Buffalo Sabres 2020-21 Team Stats--February

If you can make it through these numbers without hurling your latest meal, God love ya for it. Rather than me harp on the play of this club in February, let's let the words of 22 yr. old defenseman Rasmus Dahlin speak after the Sabres finished the month with back-to-back shutout losses at home against the Philadelphia Flyers. A Flyers team, by the way, that came into the weekend with the eighth-worst goals-against averaged (3.25) in the NHL.

“I’m very embarrassed,” said Dahlin. “This is not acceptable. This sucks. It’s the worst.”

Out of the mouths of (relative) babes.

Rasmus Dahlin has only seen three years of the abomination that has been the Buffalo Sabres, but those words were routinely uttered in one way or another for the better part of eight years since the organization tanked for two straight seasons. A quick glance at each team stat category below shows just how bad it was at the end of the previous seven seasons...and still is after the first two months of this season:

--number of wins, no higher than 23rd in the league

--division standing, no higher than 6th

--league standing and points percentage, no higher than 23rd

--goal differential, no higher than 20th and all in the minus

--goals per game, no higher than 21st

--5v5 goals, no higher than 20th

--goals-against no higher than 15th

All of this as Sabreland was assured the "suffering" of the tank years would pave the way to "hockey heaven."

Not!

Since axing long-time Sabres GM Darcy Regier in November, 2013, the Buffalo Sabres are on their third general manager with none of them having any GM experience. Those GM's are on their fourth head coach, beginning with Ted Nolan, a tank Sargent who's ranking officer, (GM Tim Murray) was forced to do everything in his power to make his team finish in last place because Nolan was winning too much. Nolan gave way to a Stanley Cup winning coach in Dan Bylsma. After two seasons, Bylsma was fired then Murray was fired. Rookie GM Jason Botterill (an AGM on three Pittsburgh Penguins Cup-winning teams) came on board and hired rookie head coach Phil Housley. Both were in way over their heads. Botterill fired Housley then hired head coach Ralph Krueger, who had 48 games of NHL coaching experience and had spent the last six years as an executive in the Premier Football League. After a year, Botterill was replaced by Kevyn Adams, who had no front office experience, but who had spent nine years in the organization most recently in charge of Harbor Center (yes, you read that correctly.)

The collective record of that group is 202-285-73 worth 477 points. It's a record that is dead last in the league (minus the Vegas Golden Knights, a 2018 expansion team) 39 points behind the next worst team (Arizona Coyotes.) 

"Oh," you might say, "but that includes the tank years." Yup, it sure does, so let's take them out. Let's start with the 2015-16 season featuring second-overall picks Sam Reinhart (2014) and Jack Eichel (2015,) both products of the tank years who were in their rookie seasons plus Ryan O'Reilly and Evander Kane, two young vets acquired in sperate trades. It was a solid core that boasted a lot of talent and the Sabres respectably came out of the tank year with a 35-36-11 record, good for 81 points. It was the last time they broke 80 points in a season.

So beginning with 2015-16, their best season so far, the Buffalo Sabres collectively have gone 162-198-56, which is the second-worst record in the league (minus Vegas.) And in a few of the categories mentioned above:

--wins, 29th

--goal for, 29th (2.53)

--5v5 goals, 30th (674)

--goals against, 28th (3.04)

The sad part about all of this is that though there may be some bright spots, the overall trend is once again downward and after only 88 games under Krueger, a coaching change is already in order.

Record

January 4-4-2

February 2-6-1

Wins 

--January: 4 (T-16th)...(TOR, PHI 7)

--February: 6 (T-31st)...(TOR 16)

--2019-20:  30 (25th)...(BOS 44)
--2018-19: 33 (26th)...(TBL 62)
--2017-18: 25 (31st)...(TBL 54)
--2016-17: 33 (25th)...(WSH 55)
--2015-16: 35 (23rd)...(WSH 56)
--2014-15: 23 (30th)...(ANA 49)
--2013-14: 21 (30th)...(BOS 54)

--2012-13: 21 (21st)...(CHI ,PIT 36) [48-game lockout-shortened season]
--2011-12: 39 (18th)...(NYR 51) [Lindy Ruff's final full season as HC]

East/Atlantic/Northeast Division Standing

--January: 6th...(WSH, PHI)

--February: 8th... (WSH)

--2019-20: 6th...(BOS)
--2018-19: 6th...(TBL)
--2017-18: 8th...(TBL)
--2016-17: 8th...(MTL)
--2015-16: 7th...(FLA)
--2014-15: 8th...(MTL)
--2013-14: 8th...(BOS)

--2012-13: 5th...(MTL) [5-team division]

--2011-12: 3rd...(BOS) [5-team division]

Eastern Conference Standing

2020-21:  N/A


--2019-20: 13th...(BOS) 
--2018-19: 13th...(TBL)
--2017-18: 16th...(TBL)
--2016-17: 15th...(WSH)
--2015-16: 14th...(WSH)
--2014-15: 16th...(NYR)
--2013-14: 16th...(BOS)

--2012-13: 12th...(PIT)

--2011-12: 9th...(NYR)


League standing/Points

--January: T-14th/10...(WSH, TOR/15)

--February: T-31st/15...(TOR/34)

--2019-20: 25th/68...(BOS/100)
--2018-19: 27th/76...(TBL/128)
--2017-18: 31st/62...(NSH/117)
--2016-17: 26th/78...(WSH/118)
--2015-16: 23rd/81...(WSH/120)
--2014-15: 30th/54...(NYR/113)
--2013-14: 30th/52...(BOS/117)

