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Buffalo Sabres 2016-17 Team Stats--March |
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By the time the calendar turned to March, Buffalo's playoff hopes were dimming fast. A 7-5-1 month of January got the Sabres to the outer fringes of the wild card race and heading into their bye week late into February they were on a similar path having gone 6-4-1 which included a loss to Chicago the game before their bye.
With two consecutive road games against the worst two teams in the league coming out of the bye, there was a good possibility that the team could head into March with some momentum. However losses to Colorado and Arizona and an overtime loss to Nashville to end the month put the kibosh on that. That trio of games pretty much ended Buffalo's playoff aspirations and although the Sabres began the month of March with a win the nail in the coffin was the 1-5-1 record after that.
It's often said you are what your record says you are and at 32-33-12 and through 77 games the Sabres are exactly that, a 24th place team. Statistically there are some highs, like the having leagues No. 1 powerplay and some lows as shown in their league-worst 34.2 shots-against/game but by and large they're statistically in that 18-24 range which makes them a below average team.
Sure the Sabres have struggled with injuries, but they've also had numerous opportunities to climb over teams ahead of them through the course of the season only to fail, sometimes miserably. Losing to both Colorado and Arizona in late February with the playoffs in sight is inexcusable and to follow that up with five losses in eight games to begin the month of March when there was a glimmer of hope showed little gumption on their part.
As we begin looking to next season in earnest, there are some rays of light are shining through the darkness. Buffalo's powerplay is downright dangerous and has been that way in the 2017 calendar year. The Sabres went 15-for-36 (41.7%) on the power play in 14 games in March, including 7-for-10 mark in the last five games, according to Sabres PR. They also point out that Buffalo has not finished a season ranked in the top five in power-play percentage since the 2005-06 season (third, 21.2%) and the team has led the league only once (1991-92, 22.5%.)
Also on the upswing is the penalty kill. After bottoming out at 30th in the league through December, the Sabres have slowly creeped up in that category to 26th. They've also been getting more rubber to the net as their shots/game increased to 30.4 (13th in the league.)
Buffalo's next game is tomorrow as they'll start a five game in eight-day stretch with a matinee at home against a NY Islanders, a team that's trying desperately to stay in the playoff hunt. On Monday Buffalo takes on the Toronto Maple Leafs at KeyBank Center. The Leafs are in control of their playoff destination as they're third in the Atlantic Division, three points ahead of the Boston Bruins and four points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lighting who are just outside of the second wild card slot.
On Wednesday the Sabres finish up the home portion of the season with a visit from the Montreal Canadians before they head to Florida for a back-to-back season finale on the road. They'll play the Florida Panthers on Saturday before concluding the 2016-17 season with a stop at Amalie Arena in Tampa for a game against the Lightning with possible playoff implications.
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)
--March: 32 (24th)...(WSH, 51)
--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)
--March: 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)
--March: 14th...(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)
--March: 24th/76...(WSH/110)
--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)
--March: .494 (24th)...(WSH, .714)
--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)
--March: -28 (24th)...(WSH, +75)
--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)
--March: 2.48 (24th)...(PIT, 3.36)
--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)
--March: 30.4 (13th)...(PIT, 34.1)
--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)
--March: 2.79 (19th)...(WSH, 2.22)
--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)
--March: 34.2 (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)
--March: 25.3 (1st)
--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)
--March: 77.3 (26th)...(FLA, 85.7)
--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)
--March: 49.7 (16th)...(ANA, 54.6)
--2015-16: 49.4 (21st)...(ARI, 54.7)
--2014-15: 44.9 (30th)...(BOS, 53.6)
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