2013 Individual Stats--March

The Sabres head to Pittsburgh to face the hottest team in the NHL. The Pens are winners of 15 straight, two wins short of their own NHL record.

GM Darcy Regier has the team in full transition mode as Buffalo just traded their third defenseman, Robyn Regehr (TJ Brennan and Jordan Leopold.)

Buffalo's leading scorer Thomas Vanek is out tonight, as is Ville Leino. Defenseman Adam Pardy and forward Luke Adam have been called up from Rochester.

With the team in sell-mode looking towards the future, we take a look back at individual stats for the month of March. The Sabres went 5-5-5 in the month.

We'll start with the goaltenders, Ryan Miller and Jhonas Enroth.

Despite a poor team record, both Miller and Enroth played very well for the month, and it's safe to say that were it not for them, the team would be battling Florida for the worst record in the league.

Both Miller and Enroth lead the team in the 3-star rankings, earning stars in multiple games. The only other player on the team to do that was forward Tyler Ennis.

Enroth is really starting to pick things up. For the month he went 2-0-1 with a no-decision vs. New Jersey when he left the game with an injury. He earned a game star in all his appearances including the Devils' game.

His save percentage took a huge leap forward to .908 while he brought his goals against average down to 2.95.

Although Miller's stats went down slightly, he's been playing well including game-stars in losses.

Buffalo's goaltenders continue to face the most shots/game with one of the poorer defenses in front of them.

Speaking of their defense, as a whole they seem to be picking things up on offense with Christian Ehrhoff finding his game and leading the team in plus/minus for the month.

Andrej Sekera, despite losing coverage on both Boston goals this past Sunday also had a good month (relatively speaking) coming in at a plus-3.

Forward Steve Ott got himself going offensively in the month of March with two goals and seven assists.

Tyler Ennis is having a real good season. With 26 points in 35 games he projects out to around 20 goals and 35 assists over and 82 game season.

Not bad for his first year playing center full time.

The Sabres other top-six center, Cody Hodgson, is having a real good year as well.

He lead the team in points, was tied for the lead in goals, and was second in assists for the month of March.

Hodgson is on a pace for 25 goals and 35 assists for an 82 game season. It is his first season in a top--six center role.

Interesting note on Hodgson.

He was dropped to the fourth line between Patrick Kaleta and John Scott, both of whom have zero points this season, in their 2-0 loss to Boston.

Interim coach Ron Rolston implied that part of the reason for Hodgson's demotion was his defensive zone coverage.

Hodgson for the month of March was second on the team in plus/minus with a plus-4.

All-in-all there weren't too many positives for the past month.

Probably the best thing to come out of their 5-5-5 record was a clear look as to what this team really is and the direction the team is headed, which is--an NHL bottom-feeder with some talented players to build around for the future.



Points:

• January--Thomas Vanek-15; Jason Pominville-12; Cody Hodgson-6
• February--Vanek-12; Hodgson, Tyler Ennis--11
• March--Hodgson-11; Ennis-10; Ott-9 

Goals:

• January--Vanek-6; Pominville-5; Hodgson-4
• February--Vanek-6; Ennis-5, Hodgson-4
• March--Vanek, Hodgson, Stafford, Foligno-4

Powerplay Goals:

• January--Vanek-3; Pominville, Steve Ott, Tyler Myers-1
• February--Vanek-2; Ennis-1
• March--Vanek-2; Hodgson, Foligno, Ott, Leino, Ehrhoff-1 

Assists:

• January--Vanek, 9; Pominville-7; Christian Ehrhoff-5
• February--Hodgson-7; Vanek, Ennis-6
• March--Ennis-8; Hodgson, Ott-7

Powerplay Assists

• January--Vanek, Pominville-3; Hodgson, Tyler Ennis, Ehrhoff-2
• February--Ennis-2; Foligno, Ehrhoff-1
• March--Ennis-4; Pominville, Hodgson, Myers-2

Primary Assists--

• January--Vanek, Pominville-3; Drew Stafford, Ehrhoff-2
• February--Stafford, Ennis-4; Vanek, Ott, Jochen Hecht-3
• March--Hodgson, Ennis-5; Ott, Ehrhoff-4 

Plus/Minus:

• January--Vanek +4; Alexander Sulzer, Mike Weber +3
• February--Ott +5, TJ Brennan +3; Ehrhoff +2
• March--Ehrhoff-6; Hodgson-4; Hecht, Sekera-3 

Plus/Minus (bottom)

• January--Stafford, Jordan Leopold -4; Myers, Mikhail Grigorenko -3
• February--Hodgson, Andrej Sekera -5; Stafford, Foligno, Regehr, Weber -4
• March--Stafford, Ennis, Ott -3

Three Stars (1st=5 points, 2nd=3 points, 3rd=1 point)

• January--Vanek (10); Ryan Miller (7); Pominville (6)
• February--Miller (18); Vanek (17); Gerbe (5)
• March--Miller (8); Ennis, Enroth (6) 

Goalies (year to date):

Ryan Miller

• January--3-2-1; .920 sv % (20th); 2.64 gaa (28th); 0 shutouts
• February--8-12-1; .917 (26th); 2.83 (T-45); 0
• March--11-15-5; .911 (31st); 2.89 (54th); 0 

Jhonas Enroth

• January--0-1-0; 856 sv % (49th); 5.00 gaa (T-56th), 0 shutouts
• February--0-2-0; .847 (73rd); 4.75; 0
• March--2-2-1; .908 (42nd) 2.95 (62nd); 0 

2013 Individual Stats--February

Will the team be adding more
players to the 2012-12
"team photo?"

