During the last week, a "make or break" week before the Wednesday trade deadline, they went 0-2-2. A record like that pretty much seals their fate for the year. That fate being: Sell, sell, sell.
Going 5-5-5 for the month of March speaks for itself and even though Sabres GM Darcy Regier would twist that into a .500 record, the fact is they ended up on the losing end in 10 of 15 games. "Loser points" moved the team up a notch from 14th to 13th in the conference, but they remain last in the division and their goal differential remains near the bottom of the league (27th) clocking in at a minus-19.
This team has holes all over the place and has shown drastic inconsistencies within games as well as through various stretches of games. Before the four-game winless streak, Buffalo was winners of three in a row. That three game win streak had some thinking the team might make their annual stretch-run push.
Not.
In all the key statistical categories--goal differential, powerplay, penalty kill, and faceoffs--the team is at or near the bottom of the league. Were it not for some stellar goaltending from both Ryan Miller and back-up Jhonas Enroth, they'd be at the bottom of the league in goals-against as well. That tandem has faced the most shots in the league all season, and anyone watching the games would see incredible saves game-in, game-out.
Interim coach Ron Rolston, in his first full month as head honcho, placed his focus upon defense first and the powerplay second. Despite the numbers, the defense has been playing much better as "Keystone Cops" moments have diminished considerably. And the powerplay, although still disjointed, has gotten better even though it dropped a notch to 29th.
After last weeks' four-game winless stretch, there shouldn't be any delusions about a late playoff push.
The Sabres are what their record says they are. They are what their team stats say they are.
A 27th-place team in the NHL.
Wins:
- January--3 (T-13th)
- February--8 (T-23rd)
- March--13 (T-27th)
Points:
- January--7 (T-15th)
- February--17 (T-27th)
- March--32--(26th)
- January--T-9th
- February--14th
- March--13th
Northeast Division Standing:
- January--5th
- February--5th
- March--5th
Goal Differential:
- January--T-12th
- February--T-27 (-13)
- March--27th (-19)
Goals/Game:
- January--3.29 (7th)...(#1 TB-4.83)
- February--2.48 (T-22)...(TB--3.55)
- March--2.50 (21st)...(PIT--3.36)
Shots/Game:
- January--31.9 (7th)...(#1 CAR--38)
- February--29.6 (12th)...(CAR--33)
- March--28.5 (18th)...(OTT--32.1)
Goals Against/Game:
- January--3.29 (24th)...(#1 OTT--1.71)
- February--3.19 (27th)...(CHI--1.70)
- March--3.03 (25th)...(OTT--2.06)
Shots Against/Game:
- January--34.3 (30th)...(#1 STL--20.3)
- February--33.9 (30th)...(STL--22.9)
- March--33.1 (30th)...(STL--22.1)
Powerplay:
- January--24% (11th)...(#1 NYI--37.5)
- February--12.3 (28th)...(ANA--29.3)
- March--13.1 (29th)...(PHI--24.8)
Penalty Kill:
- January--82.8% (12th)...(#1 CHI--91.3)
- Februrary--80.5 (17th)...(BOS--93.9)
- March--77.0 (28th)...(BOS--90.8)
Faceoffs:
- January--42.1% (30th)...(#1 BOS--60.1)
- February--45.8 (30th)...(BOS--57.4)
- March--45.5 (29th)...(BOS--57.1)
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