18th)...(STL-1.86)
Shots Against/Game:
- October--31.9 (22nd)...(#1, STL-25.9)
- November--31.1 (21st)...(STL-25.6)
- December--31.3 (T-24th)...(STL-26.5)
- January--31.3 (26th)...(STL-26.2)
- February--31.3 (27th)...(STL-26.2)
- March: 31.3 (T-26th)...(STL-26.5)
Five-On-Five GF/GA Ratio:
- October--1.43 (2nd)...(#1, WSH-1.64)
- November--1.12 (T-7th)...(BOS-1.71)
- December--0.93 (20th)...(BOS-1.83)
- January--0.87 (22nd)...(BOS-1.72)
- February--0.96 (15th)...(DET-1.52)
- March: 1.04 (11th)...(DET-1.45)
Powerplay:
- October--21.9% (8th)...(#1, OTT-31.0%)
- November--18.4 (10th)...(VAN-24.8)
- December--19.0 (9th)...(VAN-24.2)
- January--17.8 (T-16th)...(VAN-23.0)
- February--16.2 (21st)...(EDM-21.7)
- March: 16.4 (19th)...(NSH-22.0)
Penalty Kill:
- October--91.9% (2nd)...(#1, PIT-92.3%)
- November--87.6 (5th)...(NJD--94.4)
- December--84.2 (9th)...(NJD--91.2)
- January--81.4 (20th)...(MTL--89.6)
- February--80.8 (21st)...(MTL- 89.3)
- March: 81.7 (19th)...(NJD-89.8)
Faceoffs:
- October--50.8% (11th)...(#1, Col-54.7%)
- November--51.3 (T-9th)...(BOS-55.0)
- December--51.0 (11th)...(BOS--55.4)
- January--49.6 (T-18th)...(BOS--55)
- February--49.6 (19th)...(BOS--54.7)
- March: 49.4 (19th)...(BOS-54.6)
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