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2014-15 Individual Stats--December |
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Jhonas Enroth took a two-hander to the post after Nikita Kucherov scored Tampa's final goal in the Lightning's 5-1 win at Buffalo on New Year's Eve. The tire fire that has been the Sabres' defensive zone work in front of Enroth (and Michal Neuvirth as well) for 10 games finally got to the normally cool Ewok and he had to let it out.
The Sabres started out the month of December really well going 5-2-0 on the back of Enroth's stellar play, sound defensive work and timely scoring. It gave us the illusion that they might be on the precipice of a playoff run. But over the last seven game it was back down to earth. Buffalo finished the month 1-5-1 while allowing 33 goals against and unfortunately for Enroth, he was in net for five of those games.
Enroth could not overcome the mess that was in front and watched his individual numbers drop, albeit only slightly, because of it. His goals against average rose from to 3.16 from 3.11 while his save percentage fell to .908% from .914%.
Those are rather miniscule drops compared to the team goal differential and individual players plus/minus ratings. The team goal differential went from minus-33 to a league-worst minus-52 last month as the special teams positioned themselves at or near the bottom of the league. But five-on-five is where they really got smoked.
No player will start 2015 above zero in plus/minus as three are at even right now--Mark Pysyk, Tim Schaller and Joel Armia. None of them have played in more than four games. Only one player with 15 or more games is at minus-1 (Patrick Kaleta) and the leader in plus/minus for players with 25 or more games is Zemgus Girgensons at minus-2.
Girgensons and defenseman Nikita Zadorov along with forward Brian Flynn all started out the month in the plus column but saw their numbers plummet. Girgensosns went from a plus-5 to a minus-2 while Flynn's plus-2 rating dropped to minus-4. But the biggest drop of the three came from "Big Z" as his dropped from team-high plus-5 in November to minus-5 in December.
Although his minus-10 for December looks horrible as does Ristolainen's minus-10 for the month, their's as well as Girgensons plus/minus and Enroth's numbers, are more a product of the team wearing down. During their hot streak they played well above their overall talent-level and it finally caught up with them.
Tyler Myers lead the Sabres in plus/minus for December with a plus-2 but missed the last five games due to injury.
Kudos to Tyler Ennis for his continued solid play as night-in/night-out he just gets the job done. He lead the team in points (8) for the second straight month was tied for the team lead in assists with six, while also leading in powerplay goals (2) and primary assists (5.) Of the rest of the players, only Drew Stafford and Chris Stewart had a decent month.
It's a new month and a new year. Tonight the Sabres are at home for a game vs. the Florida Panthers before hitting the road for four straight on the east coast (NYR, NJD, CAR, TBL.) Buffalo will be facing a Florida team that is starting a six-game road trip of their own after going 7-5-2 in December.
Ristolainen will be back in the lineup after missing two games with the flu and will be paired with Zadorov.
Michal Neuvirth will start in goal for the Sabres.
With Ristolainen's return, the Sabres sent defenseman Mark Pysyk to Rochester. The Amerks are at home tonight for the seventh game of their eight-game homestand. Rochester is coming off of a 4-1 win vs. Syracuse on New Year's Eve and are looking for their first back-to-back wins since October.
Buffalo Sabres Individual Stats (monthly):
Points
--October: Drew Stafford, 6; Tyler Ennis, 5; Zemgus Girgensons, Marcus Foligno, 3
--November: Ennis, 11; Girgensons, 10; Moulson, 9
--December: Ennis, 8; Grigensons, Stafford, 7
Goals
--October: Ennis, 4; Girgensons, Foligno, 2; Stafford, Cody Hodgson, Torrey Mitchell, Nic Deslauriers, 1
--November: Girgensons, 5; Moulson, 4; Ennis, Stafford, Chris Stewart, Brian Flynn, 3
--December: Girgensons, 4; Moulson, Foligno, 3
Powerplay Goals
--October: Stafford, 1
--November: Ennis, 2; Stafford, Moulson, 1
--December: Ennis, Ristolainen, 2; Stewart, Zadorov, 1
Assists
--October: Stafford, 5; Moulson, 2; Twelve with 1
--November: Ennis, 8; Moulson, Girgensons, Gionta, 5
--December: Ennis, Stafford, 6; Gorges, 5
Primary Assists
--October: Stafford, Moulson 2; Eight with 1
--November: Ennis, 4; Moulson, Stafford, 3
--December: Ennis, 5; Stafford, Stewart, 4
Powerplay Assists
--October: Ennis, Tyler Myers, 1
--November: Moulson, 3; Stafford, 2; Ennis, Myers, Ristolainen, 1
--December: Nine with one each
Plus/Minus
--October: Sam Reinhart, Brian Flynn, Tyson Strachan -1; Girgensons, Deslauriers, Mitchell, Myers -2
--November: Girgensons +7, Nikita Zadorov +5, Gionta +4
--December: Myers +2, Kaleta, Schaller +1
Plus/Minus (Bottom)
--October: Andrej Meszaros -10; Stafford, Andre Benoit -8
--November: Stewart -6, Gorges, Meszazros, Benoit -5
--December: Ristolainen, Zadorov -10; Strachan -9
Goalies (YTD)
Jhonas Enroth
--October: 1-5-1 record; 3.11 gaa; .915 save%; 0 shutouts
--November: 5-9-1 record; 3.11 gaa; .914 sv%; 0 shutouts
--December: 11-13-3 record; 3.16 gaa. .908 sv%, 1 shoutout
Michal Neuvirth
--October: 1-3-0 record; 3.26 gaa; .910 sv%; 0 shutouts
--November: 3-5-1 record; 2.85 gaa; .920 sv%; 0 shutouts
--December: 3-8-1 record; 3.29 gaa; .909 sv %; 0 shutouts
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