The above photo pretty much sums up the team for the month of February.

Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek have carried the Sabres to what little success they've had this season, and continued to do so in February.

On the surface, Miller's 2.83 gaa and .917 sv. % isn't awe inspiring, but the fact that he's come out of this past month with a semblance of sanity is a testament to his commitment and focus.

Miller has been bombarded with shots from every angle, standing on his head game-in/game-out to keep this team in any given game. The Sabres have given up the most shots in the league thus-far (711) and the most shots/game (33.9). If there were a stat given for golden opportunities against, Buffalo would have given up the most there as well.

After a rough start to the month where he went 1-2 giving up 14 goals in those three games, Miller buckled down. In three of the next four games he earned a game-star, two firsts in wins and a second star in a loss to Boston.

Vanek has also been carrying the team, albeit not as much as in January.

He lead the team in points and goals and was second in assists, which isn't all that great considering the horrid month the offense had. But he's been playing well, garnering the second most game-star points on the team.

For a bit of perspective, Nathan Gerbe was third in that department. He was the 1st star in their last game at Florida, his only star of the month.

That's not to say that Miller and Vanek are completely on an island.

Cody Hodgson and Tyler Ennis have been holding their own down the middle in the top-six. They are both young and skilled and are in top-six roles for the first time in their respective careers. Both are also clamoring for help from the right wing.

Hodgson is a part of Buffalo's first line along with Vanek and Jason Pominville. Vanek, as we've seen has been doing his part, but Pominville has fallen off of a cliff.

The captain was second on the team with 12 points in January, but was mired in a funk throughout February amassing a mere three points for the entire month.

Ennis has been on an island throughout the 2013 season thus-far. His wingers from last year--Drew Stafford and Marcus Foligno--have both failed to deliver with Foligno being a healthy scratch last game at Florida. Stafford has one goal and seven assists for the year.

Gerbe was moved up to Ennis' line to provide some badly needed spark and it took a number of games for him to have an impact on the score sheet. He potted a pair of goals at Florida, his first two of the season.

The 5'5", 175 lb. forward was coming off of major surgery and it seems as if he's finally comfortable enough to start playing his agitated style.

Forward Steve Ott, acquired last off-season for Derek Roy, has had a good month. Maybe it goes along with his "half-full" outlook on the team. He continues to contribute modestly on the score sheet but is a constant worker whenever he's on the ice. He's solid on the faceoff dot, solid on the kill and lead the team in plus/minus for February with a plus-5.

To put that in perspective, only two other players were in the plus column:  rookie defenseman TJ Brennan (+3) who sees limited action and workhorse defenseman Christian Ehrhoff (+2.) Bottom-six forward Jochen Hecht was even as was bottom-pairing defenseman Alexander Sulzer.

Every other Sabre was in the minus column for the month as the team had a collective minus-28 for February.

Looking at stats like that, it's a wonder the team managed to go 5-9-0 for the month.

That being said, it would seem as if the team's fortunes are ready to trend upward.

Interim head coach Ron Rolston took the reigns and in his second game behind the bench was shut out by the NY Islanders 4-0. The team was booed off the ice. Rolston proceeded to win his first game after that at Tampa and came away with a 4-3 SO win two nights later at Florida.

The Sabres exited the month of February going 2-2 with signs of life. Goals against, as well as premium chances against are trending downward while the team received some secondary scoring in their last two wins--Tyler Myers with the game-winner at Tampa, Gerbe with two goals at Florida.

It should be noted that Rolston's first two games came without the opportunity for a full practice. They are 2-0 after that.

March begins this afternoon with a home game vs. the NJ Devils. They will be without goalie Martin Brodeur.

We'll see if we can add another player or two, or three to the "2013 team photo."

(special thanx to whomever came up with that)



Points:

• January--Thomas Vanek-15; Jason Pominville-12; Cody Hodgson-6
• February--Vanek-12; Hodgson, Tyler Ennis--11

Goals:

• January--Vanek-6; Pominville-5; Hodgson-4
• February--Vanek-6; Ennis-5, Hodgson-4

Powerplay Goals:

• January--Vanek-3; Pominville, Steve Ott, Tyler Myers-1
• February--Vanek-2; Ennis-1

Assists:

• January--Vanek, 9; Pominville-7; Christian Ehrhoff-5
• February--Hodgson-7; Vanek, Ennis-6

Powerplay Assists

• January--Vanek, Pominville-3; Hodgson, Tyler Ennis, Ehrhoff-2
• February--Ennis-2; Foligno, Ehrhoff-1

Primary Assists--

• January--Vanek, Pominville-3; Drew Stafford, Ehrhoff-2
• February--Stafford, Ennis-4; Vanek, Ott, Jochen Hecht-3

