Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-1-2017
Stuck in the mud.
That's about the only way to describe the month of February for the Buffalo Sabres as they finished with a 6-6-2 record and are pretty much in the same spot they've been all season long.
First off, the NHL schedule-makers may still be ticked at the Sabres for their unabashed dive to the bottom only two years ago as they decided to give Buffalo their bye week in the shortest month of the year. In the end the Sabres will have played 14 games in only 23 days because of their five day bye. It meant four sets of back-to-backs all totaled including three within the a span of 18 days before the bye where Buffalo played a total of 11 games in that segment. A 6-4-1 record during that span kept their playoff hopes alive.
However, the bye week is not the reason they are now on a four game pointless streak (0-3-1) to finish the month. The Sabres, for a number of reasons, couldn't get the job done while either playing from behind, or for the last two games, playing with the lead. They held two-goal leads in both Arizona and at home last night vs. the Nashville Predators and choked them away. It's a trend that's happened quite a few times this season, especially with the pressure turned up.
Head coach Dan Bylsma has done some good coaching this season, especially considering the number of key injuries he's had to deal with as well as a sub-par defense-corps to work with, but something's amiss.
We've had the battles over systems and players and the deviation between systems is very little from team to team. Ask Buffalo captain Brian Gionta. Players are players and there's good ones and bad ones and all points in between. However, we've seen a number of in-season coaching changes that have brought back stellar results with a new bench boss coaching the same players.
Bylsma's Sabres have never been able to get out of the rut that was created early in the season with the loss of Jack Eichel to injury. And every time it looks as if they're gonna make it out, they slip back. Case in point, prior to the break they were making headway in the race for a playoff spot. They won three in a row but followed that up with their present four-game winless streak.
Should Bylsma's head be on the chopping block?
That's tough to say, not being in the room, but in looking over the season so far, he's not been able to guide them out of the rut their in and on many occasions, when a pressure situation arises, his team folds.
That's not a good sign.
*****
It's the NHL Trade Deadline day and with the Sabres on an 0-3-1 streak, and their playoff hopes faint at this point, one could safely assume that GM Tim Murray will be a seller. Names to watch are pending UFA's Dmitry Kulikov and Cody Franson, both defensemen and backup goalie Anders Nilsson. Gionta will also be unrestricted at season's end but has stated more than once that he wishes to remain in Buffalo.
Other names to watch are forwards Tyler Ennis and Zemgus Girgensons.
Buffalo Sabres Team Stats/League Rankings...(Leader):
Wins
--October: 3 (T-23rd)...(MTL, 8)
--November: 8 (T-28th)...(MTL, NYR, 16)
--December: 13 (28th)...(CBJ, 26)
--January: 20 (T-27th)...(WSH, 33)
