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2014-15 Team Stats--March |
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Before we get to the team stats for March, the Sabres organization signed RIT senior forward Matt Garbowsky to an amateur tryout contract with the Rochester Americans, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle's Kevin Oklobzija.
The 5'10" 190 lb. center captained the Tigers to an Atlantic Hockey Conference championship this season and a spot in the NCAA Tournament where they upset #1-seed Minnesota State University-Mankato 2-1. Garbowsky had an assist on RIT's first goal when he took on a hard check along the boards but got the puck to teammate Alexander Kuqali who took it to the front of the net and scored on the backhand. With just under six minutes left in the third he barreled to the front of the net causing an MSU-Mankato defenseman to take out his own goalie. Linemate Josh Mitchell scored the game-winner on the play.
According to Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com/sabres.com, Garbowsky is a "jack of all trades, great on draws and diligent in the defensive zone." Although he was one of the top scorers in the NCAA with 26 goals and 54 points, Atlantic Hockey isn't quite on par with some of the other big-name colleges. Baker says that "teams want to see more high-end play before fully committing" to a pro contract.
The Sabres still have their eyes on one more college player, Boston University goalie, Matt O'Connor. Unlike Garbowsky who had only one other offer, O'Connor has many teams interested in his services. BU will be in the Frozen Four April 9-11. Should they make it to the finals, that game will coincide with the Sabres last game of the season. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out and how the Sabres plan to lure him to Buffalo.
Should Buffalo continue their course and wind up at the bottom of the league, Sabres GM Tim Murray will be using Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel as a strong recruiting tool as the 30th place team is guaranteed one of the two. O'Connor's a teammate of Eichel and we're pretty sure he's familiar with the exploits of McDavid. The thought of growing as a teammate of either at the NHL-level should be pretty enticing.
As it stands right now, if the 29th place Arizona Coyotes lose their final five games in regulation, the Buffalo Sabres would need to end up with five points over their last six games, for instance a 2-3-1 record, to finish ahead of the 'Yotes in the standings. It provides for a dramatic finish at the bottom of the NHL standings. So dramatic that ESPN had the race on it's ticker yesterday including what was at stake. They may have gotten the lottery percentage wrong for the last place team (it's 20% not 25%) but they understand the significance of a 30th place finish.
As you pour over the team stats, month-by-month, stat-by-stat, one thing is painfully clear, this edition of the Buffalo Sabres was, is, and probably will be, a 30th place team.
They've been 30th in goals, shots, shots-against and faceoff percentage all season. Their powerplay has been in 30th every month but one where their miniscule 2.9% conversion rate was somehow 29th. Some early success with goals-against gave way to bottom-two for the last four months and their penalty kill, a source of "success" earlier in the season, now sits at No. 30 in the league.
At the conclusion of March, the Buffalo Sabres are 30th in the league and 30th in every statistical category outlined below.
Yet somehow, maybe through the tank-wizardry of former GM Darcy Regier, and his 'Yotes commander GM Don "The New Desert Fox" Maloney, the Arizona Coyotes are making this a race.
With all that the Sabres players and fans have been through this season and as we look at the suffering that the team and fans have gone through this year, for the second year in a row, it would be a shame if this team didn't finish the job.
Buffalo Sabres Team Stats:
Wins
--October: 2 (29th)...(NHL Leader--ANA, 9)
--November: 8 (27th)...(NYI, 17)
--December: 14 (T-24th)...(CHI, 25)
--January: 14 (29th)...(ANA, 32)
--February: 19 (29th)...(NSH, 41)
--March: 21 (30th)...(ANA, 49)
Points
--October: 5 (29th)...(ANA, 18)
--November: 18 (27th)...(NYI, 34)
--December: 31 (28th)...(ANA, 54)
--January: 31 (30th)...(ANA, 70)
--February: 43 (30th)...(NSH, 89)
--March: 50 (30th)...ANA, 105)
Points Percentage