Plus/Minus:

• January--Vanek +4; Alexander Sulzer, Mike Weber +3
• February--Ott +5, TJ Brennan +3; Ehrhoff +2

Plus/Minus (bottom)

• January--Stafford, Jordan Leopold -4; Myers, Mikhail Grigorenko -3
• February--Hodgson, Andrej Sekera -5; Stafford, Foligno, Regehr, Weber -4

Three Stars (1st=5 points, 2nd=3 points, 3rd=1 point)

• January--Vanek (10); Ryan Miller (7); Pominville (6)
• February--Miller (18); Vanek (17); Gerbe (5)

Goalies (year to date):

Ryan Miller

• January--3-2-1; .920 sv % (20th); 2.64 gaa (28th); 0 shutouts
• February--5-10-1; .917 (26th); 2.83 (T-45); 0

Jhonas Enroth

• January--0-1-0; 856 sv % (49th); 5.00 gaa (T-56th), 0 shutouts
• February--0-2-0; .847 (73rd); 4.75; 0

2013 Individual Stats--January

The Sabres have themselves a top line:  Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville and Cody Hodgson. And they're tearing it up.

Vanek leads the league in points and was named the 3rd star for the month of January (OTT goalie Craig Anderson, SJS forward Patrick Marleau.) In addition to his league leading 15 points he's second in goals with 6 (Marleau, 9) and his nine assists are good for second (Joe Thorton, SJS, 11.)

Pominville is tied for fourth in the league in points (12) and tied for third in goals (5.) Center Hodgson is off to a real good start and is doing for Vanek and Pominville what former center, Derek Roy could not--stay out of the way, let those two work some Sedin's-type magic and play off of what they do.

It's nothing new for Vanek and Pominville to be coming out of the gate strong while carrying a center along with them. Last season after the opening month Vanek had 15 points, Pominville had 14 and center Luke Adam had nine. Adam, unfortunately, couldn't sustain his pace. Let's hope Hodgson can.

The rest of the team needs too catch up, though.

The only player playing a solid game and producing is center Tyler Ennis. After that it's a mixed bag.

To say that the top line is carrying the team is an understatement, but various players are at varying degrees of game-readiness.

The defense is still a mess. Those playing a simpler game--Alexander Sulzer, Mike Weber and Robyn Regehr--are pretty solid out of the gate while the "offensive-minded" defenseman--Tyler Myers, Andrej Sekera, Jordan Leopold and Christian Ehrhoff--are taking a while to get up to speed.

Secondary scoring needs to come very soon as the season is only 48 games. Although Vanek and Pominville can put up strong numbers, they shouldn't be looked at to continue to produce at this pace. But, you never know,with the focus and chemistry they have, it wouldn't be surprising to see them remain hot.

In goal, Ryan Miller's doing his thing. A clunker vs. Toronto and a below average performance in Washington gave everyone cause for concern, but he had a stellar game last night in Boston and shows that when he's focused, he can get into an opponents head.

Can giving up four goals constitute "stealing a game?" The best case for the truth in that statement was last night. Miller held the fort while being under constant siege and came up with some remarkable saves. That kept the team within striking distance until Vanek, he of the hat trick and a 5-point night, decided to take over the game.

The Sabres are presently 7th in the league in goals for but 24th in goals against. Head coach Lindy Ruff would love to roll at least three lines, but until Ville Leino comes back from injury he has his top line and Ennis playing well. Unsteady contributions from Steve Ott, Marcus Foligno and Drew Stafford and a mish-mash of bottom-six forwards who, on some nights. look like borderline NHL'ers, are making things difficult at both ends of the ice.

Things should fall into place during February as every player in the league will be settling into their spots. But it was a fantastic first month for the Vanek, Pominville, Hodgson line and lets hope that they can continue producing while the rest of the team plays catch-up.



Individual Stats:


Points:

• January--Thomas Vanek-15; Jason Pominville-12; Cody Hodgson-6

Goals:

• January--Vanek-6; Pominville-5; Hodgson-4

Powerplay Goals:

• January--Vanek-3; Pominville, Steve Ott, Tyler Myers-1

Assists:

• January--Vanek, 9; Pominville-7; Christian Ehrhoff-5

Powerplay Assists

• January--Vanek, Pominville-3; Hodgson, Tyler Ennis, Ehrhoff-2

Primary Assists--

• January--Vanek, Pominville-3; Drew Stafford, Ehrhoff-2

Plus/Minus:

• January--Vanek +4; Alexander Sulzer, Mike Weber +3

Plus/Minus (bottom)

• January--Stafford, Jordan Leopold -4; Myers, Mikhail Grigorenko -3

Three Stars (1st=5 points, 2nd=3 points, 3rd=1 point)

• January--Vanek (10); Ryan Miller (7); Pominville (6)

Goalies (year to date):

Ryan Miller

• January--3-2-1; .920 sv % (20th); 2.64 gaa (28th); 0 shutouts

Jhonas Enroth

• January--0-1-0; 856 sv % (49th); 5.00 gaa (T-56th), 0 shutouts