--2012-13: 21st/48...(CHI/77)

--2011-12: 19th/89...(VAN/111)


Points Percentage

--January: .500 (T-19th)...(FLA .917)

--February:  .395 (28th)...(TOR .773)

--2019-20: .493 (25th)...(BOS .714) 
--2018-19: .463 (27th)...(TBL .780)
--2017-18: .378 (31st)...(NSH .713)
--2016-17: .476 (26th)...(WSH .720)
--2015-16: .494 (23rd)...(WSH .732)
--2014-15: .329 (30th)...(NYR .689)
--2013-14: .317 (30th)...(BOS .713)

--2012-13: .500 (21st)...(CHI .802)

--2011-12: .543 (19th)...(VAN .677)


Goal Differential

--January: -2 (T-18th)...(COL +13)

--February:  -13 (24th)...(TBL +30)

--2019-20: -22 (25th)...(BOS +23)
--2018-19: -45 (26th)...(TBL +103)
--2017-18: -81 (31st)...(TBL +60)
--2016-17: -36 (24th)...(WSH +81)
--2015-16: -21 (20th)...(WSH +59)
--2014-15 -113 (30th)...(NYR +60)
--2013-14: -91 (30th)...(BOS +84)

--2012-13: -18 (23rd)...(CHI +53)

--2011-12: -12 (19th)...(BOS +67)


Goals/Game

--January:  2.80 (20th)...(MTL 4.13)

--February:  2.21 (29th)...(TBL 3.63)

--2019-20: 2.80 (21st)...(TBL 3.47)
--2018-19: 2.70 (23rd)...(TBL 3.89)
--2017-18: 2.41 (31st)...(TBL 3.54)
--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)

--2012-13: 2.46 (22nd)...(PIT 3.38)

--2011-12: 2.57 (17th)...(PIT 3.33)


Shots/Game

--January:  32.2 (7th)...(TBL 34.0)

--February:  30.1 (15th)...(FLA 34.0)

--2019-20: 29.3 (30th)...(VGK 34.5)
--2018-19: 32.9 (8th)...(CAR 34.4)
--2017-18: 31.2 (20th)...(FLA 34.4)
--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)

--2012-12: 27.9 (22nd)...(OTT 33.1)

--2011-12: 29.2 (18th)...(PIT 33.9)


5v5 Goals 

--January:  15 (T-14th)...(VAN 30)

--February:  21 (31st)...(WSH 51)

--2019-20: 133 (20th)...(TBL, TOR 161)
--2018-19: 154 (21st)...(TOR 206)
--2017-18: 119 (31st)...(TBL 196)
--2016-17: 126 (28th)...(MIN 187) 
--2015-16: 121 (28th)...(DAL 167)
--2014-15: 110 (29th)...(TBL 181)
--2013-14: 96 (30th)...(ANA 190)

--2012-13: 81 (22nd)...(PIT 108)

--2011-12: 153 (12th)...(BOS 191)


Powerplay

--January: 30.8% (7th)...(WSH 44.4%)

--February:  31.2 (3rd)...(CHI 33.3)

--2019-20: 18.9 (20th)...(EDM 29.5)
--2018-19: 19.5 (16th)...(TBL 28.2)
--2017-18: 19.1 (20th)...(PIT 26.2)
--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)

--2012-13: 14.1 (29th)...(WSH 26.8)

--2011-12: 17.1 (16th)...(NSH 21.6)


Goals-against/Game

--January:  3.10 (22nd)...(CAR 1.67)

--February:  2.95 (19th)...(TBL 2.05)

--2019-20: 3.12 (22nd)...(BOS 2.39)
--2018-19: 3.27 (24th)...(NYI 2.33)
--2017-18: 3.39 (29th)...(LAK 2.46)
--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)

--2012-13: 2.69 (22nd)...(CHI 2.02)

--2011-12: 2.72 (18th)...(STL 1.89)


Shots against/Game

--January:  30.4 (19th)...(BOS 22.9)

--February:  30.9 (T-20th)...(BOS 25.9)

--2019-20: 31.1 (14th)...(PHI 28.7)

--2018-19: 33.0 (23rd)...(CGY 28.1)
--2017-18: 32.7 (23rd)...(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)

--2012-13: 33.5 (30th)...(NJD 23.1)

--2011-12: 31.4 (26th)...(PHI 28.4)


Penalty Kill

--January: 82.6% (10th)...(COL 91.7%)

--February:  79.6 (15th)...( COL 89.5)

--2019-20: 74.6 (30th)...(SJS 85.7)
--2018-19: 80.9 (12th)...(TBL 85.0)
--2017-18: 77.9 (22nd)...(LAK 85.0)
--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)

--2012-13: 79.2 (26th)...(OTT 88.0)

--2011-12: 81.7 (19th)...(NJD 89.6)


Faceoff Percentage

--January: 55.9% (2nd)...(BOS 58.7)

--February:  52.4 (9th)...(BOS 56.8)

--2019-20: 45.9 (31st)...(PHI 54.6)
--2018-19: 47.9 (T-27th)...(PHI 54.7)
--2017-18: 51.5 (7th)...(CAR 54.1)
--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)

--2012-13: 46.2 (29th)...(BOS 56.4)

--2011-12: 49.5 (19th)...(BOS 54.5)