@boosbuzzsabres
Well Sabreland (myself included,) you wanted secondary scoring and that's what you got in January. Unfortunately the bid dogs weren't their usual selves this past month and it lead to a sub-par 4-6-0 overall record for Buffalo, which really doesn't help their playoff aspirations.
We can throw the goalies into that sub-par category as well. Granted, both Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark were the victims of some weird bounces, especially Hutton with three deflections off of his defensemen in a 4-3 loss at Carolina, but they needed to be better and they weren't. Generally speaking both goaltenders couldn't consistently come up with the big save when the Sabres needed it and their overall numbers continued on a downward slant with Hutton posting a .860 save percentage for the month and Ullmark sporting one at .902.
However, as troubling as those numbers might be, what we see in the powerplay goals category is unacceptable. As we look at the category there's but one name there, Jeff Skinner. He had Buffalo's lone powerplay goal through 10 games in the month of January leading to an abysmal one goal in 25 opportunities with the man advantage (0.96%) for the Sabres. Of note: In three one-goal losses the powerplay went 0/4 (although they did manage their lone PP goal in the Carolina loss) and in a two-goal loss to Tampa they went 0/4.
No powerplay production generally means that those on the top powerplay unit will see their overall production fall allowing others sneak their way onto the leaderboard for the month. Skinner continues to score goals but Reinhart was only able to hold on to a singular top-three spot (points.) Jack Eichel is no where to be seen this month and though he missed three games due to injury, his one goal and three assists was un-Jack like.
Buffalo bench boss Phil Housley put together a line of rookie Casey Mittelstadt centering Conor Sheary and Evan Rodrigues for Tuesday's post All-Star Game return to action at Columbus. The trio had been playing well on an individual basis as Housley had moved them around the mid-six but they showed some impressive chemistry as a trio against the Blue Jackets. Rodrigues and Sheary both had a goal and an assist while Mittelstadt added a helper of his own. Although they (like most on the team) struggled last night in Buffalo's 1-0 shutout loss in Dallas against a hard-checking Stars team (only four shots on goal between them,) it may behoove Housley to keep them together to see if they can click.
The Sabres have been struggling with secondary scoring all season but January was good in that department as seven forwards (not named Eichel, Skinner or Reinhart) scored goals with Rodrigues and Sheary (four goals apiece) tied for second for the month and Tage Thompson coming in third with three. None of the top-three lead the team in assists last month and Buffalo also had a lot of players involved in the scoring with 12 players (other than the top line) registering primary assists. Only Reinhart was amongst the six players with two primary assists.
At times last month the Sabres were so intent upon getting up ice they forgot their defensive responsibilities and it created all sorts of problems for the team (and was another reason for the decline in goalie numbers.) Yet it did allow for the defensemen to become more active and continue to contribute. Rasmus Dahlin took a big leap forward this past month after struggling in December. He was by far the Sabres best defenseman and he was one of the best Buffalo players on the ice overall. Dahlin had one goal, seven assists and plus-7 rating and looked every bit the franchise player he was drafted to be. The 18 yr. old rookie may have found a solid defense-partner in veteran Zach Bogosian who was a plus-6 on the month.
With the trade deadline coming up there are bound to be changes, especially on the back-end where a very soon to be healthy Casey Nelson will further clog up the defense-corps as well as the roster in general. Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu has stated that he's not happy with his ice-time (read: he wants to be traded) and there should really be some room made for Rochester Americans forward C.J. Smith who's been beating down the door to the NHL while on a nine-game point streak (5+8.) Smith had a brief three-game cup of coffee with the Sabres in January and didn't look out of place at all. He scored his first NHL goal and was a plus-1. Amerks left-winger Victor Olofsson has also been showing a hot hand as of late with four goals and three assists in his last six games for Rochester.
The NHL Trade Deadline is February 25.
Buffalo Sabres 2018-19 individual stats leaders (all stats via NHL.com):
Points
--October: Skinner, Eichel, 12; Pominville, 10
--November: Eichel, 20; Skinner, 16; Reinhart, 15
--December: Eichel, Reinhart, 17; Skinner, 11
--January: Dahlin 8; Sheary, Rodrigues, Reinhart 7
Goals
--October: Skinner, 6; Pominville, 5; Eichel, 4
--November: Skinner 14; Reinhart, 5; Thompson, 4
--December: Eichel 10; Skinner 6; Larsson 3
--January: Skinner 5; Rodrigues, Reinhart 4; Thompson 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
--January: 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
--January: Dahlin 7; Sheary 6; Ristolainen, Sobotka 5
Primary Assists
--October: Skinner, Reinhart, 4; Eichel, Pominville, Okposo, Ristolainen, 3
--November: Eichel, 14; Reinhart, 8; Ristolainen, 5
--December: Reinhart 7; Eichel, Ristolainen, 5
--January: Sheary, Rodrigues, Ristolainen 3; six players with 2
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
--January: Dahlin, Reinhart 1
Shots on Goal
--October: Eichel 47; Skinner 34; Okposo 28
--November: Eichel 58: Skinner 48; Ristolainen 34
--December: Eichel 55; Ristolainen 40; Skinner 39
--January: Skinner 35; Eichel, Reinhart 25; Dahlin 24
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
--January: Rodrigues 17.4; Reinhart 16.0; Skinner 14.3
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
--January: Dahlin +7; Bogosian +6; Sheary, Larsson +5
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
--January: Scandella -4; Ristolainen, McCabe -3; three players at minus-2
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
--January: Ristolainen 19:27; Dahlin 18:34; Bogosian 18:21; McCabe 17:02; Pilut 16:17
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
--January: Eichel 16:59; Skinner 16:47; Reinhart 16:32; Rodrigues 13:06; Thompson 12:45
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
--January: 15-14-3; 2.79; .911; 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
--January: 10-5-3; 2.83; .916; 2
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