--October: .227 (29th)...(MTL, .773)
--November: .375 (27th)...(PIT, .739)
--December: .408 (28th)...(NSH, .708)
--January: .310 (30th)...(NSH, .708)
--February: .341 (30th)...(NSH, .706)
--March: .329 (30th)...(NYR, .678)
Atlantic Division Standing
--October: 8th...(MTL)
--November: 8th...(TBL)
--December: 8th...(TBL)
--January: 8th...(TBL)
--February: 8th...(MTL)
--March: 8th...(MTL)
Eastern Conference Standing
--October: 16th...(MTL)
--November: 14th (PIT)
--December: 14th (TBL)
--January: 16th (TBL)
--February: 16th (MTL)
--March: 16th (NYR)
League Standing
--October: 29th...(ANA)
--November: 27th..(PIT)
--December: 28th...(ANA)
--January: 30th...(ANA)
--February: 30th (NSH)
--March: 30th (ANA)
Goal Differential
--October: -24
--November: -33...(PIT, +26)
--December: -52...(CHI, +39)
--January: -85...(CHI, +40)
--February: -89...(TBL, +40)
--March: -107 (NYR, +52)
Goals/Game
--October: 1.09 (30th)...(PIT, 4.00)
--November: 1.67 (30th)...(TBL, 3.50)
--December: 1.84 (30th)...(TOR, 3.29)
--January: 1.76 (30th)...(TBL, 3.22)
--February: 1.84 (30th)...(TBL, 3.25)
--March: 1.84 (30th)...(TBL, 3.18)
Shots/Game
--October: 21.2 (30th)...(CHI, 38.1)
--November: 22.3 (30th)...(CHI, 36.1)
--December: 23.2 (30th)...(CHI, 35.4)
--January: 22.9 (30th)...(CHI, 35.1)
--February: 22.9 (30th)...(CHI, 34.3)
--March: 23.9 (30th)...(CHI, 33.9)
Goals-against/Game
--October: 3.27 (21st)...(ANA, 1.83)
--November: 3.12 (27th)...(NSH, 1.96)
--December: 3.34 (29th)...(CHI, 2.08)
--January: 3.56 (30th)...(MTL, 2.23)
--February: 3.32 (29th)...(MTL, 2.14)
--March: 3.29 (30th)...(MTL, 2.22)
Shots against/Game
--October: 36.7 (30th)...(MIN, 23.2)
--November: 36.5 (30th)...(MIN, 25.8)
--December: 35.4 (30th)...(MIN, 26.5)
--January: 35.0 (30th)...(MIN, 26.9)
--February: 35.3 (30th)...(MIN, 26.8)
--March: 35.4 (30th)...(STL, 27.2)
Powerplay
--October: 2.9% (29th)...(PIT, 39.5)
--November: 7.2 (30th)...(PIT, 31.6)
--December: 9.4 (30th)...(CLB, 24.4)
--January: 11.4 (30th)...(DET, 25.6)
--February: 11.5 (30th)...(DET, 25.0)
--March: 12.9 (30th)...(WSH, 24.4)
Penalty Kill
--October: 85.4% (9th)...(DET, 94.1)
--November: 77.0 (25th)...(CHI, 91.3)
--December: 76.7 (27th)...(CHI, 90.5)
--January: 73.7 (29th)...(CHI, 87.6)
--February: 75.1 (29th)...(CAR, 88.2)
--March: 74.5 (30th)...(MIN, 87.1)
Faceoff Percentage
--October: 41.4 (30th)...(CAR, 54.4)
--November: 41.0 (30th)...(MTL, 55.9)
--December: 44.5 (30th)...(DET, 55.1)
--January: 45.2 (30th)...(STL, 54.0)
--February: 45.5 (30th)...(BOS, 53.8)
--March: 45.2 (30th)...(STL, 53.6)
--Bottom five teams in the league, their point total and their records for the month.
January:
26. Columbus Blue Jackets, 45 points; 5-8-0
27. Carolina Hurricanes, 40; 7-3-2
28. Arizona Coyotes, 40; 3-7-2
29. Edmonton Oilers, 35; 5-6-1
30. Buffalo Sabres, 31; 0-12-0
Of note: The Toronto Maple Leafs are in 24th place with 48 points. They finished the month of January with a 1-11-1 record. After beating Columbus for their lone win of the month on January 9th, the Leafs proceeded to finish the month with an 0-8-1 record.
February:
26. Carolina, 55 points; 7-4-1
27. Toronto, 55, 3-7-1
28. Arizona, 47, 3-10-1
29. Edmonton, 46, 5-7-1
30. Buffalo, 43, 5-6-2
Of Note: The Arizona Coyotes are barreling to the bottom of the league thanks to a nine game, and counting, losing streak. Last night they just traded Antoine Vermette to Chicago for futures. Edmonton lost Taylor Hall on Feb. 9 and he'll be out for at least another two weeks. In his absence the Oilers are 3-6-0. The "Center of the Hockey Universe" is all-in on a rebuild and "Leafs Nation" is now in full-fledged tank mode having gone 4-18-2 for 2015, easily the worst record of any team in the league.
March:
26. Carolina, 67 points, 4-7-4
27. Toronto, 64, 4-10-1
28. Edmonton, 59, 5-5-3
29. Arizona, 54, 3-10-1
30. Buffalo, 50, 2-8-3
Of Note: Buffalo and Arizona met twice this month. Arizona won the first game at Buffalo in OT, 4-3. The Sabres defeated the 'Yotes in Arizona 4-1 this past Monday. Although Toronto has been barreling towards the bottom with an 8-28-5 record this calendar year, chances are that they'll finish right where they are in 27th place.
The odds for winning the draft lottery:
30th place team-- 20.0%
29th--13.5%
28th--11.5%
27th--9.5%
26th--8.5%
25th--7.5%
24th6.5%
23rd--6.0%
22nd--5.0%
21st--3.5%
20th--3.0%
19th--2.5%
18th--2.0%
17th--1.0%
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