@boosbuzzsabres
A lackluster month of December for Buffalo can basically be summed up by team stats from two categories. Entering the month the Sabres were tied for 14th in the league averaging 3.04 goals/game and their goals-against came in at 2.81, which was tied for 11th. Through December, Buffalo's goals/game dropped to 2.80 (22nd) while their goals-against came in at 2.85 (11th.)
The Sabres went 4-6-3 for the month and dropped from their spot amongst the leaders of the conference (and the NHL) down into the playoff mix. With 48 points they now only have a tenuous hold on third place in the division with three conference wild card teams no more than three points behind them nipping at their heels. In their six regulation losses Buffalo was outscored 22-8 while in their four wins they outscored their opponents 14-6 margin. Add in the three overtime/shootout losses and their minus-9 goal differential for the month puts them at zero on the season which pretty much matches their 21-13-6 overall record this season.
As mentioned, the defensive side of the equation has been sound. The Sabres may have found their plateau at 33.1 shots-against/game with a goals-against average of 2.85 which was a titch above last month's finish while their penalty kill got stronger going from an 80.2% kill-rate to 83.8% which ranks them fifth in the league. However the offensive side saw that precipitous drop in goals, especially 5v5 where they only scored 20 in 13 games. And their powerplay continues to sputter along at a 19.2% success-rate which is now ranked 19th in the league.
To make matters worse offensively, the Sabres captain and leading scorer, Jack Eichel, exited yesterday's loss to the NY Islanders with an upper-body injury. Eichel missed Sunday's practice with coach Phil Housley calling it a "maintenance day." Housley would say in his post-game presser last night that Eichel "sort of aggravated something in his upper body," meaning he tried to play through an injury.
Housley also said that the he didn't think the injury would keep him out "too long," and he better hope that's true. Eichel is the driving force on the team and without him players will be forced to step up their games. The group out there last night did so outshooting the Islanders 28-18 over the final two periods but only managed a goal by Kyle Okposo, who ended a 21-game goal-drought.
Blessing? Curse? We'll see.
Anyway, Happy New Year!
Buffalo Sabres 2018-19 Team Stats (League Rankings)...(Leader):
Wins
--October: 6 (17th)…(NSH, 9)
--November: 17 (T-3rd)…(TBL/TOR, 18)
--December: 21 (10th)...(TBL, 31)
--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)
Atlantic Division Standing
--October: 5th...(TBL)
--November: T-1st (TBL)
--December: 3rd...(TBL)
--2017-18: 8th...(TBL)
--2016-17: 8th...(MTL)
--2015-16: 7th...(FLA)
--2014-15: 8th...(MTL)
--2013-14: 8th...(BOS)
Eastern Conference Standing
--October: 6th...(TBL)
--November: T-1st (TBL)
--December: T-5th...(TBL)
--2017-18: 16th...(TBL)
--2016-17: 15th...(WSH)
--2015-16: 14th...(WSH)
--2014-15: 16th...(NYR)
--2013-14: 16th...(BOS)
League standing/Points
--October: 14th/12...(NSH/18)
--November: T-1st/37 (TBL)
--December: T-10th/48 (TBL, 64)
--2017-18: 31st/62...(NSH/117)
--2016-17: 26th/78...(WSH/118)
--2015-16: 23rd/81...(WSH/120)
--2014-15: 30th/54...(NYR/113)
--2013-15: 30th/52...(BOS/117)
Points Percentage
--October: .583 (15th)…(TBL, .773)
--November: .685 (3rd)…(TBL, .712)
--December: .600 (9th)...(TBL, .800)
--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)
Goal Differential
--October: -4 (22nd)…(COL, +14)
--November: +9 (T-8th)…(TOR, +26)
--December: 0 (T-16th)...(TBL, +51)
--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)
Goals/Game
--October: 2.58 (26th)…(PIT, 4.30)
--November: 3.04 (T-14th)…(COL, 3.73)
--December: 2.80 (22nd)...(TBL, 4.13)
--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)
Shots/Game
--October: 30.3 (24th)…(CAR, 41.7)
--November: 31.6 (16th)…(CAR, 38.9)
--December: 32.1 (13th)...(CAR, 37.2)
--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)
5v5 Goals
--October: 18 (25th)…(PIT, 33)
--November: 54 (9th)…(OTT, 63)
--December: 74 (19th)...(TBL, 107)
--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)
Powerplay
--October: 20.0 (17th)…(WSH, 37.1)
--November: 19.5 (16th)…(COL, 31.4)
--December: 19.2 (19th)...(TBL, 29.2)
--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)
Goals-against/Game
--October: 2.92 (15th)…(ARI, 1.91)
--November: 2.81 (T-11th)…(BOS, 2.40)
--December: 2.85 (11th)...(NSH, 2.58)
--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)
Shots against/Game
--October: 32.2 (19th)…(VGK, 24.4)
--November: 33.1 (25th)…(VGK, 27.4)
--December: 33.1 (T-25th)...(CAR, 27.9)
--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)
Penalty Kill
--October: 78.9 (15th)…(TBL, 93.2)
--November: 80.2 (12th)…(ARI, 89.5)
--December: 83.8 (5th)...(ARI, 87.7)
--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)
Faceoff Percentage
--October: 49.0 (19th)…(PHI, 57.1)
--November: 47.8 (28th)…(PHI, 55.6)
--December: 48.0 (25th)...(PHI, 55.8)
--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)
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