Post by Buffalo Sabres on Nov 25, 2022 18:38:18 GMT -6
The Buffalo Sabres have had a fantastic start to this year’s PFHL campaign. Stumbled out of the gate with a 1-2-0 record the Sabres went on a tear going 13-1-3 in their next 17 along with a tidy 6 game win streak during the 17 games. The Sabres sit atop the Atlantic division at 14-3-3, 3 points ahead of Florida and 5 points ahead of Ottawa.
Other team stats that tell the story, 85GF good enough for 4th in league scoring one goal out of a 3 way tie for first, 3rd in GA with 58 in 20 games. The special teams are both in top 10 of the league PP ranked 8th and PK ranked 6th.Although ranked 10th the face off circle is a place that the coaching staff would like to see get better.
There are definitely some notable players contributing to the hot start, first Steven Stamkos comes to mind, He’s been on a tear and is near the top of the league for goals and points, 17 goals and 32 points in only 20 games is just outstanding. His winger is another good story except it’s not the winger you might think it is when he’s being flanked by Ovechkin and DeBrusk, Jake DeBrusk has been very good also 8-17-25 points and a +13 on the season. Oscar Lindblom pitching in with secondary scoring from the 2nd line has been a shiny gem so far. The defense might be the most underrated in the league but man are they good as a unit and the stats that support this are Calvin Peterson stats, 12-3-1 .905 save percentage and 2.80 goals against average are as stingy as it gets in the PFHL both near the top of the league.
But there is always room to improve and for this club it has to start with Alex Ovechkin, 8-10-18 are way too low for someone of Ovie’s pedigree, with the regular and PP minutes he gets his production must improve or Ovie will fall out of favour with management. The 3rd line will be needing some fixing as it is almost non-existent on the offensive side of the score sheet but they haven’t been a defensive liability and this has covered up the lack of production …so far.
The next 20 will be very interesting, can this club continue the winning ways? Will GM Edwards look for a trade to improve the roster if the winning does continue?
The Buffalo News
Other team stats that tell the story, 85GF good enough for 4th in league scoring one goal out of a 3 way tie for first, 3rd in GA with 58 in 20 games. The special teams are both in top 10 of the league PP ranked 8th and PK ranked 6th.Although ranked 10th the face off circle is a place that the coaching staff would like to see get better.
There are definitely some notable players contributing to the hot start, first Steven Stamkos comes to mind, He’s been on a tear and is near the top of the league for goals and points, 17 goals and 32 points in only 20 games is just outstanding. His winger is another good story except it’s not the winger you might think it is when he’s being flanked by Ovechkin and DeBrusk, Jake DeBrusk has been very good also 8-17-25 points and a +13 on the season. Oscar Lindblom pitching in with secondary scoring from the 2nd line has been a shiny gem so far. The defense might be the most underrated in the league but man are they good as a unit and the stats that support this are Calvin Peterson stats, 12-3-1 .905 save percentage and 2.80 goals against average are as stingy as it gets in the PFHL both near the top of the league.
But there is always room to improve and for this club it has to start with Alex Ovechkin, 8-10-18 are way too low for someone of Ovie’s pedigree, with the regular and PP minutes he gets his production must improve or Ovie will fall out of favour with management. The 3rd line will be needing some fixing as it is almost non-existent on the offensive side of the score sheet but they haven’t been a defensive liability and this has covered up the lack of production …so far.
The next 20 will be very interesting, can this club continue the winning ways? Will GM Edwards look for a trade to improve the roster if the winning does continue?
The Buffalo News
