Streaking Sabres still struggle at halfway mark
The Buffalo Sabres reach the halfway mark of the NHL season tonight when they host the New York Rangers in HSBC Arena. So far, they’ve been utterly average, with 20 wins and 20 losses (adding regulation and overtime/shootout defeats).
The Sabres will be trying to win their fourth straight game tonight for the first time since they opened the season with four in a row en route to a 6-0-2 start. Since those heady days of October, however, it’s been a nightly struggle for consistency.
Chief among the team’s trouble is its record at home.
The Sabres are 11-9-2 in the arena and the only team in the league with more regulation home losses is Atlanta (12). Buffalo led the NHL in home scoring last season but is just 13th this year.
Things are even goofier on special teams when looking at numbers entering Thursday’s games. The power play is just 17th at home (17.8 percent) but third on the road (24.7). The penalty killers are 10th downtown (83.5) but second out of town (89.5).
Early in the year, coach Lindy Ruff was able to brush off the numbers — especially the special teams ones — as statistical anomalies. Not anymore.
“The improvement has to come from our home record, home tenacity, the work we put in at home,” Ruff said Thursday. “Our stats on the road, even our special teams stats, are better. We need to continue to improve at home.
“Our road record (9-6-3) is there with the better teams. Our home record isn’t with the better teams. Our road focus has been better and our road discipline has been better.”
“You want teams to come in here and have to bring their best game [because] they fear you,” said winger Thomas Vanek. “I don’t think right now teams have that fear yet but we’re getting better. Hopefully by the time playoffs hit, they’ll fear coming in here.”
The team’s home record has been a regular topic of discussion most of the season and so have injuries, which have been a daily distraction.
Center Tim Connolly, who returns tonight, has missed 34 games due to back and rib issues while captain Craig Rivet has sat for 18 due to knee and shoulder problems. Patrick Kaleta, Jochen Hecht, Paul Gaustad, Ales Kotalik and Maxim Afinogenov have also logged large chunks of games lost due to injury.
“I don’t think it’s an excuse by any means,” Rivet said. “Every team will go through that but at the same time we’ve missed some key guys in our lineup. Tim Connolly is one of our dynamic forwards up front. He’s a game-breaker who makes our team a lot better. It’s nice to get almost a full team back that we can push forward with.”
Here’s a starting lineup of things that have gone right so far for the Sabres:
1). Thomas Vanek: The team’s lone all-star has emerged as one of the league’s top snipers and remains on pace for his first 50-goal season. He’s cooled off recently in the face of increased attention but the team has survived fine because of better secondary scoring.
2). Derek Roy: The No. 1 center is a veritable bargain at $3.5 million but he played like chump change in October (one goal, four assists). Since then, however, Roy has been brilliant — 13 goals and 20 assists in 30 games. Spread his numbers further and Roy’s 82 points in calendar year 2008 were eighth overall in the league and fifth among centers (behind only Evgeni Malkin, Joe Thornton, Pavel Datsyuk and Ryan Getzlaf).
3). Ruff’s rants: Ultra secure in his job, the 12th-year head coach has called out seemingly half the roster at various times and it’s almost always worked. Whether it’s from some wisely- chosen words or a quick trip to the press box for a game or two as a spectator, everyone except Maxim Afinogenov has been better for it.
4). Surge in secondary scoring: For a long while, it seemed like only Vanek was putting the puck in the net. But now lots of others are getting into the act. Drew Stafford has points in nine of the past 13 games (five goals, seven assists). Clarke MacArthur has 11 goals. Jason Pominville has three goals in the last five games after one in the previous 17. Matt Ellis has been a revelation with three goals in the last two games.
5). Ryan Miller: He is 3-0 in January with 1.67 goals-against average and .946 save percentage. He was 5-1-1 in October with figures of 2.07 and .928. No coincidence the team’s best hockey has been in those months.
Now a look at some of the main problem areas to date:
1). Home record: The Sabres simply gave away too many points in the first half as regulation losses at home to the Maple Leafs, Lightning, Islanders, Blue Jackets and Predators won’t get the job done. Here’s a sobering thought — the remaining home schedule includes two visits apiece from the Rangers and Canadiens and one each by the Sharks, Red Wings, Ducks, Bruins, Flyers and Devils.
2). Ryan Miller: Wait, didn’t he make the what-was-good list? Yep. But his November-December numbers show a split-personality kind of season. In those two months, Miller was 10-9-3, 2.82 and .905. He let in too many long-range, ill-timed goals when the team needed him to tighten up. If he plays like he did early in the season and since we’ve hit the new year, the Sabres will make the playoffs easily. If he struggles, they won’t.
3). Bad Max: Good thing Afinogenov is out with a severe groin injury. Because Ruff kept putting him on the ice and getting zero production when he should have had a permanent seat in the press box — or, better yet, the unemployment line. Two goals and a minus-14? Sounds like he had to be out there because he was making $3.5 million. He should be done for good as a Sabre as of right now.
4). Troubles in five-on-five: The Sabres were plus-13 in full even strength situations last season. They’re minus-8 so far this year, a huge 21-goal turnaround. Getting disappointing four-goal outputs from Daniel Paille and Jochen Hecht has been one reason.
5). Defense scoring: The blue-liners have combined for an NHLworst five goals and no one has more than one. The Sabres have to get something — anything — from the back to help the offense. Jaroslav Spacek does, however, have 20 assists. That’s second on the team to Roy’s 24.
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