Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-1-2018
In gliding down the team stats, not much has changed for the Buffalo Sabres a team that still occupies the last spot in the Eastern Conference. At this time of year large month-to-month fluctuations are rarely seen as teams are who they are and the sample size is large enough where moves one way or the other are slight at best.
For the Sabres, the month of February saw their defense kick it up a tad as they were trending positive in goals-against and shots-against along with their penalty kill. Buffalo finished the month with a 6-6-2 record which is the first time all season they've been able to hit the .500-point mark. Those 14 points accumulated also equal their best monthly output of the season.
What's intriguing, however, is where those points came from.
In a lost season we're often stretching for a positive, whether individually or as a team, and in an interesting aspect last month, the Sabres went 5-1-1 within the Atlantic Division. Two of those wins came against the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning who sit atop most statistical categories as chronicled below. Two others came against the Boston Bruins, with one of them coming in Rick Nash's Boston debut. The other win came against the Red Wings in Detroit.
Buffalo has a 20-33-11 overall record this season, yet in the division they're 8-6-3. And what's interesting is that the Sabres are 6-2-1 vs. the division from December thru February after getting buried by their Atlantic division foes in October and November (2-4-2 record.)
Here's the breakdown of the two periods (Oct.+ Nov. / Dec.-Feb):
FLA: 0-1-0 / 0-1-0
BOS: 1-0-0 / 2-1-0
TBL: 0-1-0 / 2-0-0
OTT: 0-0-0 / 1-0-1
MTL: 0-1-2 / 0-0-0
DET: 1-1-0 / 1-0-0
In a weird schedule quirk (or maybe it was intended,) the Sabres have yet to face the Toronto Maple Leafs and will do so four times over the course of their final 17 games.
Why the discrepancies occurred is up for debate but some of the reasons could include a rookie coach with a overhauled team to begin this season. Perhaps the early season sturggles were the result, as WGR550's Paul Hamilton has alluded to on a number of occasions, of a team that has a tendency to wilt under pressure in games that have meaning, which happens at the beginning of the year. As for the turnaround, perhaps one could say that both player and coach adapted and have learned what works and what doesn't. You could say that the team is a little quicker overall with the influx of some speed into the lineup and/or that teams like Tampa and Boston may have taken them a little lightly.
Regardless, there's a definitive difference in how Buffalo has fared against teams in their division, and the opinion here is that they've been playing better, more focused, hockey against those teams.
Anyone who watched last night's game against the Lighting will tell you that Buffalo actually dominated much of the play. They were harder on the forecheck, quicker to the pucks and defended relentlessly, especially in the second period, which has been their worst period all season. At the end of two periods the Sabres had outshot the Lightning by a 22-12 margin and continued to stifle them until a mid-third period powerplay. They used a similar game plan against Tampa earlier in the month and won 5-3. Buffalo also beat Boston twice in February, wining by scores of 4-2 on the road and 4-1 at home, using the same methods.
The Sabres play seven of their 14 games in March against Atlantic Division foes. They kick the month off tomorrow with a game against the Florida Panthers whom they've yet to beat this season (0-2-0.) From there it's their first matchup of the season against a very good Toronto team on March 5.
For as bad as the Sabres have been all season, pulling off four wins in a row against the top two teams in the division during February is, at the very least, worth noting. In a lost season where on-ice interest has been whittled down to almost nothing, charting how Buffalo does against the Atlantic Division is something to keep an eye on.
Buffalo Sabres Team Stats (League Rankings)...(Leader):
Wins
--October: 3 (T-29th)...(STL, TBL, 10)
--November: 6 (T-29th)...(TBL, STL, TOR, 17)
--December: 10 (29th)...(TBL, 28)
--January: 14 (29th)...(TBL, 34)
--February: 20 (30th)...(TBL, 43)
--2016-17: 33 (25th)...(WSH, 55)
