Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
The 2015-16 Buffalo Sabres season is coming to a close as there are only four games remaining on the schedule. Buffalo has come a long way from where they were last season, which isn't saying a whole helluva lot, but right now they're on pace to come close to 80 points as opposed to last year when they finished last with a meager 54 points. For those tabulating, that's roughly a 50% increase.
One thing you can't measure with stats, however, is the enjoyment of watching this team as opposed to last year's team. There's no comparison between the two as the injection of top-end talent alone has brought a buzz to First Niagara Center. This edition of the Buffalo Sabres had their flaws, but they've also had some electrifying moments that leave fans with a strong sense of anticipation for what lies ahead. For those of you who were lucky enough to be in the building to see Sam Reinhart's no look, tape-to-tape neutral-zone pass to Jack Eichel, and the ensuing bullet that he snapped past Michal Hutchinson against Winnipeg last Friday, the roar told the story. It's pretty exciting right now and we know the team will only get better as players mature and more talent is added into the mix.
We're nearly finished with Year-One of the build portion of the program and the Sabres as a team have put a little distance between themselves from the bottom-feeders of the league. Not much mind you as parity seems to reign supreme with nine teams clumped together either climbing up or moving down, but the good thing for Sabres fans is that Buffalo is clearly on the rise. In all team categories save for goals/game (an area of definitive increase despite their 27th ranking) Buffalo is ranked solidly in the lower-20's to upper-teens, right at the precipice of the middle-third of the league. The across the board improvement places them 24th in the league at this juncture.
Some expected more, like a battling for a playoff spot, but these rankings would seem about right for a team that obliterated it's talent-pool, jettisoned the previous regime and started from scratch this season with new coaching staff and nine new faces on the ice opening night.
With only four games to go, we'll refrain from overanalyzing last month in this blog as there will be plenty of time to do that in April. For now, take note that the Sabres finished the month 7-4-4, their best month this season and, according to Sabres PR, their best month since April, 2013.
Buffalo Sabres Team Stats/League Rankings:
Wins
--October: 4 (T-23rd)...(MTL, 10)
--November: 10 (T-20th)...(DAL, 19)
--December: 15 (T-24th)...(DAL, WSH, 28)
--January: 20 (T-26)...(WSH, 35)
--February: 25 (27th)...(WSH, 45)
--March: 32 (24th)...(WSH, 54)
--2014-15: 23 (30th)...(ANA, 49)
Atlantic Division Standing
--October: 7th...(MTL)
--November: 7th...(MTL)
--December: 8th...(FLA)
--January: 7th...(FLA)
--February: 7th...(FLA)
--March: 7th..(FLA)
--2014-15: 8th...(MTL)
Eastern Conference Standing
--October: 14th...(MTL)
--November: 13th...(MTL)
--December: 15th...(WSH)
--January: 14th...(WSH)
--February: 15th...(WSH)
--March: 14th...(WSH)
--2014-15: 16th...(NYR)
League standing/Points
--October: 24th/8 pts...(MTL/20)
--November: 24th/22...(MTL/39)
--December: 28th/34...(DAL/59)
--January: 27th/44...(WSH/74)
--February: 26th /57...(WSH/94)
--March: 24th/75...(WSH/114)
--2014-15: 30th/54...(NYR/113)
Points Percentage
--October: 36.4% (24th)...(MTL, 88.3)
--November: 45.8 (24th)...(DAL, 79.2)
--December: 44.7 (28th)...(WSH. 78.3)
--January: 44 (28th)...(WSH, 78.7)
--February: 45.2 (27th)...(WSH, 77.0)
--March: 48 (24th)...(WSH, 75.0)
--2014-15 32.9 (30th)...(NYR, 68.9)
Goal Differential
--October: -8 (25th)...(MTL, +22)
--November: -8 (22nd)...(MTL, +32)
--December: -13 (22nd)...(DAL, +39)
--January: -22 (28th)...(WSH, +54)
--February: -23 (23rd)...(WSH, +60)
--March: -22 (22nd)..(WSH, +60)
--2014-15 -113 (30th)...(NYR, +60)
Goals/Game
--October: 2.27 (22nd)...(BOS, 3.90)
--November: 2.21 (27th)...(DAL, 3.50)
--December: 2.29 (28th)...(DAL, 3.49)
--January: 2.26 (28th)...(WSH, 3.32)
--February: 2.32 (29th)...(WSH, 3.26)
--March: 2.40 (27th)...(DAL, 3.26)
--2014-15: 1.87 (30th)...(TBL, 3.16)
Shots/Game
--October: 33.8 (1st)
--November: 29.5 (18th)...(LAK, 32.1)
--December: 29.7 (15th)...(DAL, 32.4)
--January: 29.3 (T-17th)...(PIT, 32.3)
--February: 29.4 (17th)...(PIT, 32.9)
--March: 29.7 (17th)...(PIT, 33.4)
--2014-15: 24.2 (30th)...(CHI, 33.9)
Goals-against/Game
--October: 3.09 (24th)...(PIT, 1.82)
--November: 2.54 (13th)...(NYR, 2.08)
--December: 2.58 (14th)...(WSH, 2.11)
--January: 2.66 (19th)...(FLA, 2.18)
--February: 2.62 (16th)...(LAK, 2.27)
--March: 2.62 (16th)...(WSH, 2.30)
--2014-15: 3.28 (29th)...(MTL, 2.24)
Shots against/Game
--October: 26.9 (5th)...(WSH, 25.1)
--November: 28.4 (5th)...(CAR, 25.3)
--December: 29.4 (16th)...(CAR, 26.2)
--January: 30.6 (21st)...(CAR, 26.5)
--February: 30.9 (23rd)...(CAR, 26.8)
--March: 30.8 (23rd)...(NSH, 27.3)
--2014-15: 35.6 (30th)...(LAK, 27.0)
Powerplay
--October: 22.7% (9th)...(BOS, 35.3)
--November: 21.3 (8th)...(BOS, 32.4)
--December: 19.3 (15th)...(BOS, 29.4)
--January: 20.9 (6th)...(WSH, 26.8)
--February: 19.6 (11th)...(WSH, 23.7)
--March: 19.0 (13th)...(ANA, 23.6)
--2014-15: 13.4 (30th)...(WSH, 25.3)
Penalty Kill
--October: 71.4% (29th)...(NYI, 92.3)
--November: 75.4 (26th)...(ANA, 87.5)
--December: 77.4, (25th)...(ANA, 88.0)
--January: 80.6 (17th)...(ANA, 89.6)
--February: 82.7 (9th)...(NYI, 87.4)
--March: 82.5 (9th)...(ANA, 86.6)
--2014-15: 75.1 (30th)...(MIN, 86.3)
Faceoff Percentage
--October: 50.4% (14th)...(SJS, 53.7)
--November: 50.1 (17th)...(CAR, 54.0)
--December: 50.5 (13th)...(CAR, 53.2)
--January: 50 (T-17th)...(CAR, 53.9)
--February: 49.5 (23rd)...(CAR. 53.8)
--March: 49.3...(22nd)...(ARI, 54.5)
--2014-15: 44.9 (30th)...(BOS, 53.6)
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