--February: 26 (T-23rd)...(WSH, 42)
--2015-16: 35 (23rd)...(WSH, 56)
--2014-15: 23 (30th)...(ANA, 49)
Atlantic Division Standing
--October: 7th...(MTL)
--November: 8th...(MTL)
--December: 8th...(MTL)
--January: 7th...(MTL)
--February: 7th...(MTL)
--2015-16: 7th...(FLA)
--2014-15: 8th...(MTL)
Eastern Conference Standing
--October: 12th...(MTL)
--November: 15th...(MTL)
--December: 16th...(CBJ)
--January: 15th...(WSH)
--February: 13th..(WSH)
--2015-16: 14th...(WSH)
--2014-15: 16th...(NYR)
League standing/Points
--October: 20th/8...(MTL/17)
--November: 28th/21...(MTL/34)
--December: 28th/34...(CBJ/56)
--January: 27th/49...(WSH/72)
--February: 22nd/63...(WSH/91)
--2015-16: 23rd/81...(WSH/120)
--2014-15: 30th/54...(NYR/113)
Points Percentage
--October: .500 (T-15th)...(MTL, .944)
--November: .477 (26th)...(MTL, .739)
--December: .472 (28th)...(CBJ, .800)
--January: .500 (24th)...(MIN, .724)
--February: .500 (T-22nd)...(WSH, .734)
--2015-16: .494 (23rd)...(WSH, .732)
--2014-15: .329 (30th)...(NYR, .689)
Goal Differential
--October: -1 (16th)...(MTL, +17)
--November: -13 (25th)...(NYR, +29)
--December: -23 (27th)...(CBJ, +50)
--January: -21 (26th)...(MIN), +54)
--February: -24 (23rd)...(WSH, +73)
--2015-16: -21 (20th)...(WSH, +59)
--2014-15 -113 (30th)...(NYR, +60)
Goals/Game
--October: 2.50 (21st)...(NYR, 3.89)
--November: 1.95 (30th)...(NYR, 3.67)
--December: 2.14 (28th)...(CBJ, 3.46)
--January: 2.43 (24th)...(PIT, 3.55)
--February: 2.46 (24th)...(PIT, 3.46)
--2015-16: 2.43 (25th)...(DAL, 3.23)
--2014-15: 1.87 (30th)...(TBL, 3.16)
Shots/Game
--October: 27.4 (28th)...(TOR, 34.7)
--November: 29.4 (20th)...(PIT, 33.9)
--December: 29.5 (17th)...(PIT, 34.8)
--January: 29.8 (17th)...(PIT, 34.4)
--February: 29.7 (20th)...(BOS, 33.9)
--2015-16: 29.5 (17th)...(PIT, 33.2)
--2014-15: 24.2 (30th)...(CHI, 33.9)
Goals-against/Game
--October: 2.50 (12th)...(MTL, 1.44)
--November: 2.45 (10th)...(SJS. 2.09)
--December: 2.67 (14th)...(MIN, 2.06)
--January: 2.78 (17th)...(WSH, 2.10)
--February: 2.79 (18th)...(WSH, 2.08)
--2015-16: 2.62 (15th)...(ANA, 2.29)
--2014-15: 3.28 (29th)...(MTL, 2.24)
Shots against/Game
--October: 30.6 (20th)...(WSH, 25)
--November: 32.5 (26th)...(LAK, 25.4)
--December: 32.6 (27th)...(LAK, 25.9)
--January: 33.3 (29th)...(LAK, 25.9)
--February: 34.1 (30th)...(LAK, 26.0)
--2015-16: 30.6 (22nd)...(NSH, 27.3)
--2014-15: 35.6 (30th)...(LAK, 27.0)
Powerplay
--October: 25.0 (7th)...(NSH, 35.7)
--November: 22.7 (5th)...(CBJ, 27.8)
--December: 21.6 (9th)...(CBJ, 27.4)
--January: 22.7 (5th)...(CBJ, 24.6)
--February: 22.2 (4th)...(TOR, 23.0)
--2015-16: 18.9 (12th)...(ANA, 23.1)
--2014-15: 13.4 (30th)...(WSH, 25.3)
Penalty Kill
--October: 86.7 (7th)...(MIN, 96.2)
--November: 78.7 (25th)...(CAR, 89.7)
--December: 73.9 (30th)...(CAR, 88.8)
--January: 74.3 (29th)...(CAR, 87.8)
--February: 75.8 (29th)...(CAR, 86.0)
--2015-16: 82.6 (9th)...(ANA, 87.2)
--2014-15: 75.1 (30th)...(MIN, 86.3)
Faceoff Percentage
--October: 54.7 (3rd)...(ANA, 59.3)
--November: 51.5 (5th)...(ANA, 56.8)
--December: 51.1 (9th)...(ANA, 56.0)
--January: 50.6 (11th)...(ANA, 55.1)
--February: 49.9 (14th)...(ANA, 54.7)
--2015-16: 49.4 (21st)...(ARI, 54.7)
--2014-15: 44.9 (30th)...(BOS, 53.6)
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