@boosbuzzsabres
If you want to see the main reason why the Buffalo Sabres only managed a 4-6-3 record in December take a look at who has scored the third-most goals on the team for the month--checking center Johan Larsson with three goals. The Sabres scored 29 goals in 13 games last month, or only 2.23 goals/game, with Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner scoring over half of them (16.) Only two players other than Larsson had a multi-goal month as Rasmus Dahlin and Sam Reinhart had two each.
Kinda makes it difficult to do some winning with numbers like that.
It wasn't a good month for Buffalo's offense but their goaltending kept it from being a total disaster as Carter Hutton held the fort. Hutton finished November with a 2.63 goals-against average, a .917 save percentage and a 12-7-1 record. He finished December with the exact same GAA and Sv% but only managed one win while incurring five losses, an overtime loss and a shootout loss. Backup goalie Linus Ullmark saw his numbers dip slightly but he still managed a 3-1-1 record while recording his second shoutout this season. Ullmark also suffered his first regulation loss in a 6-2 drubbing at home vs. Philadelphia.
No need to beat a dead horse here as everyone in Sabreland knows that secondary scoring has been virtually non-existent and Buffalo's December woes can be traced directly back to that. So we'll just move on.
For this month we've added some new categories and charted the prior two months as well. Shots on goal was added and as expected, Eichel has lead that category every month with Skinner in the top three. Although shooting percentage varies wildly at times it's worth tracking and we've put in a 15 shot minimum which eliminates a lot of the ultra-high percentages drawn from few shots on goal. Skinner is in the mix all three months while Eichel's team-high 10 goals in December came on an 18.2 shooting percentage.
Even strength time on ice per game is another added stat and we've split it between the defensemen and forwards while using the top five in each. We know Rasmus Ristolainen is a workhorse on defense, as shown in his EV TOI/Game, but how head coach Phil Housley works in his 18 yr. old rookie d-man in Dahlin is worth a look. Housley has slowly ramped up his even-strength ice-time from 15:51 in October to 17:43 in November to 19:18 last month. Of note, Dahlin went from a plus-9 rating in November to a minus-6 rating last month and it should be also be noted that the most number of games he's played in a single season is 41. Dahlin has played 40 games in three months so far.
When it comes to the forward ranks, one would expect Eichel, Skinner and Reinhart to be atop the EV TOI/game category, and they are.
In all it's best to move on from December and start fresh in 2019 and maybe the best part of that statement is that this might be the first time the words "fresh start" have been used in Sabreland this season.
That's a good thing.
Buffalo Sabres 2018-19 Individual Stats leaders
Points
--October: Skinner, Eichel, 12; Pominville, 10
--November: Eichel, 20; Skinner, 16; Reinhart, 15
--December: Eichel, Reinhart, 17; Skinner, 11
Goals
--October: Skinner, 6; Pominville, 5; Eichel, 4
--November: Skinner 14; Reinhart, 5; Thompson, 4
--December: Eichel 10; Skinner 6; Larsson 3
Powerplay Goals
--October: Sheary, 3; Okposo, 2; four players with 1
--November: Skinner, 5; Reinhart, Rodrigues, Thompson, 1
--December: Eichel 3; Dahlin 2; Okposo, Skinner 1
Assists
--October: Eichel, 8; McCabe, Skinner, 6; Reinhart, Pominville, 5
--November: Eichel, 19; Reinhart, 10; Ristolainen, 9
--December: Reinhart 15; Ristolainen 9; Eichel 7
Primary Assists
--October: Skinner, Reinhart, 4; Eichel, Pominville, Okposo, Ristolainen, 3
--November: Eichel, 14; Reinhart, 8; Ristolainen, 5
--December: Reinhart 7; Eichel, Ristolainen, 5
Powerplay Assists
--October: Reinhart, 4; Skinner, 3; four players with 2
--November: Eichel, 5; Dahlin, 4; Reinhart, Ristolainen, 2
--December: Ristolainen 5; Reinhart 3; Eichel 2
Shots on Goal
--October: Eichel 47; Skinner 34; Okposo 28
--November: Eichel 58: Skinner 48; Ristolainen 34
--December: Eichel 55; Ristolainen 40; Skinner 39
Shooting Percentage (15 shot minimum):
--October: Pominville 18.5; Skinner 17.6; Sheary 14.3
--November: Skinner 27.1; Thompson 26.7; Mittelstadt 16.7
--December: Larsson 18.8; Eichel 18.2; Skinner 17.1
Plus/Minus
--October: Skinner +10; Pominville +6; Beaulieu +3
--November: Reinhart, Dahlin, +9; Okposo, +8; Eichel, +7
--December: Reinhart +5; Eichel +4; Scandella, Pilut +2
Plus/Minus (Bottom)
--October: Ristolainen, -10; Reinhart, Sheary -7; Okposo, -6
--November: Larsson, -3; Girgensons, Rodrigues, Nelson, -2
--December: Okposo -9; Sobotka -8; Dahlin -6
EV TOI/Game-Defensemen
--October: Ristolainen 18.25; Scandella 16:49; McCabe 16:41; Dahlin 15:51; Bogosian 15:06
--November: Ristolainen 20:46; Bogosian 19:58; Dahlin 17:43; McCabe 17:00; Scandella 14:57
--December: Bogosian 19:54; Ristolainen 19:34; Dahlin 19:18; Pilut 17:46; Scandella 16:21
EV TOI/Game-Forwards
--October: Eichel 15:17; Skinner 14:03; Reinhart 13:44; Sobotka 13:19; Sheary 12:36
--November: Eichel 15:59; Reinhart 15:17; Skinner 15:01; Pominville 15:58; Sobotka 12:52
--December: Reinhart 16:08; Skinner 15:51; Eichel 15:31; Rodrigues 13:17; Sheary 12:40
Goalies (year-to-date)
Carter Hutton
--October: 4-4-1 record; 2.94 goals against; .910 save percentage; 0 shutouts
--November: 12-7-1; 2.63; .917; 0
--December: 13-12-3; 2.63; .917; 0
Linus Ullmark
--October: 2-0-1; 2.00 GAA; .935 Sv%; 1 shutout
--November: 5-0-2; 2.57; .927; 1
--December: 8-1-3; 2.71; .922; 2
All stats via NHL.com
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