Buffalo Sabres 2020-21 Team Stats--March

You may have heard the expression "in like a lion out like a lamb" used to describe how the month of March goes weather-wise. When it came to the Buffalo Sabres place in the National Hockey League it was "in like crippled lamb out like overcooked mutton" in March.

Buffalo finished a rough month of February by being shut out 3-0 by the Philadelphia Flyers in consecutive games at home. It dropped them down to a tie for 31st in the league with only six wins on the season and if you watched them on the ice the listless, apathetic play surely was a sign that head coach Ralph Krueger had lost his team in a big way. However, it would take nine more winless games to extent their streak to 0-10-2 before Sabres management would get word to fire the head coach. 

What's worse than that brutal winless stretch and 43-19 goal differential that featured the team being shut out four times was watching Krueger's players totally diss him on-ice and having to listen to post-game interviews where he remained without answers but still tried to push an epic failure of a hockey philosophy. Much respect to the worldly man that is Ralph Krueger and a hearty good riddance to him as a head coach.

Assistant coach Don Granato came in on March 17th to drive Krueger thought-druid  from Sabreland and it took a while for them to overcome what had just transpired. Granato freed the players from a rigid adherence to an outdated defensive system and allowed them to skate freely using their skills and vision to create. “We know if we just play a system and you focus on trying to play that system, you’re really not improving your skill or your ability at the NHL level,” Granato said in a post-practice interview on April 16.

“It’s like every other work environment,” Granato continued. “We can all relate to this. If you go to work and you don’t enjoy it and you just feel bad walking in the place you have to go every day, you’re not going to be good. You’re not going to be good at what you do or you’re not going to be as good as you can be.

“We’ve needed to make sure fun is a part of it.”

In going from Krueger to Granato it must have been like Catholic kids going from a staunch task-master hell-bent on hammering home guilt and depravation to a public school of open thought--freedom!--and it eventually translated on-ice, but it took a bit. After the Sabres fired Krueger, the team continued its slide to a record-tying 18-game winless streak. They almost stopped it at 17 when they took a 3-0 lead into the third period against the Flyers on March 29 but they surrendered the lead and lost in overtime. Buffalo would end the month with a 6-1 thrashing of those same Flyers two days later.

It should be noted that this was a Sabres team that was missing key players for much of the season and March was particularly harsh as captain Jack Eichel went down with a neck injury that subsequently sidelined him for the season. Here was the injury list from the April 1 game preview:

Zemgus Girgensons (hamstring, Jan. 14; injured reserve) – 35 games
William Borgen (forearm, Feb. 22; injured reserve) – 21 games
Jake McCabe (knee, Feb. 22; injured reserve) – 21 games
Jack Eichel (upper body, March 9; injured reserve) – 12 games
Carter Hutton (lower body, March 24) – 5 games
Rasmus Asplund (upper body; March 25; injured reserve) – 4 games

Also of note, starting goalie Linus Ullmark missed 15 games dating back to February 27, constituting most of their dubious winless streak. Contributing factor? Yes. Major reasoning for their demise? No, although Ullmark did allow them to start pulling out of it upon his return by going 1-1-1 to end March and eventually end the streak. 

As we go over the stats below, they're ugly. Not quite as ugly as the two tank seasons but their .271 win percentage is far below their worst (.317) for the last decade. The overall metrics are 29th or worse and a monster powerplay that once carried the team dried up as they went from 3rd (31.2%) to 13th (22.7) while 5v5 scoring remained at the bottom of the league. One might give props to the penalty kill which made big strides this season going from 30th last year (74.6 kill rate) to 16th at the end of March (79.1%) until you realize that they ended up ninth during the 2015-16 tank season with an 82.6% kill rate using a team mostly devoid of NHL talent. 

Yes, Krueger was that bad and once again the Sabres are headed for a top pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. Here's a list of who they picked (and where) beginning with the two tank seasons:

2014  C, Sam Reinhart (2nd-overall)

2015  C, Jack Eichel (2nd)

2016  RW, Alexander Nylander (8th)

2017  C, Casey Mittelstadt (8th)

2018  D, Rasmus Dahlin (1st)

2019  C, Dylan Cozens (7th)

2020  RW, Jack Quinn (8th)

Where they end up this season remains to be seen, but their play and rather tough schedule the remainder of the season leans towards a bottom-three/four finish meaning they could pick anywhere from first-overall to sixth-overall. When you add in eighth-overall pick Rasmus Ristolainen in 2013, it will mark the ninth consecutive year Buffalo has drafted top-eight. Yeah. It's been that bad.

Record (by month)

January 4-4-2

February 2-6-1

March  1-13-2

Team stats (cumulative)

Wins 

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

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

--March:  7 (31st)...(COL, VGK 30)

--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)

--March:  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)

--March:  31st/19...(TBL, COL, WSH, FLA/50)

--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)

--March:  .271 (31st)...(TBL, COL, WSH .714)

--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)

--March:  -46 (31st)...(COL +47)

--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)

--March:  2.14 (31st)...(COL 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)

--March:  28th (27th)...(COL 35.3)

--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)

--March:  48 (31st)...(WSH 90)

--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)

--March:  22.7 (13th)...(CAR 29.9)

--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)

--March:  3.46 (29th)...(COL 2.26)

--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)

--March:  31.9 (26th)...(COL 25.1)

--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)

--March:  79.1 (16th)...(BOS 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)

--March:  50.6 (15th)...(BOS 56.4)

--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)