--2015-16: 35 (23rd)...(WSH, 56)
--2014-15: 23 (30th)...(ANA, 49)
--2013-14: 21 (30th)...(BOS, 54)
Atlantic Division Standing
--October: 8th...(TBL)
--November: 8th...(TBL)
--December: 8th...(TBL)
--January: 8th...(TBL)
--February: 8th...(TBL)
--2016-17: 8th...(MTL)
--2015-16: 7th...(FLA)
--2014-15: 8th...(MTL)
--2013-14: 8th...(BOS)
Eastern Conference Standing
--October: 16th...(TBL)
--November: 16th...(TBL)
--December: 16th...(TBL)
--January: 16th...(TBL)
--February: 16th (TBL)
--2016-17: 15th...(WSH)
--2015-16: 14th...(WSH)
--2014-15: 16th...(NYR)
--2013-14: 16th...(BOS)
League standing/Points
--October: 29th/8...(TBL/21)
--November: T-30th/16...(TBL/36)
--December: 30th/28...(TBL/58)
--January: 30th/37...(TBL/71)
--February: 30th/37...(TBL/90)
--2016-17: 26th/78...(WSH/118)
--2015-16: 23rd/81...(WSH/120)
--2014-15: 30th/54...(NYR/113)
--2013-15: 30th/52...(BOS/117)
Points Percentage
--October: .333 (30th)...(STL, TBL/.808)
--November: .320 (30th)...(TBL/.720)
--December: .368 (30th)...(TBL/ .763)
--January: .370 (30th)...(VGK/ .714)
--February: .398 (30th)...(TBL/.703)
--2016-17: .476 (26th)...(WSH, .720)
--2015-16: .494 (23rd)...(WSH, .732)
--2014-15: .329 (30th)...(NYR, .689)
--2013-14: .317 (30th)...(BOS, .713)
Goal Differential
--October: -15 (30th)...(TBL, +17)
--November: -30 (30th)...(TBL, +25)
--December: -42 (30th)...(TBL, +51)
--January: -51 (30th)...(TBL, +48)
--February: -54 (30th)...(TBL, +56)
--2016-17: -36 (24th)...(WSH, +81)
--2015-16: -21 (20th)...(WSH, +59)
--2014-15 -113 (30th)...(NYR, +60)
--2013-14: -91 (30th)...(BOS, +84)
Goals/Game
--October: 2.42 (29th)...(TBL, 4.08)
--November: 2.20 (31st)...(NYI, 3.67)
--December: 2.21 (31st)...(TBL, 3.74)
--January: 2.30 (31st)...(TBL, 3.48)
--February: 2.39 (30th)...(TBL, 3.5)
--2016-17: 2.43 (24th)...(PIT, 3.39)
--2015-16: 2.43 (25th)...(DAL, 3.23)
--2014-15: 1.87 (30th)...(TBL, 3.16)
--2013-14: 1.83 (30th)...(ANA, 3.21)
Shots/Game
--October: 31.5 (17th)...(MTL, 38)
--November: 30.9 (20th)...(CAR, 35.7)
--December: 30.9 (19th)...(PIT, 34.9)
--January: 30.9 (21st)...(FLA, 34.6)
--February: 30.7 (23rd)...(CHI, 34.7)
--2016-17: 30.4 (15th)...(PIT, 33.5)
--2015-16: 29.5 (17th)...(PIT, 33.2)
--2014-15: 24.2 (30th)...(CHI, 33.9)
--2013-14: 26.3 (30th)...(SJS, 34.8)
5v5 Goals
--October: 18 (19th)...(CLB, 28)
--November: 37 (29th)...(TOR, 66)
--December: 55 (29th)...(TOR, 92)
--January: 71 (31st)...(NYI, 118)
--February: 90 (31st)...(TOR, 153)
--2016-17: 126 (28th)...(MIN, 187)
--2015-16: 121 (28th)...(DAL, 167)
--2014-15: 110 (29th)...(TBL, 181)
--2013-14: 96 (30th)...(ANA, 190)
Powerplay
--October: 14.3% (23rd)...(DAL, 30.8)
--November: 12.8 (30th)...(TBL, 27.4)
--December: 12.4 (30th)...(TBL, 25.7)
--January: 16.2 (26th)...(PIT, 26.7)
--February: 17.4 (25th)...(PIT, 27)
--2016-17: 24.5 (1st)
--2015-16: 18.9 (12th)...(ANA, 23.1)
--2014-15: 13.4 (30th)...(WSH, 25.3)
--2013-14: 14.1 (29th)...(PIT, 23.4)
Goals-against/Game
--October: 3.58 (27th)...(LAK, 2.00)
--November: 3.36 (28th)...(SJS, 2.17)
--December: 3.29 (28th)...(LAK, 2.33)
--January: 3.30 (28th)...(LAK, 2.42)
--February: 3.22 (26th)...(LAK, 2.47)
--2016-17: 2.82 (19th)...(WSH, 2.16)
--2015-16: 2.62 (15th)...(ANA, 2.29)
--2014-15: 3.28 (29th)...(MTL, 2.24)
--2013-14: 2.96 (25th)...(LAK, 2.05)
Shots against/Game
--October: 32.5 (19th)...(SJS, 28.7)
--November: 31.2 (T-11th)...(SJS, 28.7)
--December: 32.4 (23rd)...(CAR, 29.6)
--January: 32.6 (24th)...(CAR, 29.2)
--February: 32.4 (22nd)...(CAR, 28.9)
--2016-17: 34.3 (30th)...(LAK, 25.9)
--2015-16: 30.6 (22nd)...(NSH, 27.3)
--2014-15: 35.6 (30th)...(LAK, 27.0)
--2013-14: 34.3 (28th)...(NJD, 25.5)
Penalty Kill
--October: 82.5% (11th)...(LAK, 93.0)
--November: 81.1 (13th)...(LAK, 89.5)
--December: 81.9 (12th)...(LAK, 87.1)
--January: 78.6 (23rd)...(LAK, 86.2)
--February: 79.4 (20th)...(SJS, 84.4)
--2016-17: 77.6 (25th)...(BOS, 85.7)
--2015-16: 82.6 (9th)...(ANA, 87.2)
--2014-15: 75.1 (30th)...(MIN, 86.3)
--2013-14: 81.4 (20th)...(NJD, 86.4)
Faceoff Percentage
--October: 50.4% (18th)...(OTT, 53.9)
--November: 51.4 (11th)...(PHI, 53.0)
--December: 51.2 (9th)...(WPG, 52.8)
--January: 51.1 (11th)...(PHI, 52.9)
--February: 51.2 (9th)...(CAR, 53.6)
--2016-17: 49.6 (17th)...(ANA, 54.7)
--2015-16: 49.4 (21st)...(ARI, 54.7)
--2014-15: 44.9 (30th)...(BOS, 53.6)
--2013-14: 46.8 (29th)...(NSH, 53.1)
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