Today is the one-month anniversary of the beginning of an improbable streak by the Sabres that has seen them win nine of their last twelve games.
What follows is a statistical breakdown of this past month. What some of these eye-opening numbers will show is that Buffalo will have to play much better hockey for this success to be sustainable.
Date|Opponent|Score|Shots
Nov 15|TOR|6-2|35-34
Nov 18|SJS|4-1|14-30
Nov 22|@WAS|2-1|26-44
Nov 26|WPG|1-2|20-26
Nov 28|MTL|2-1|25-31
Nov 29|@MTL|4-3 SO|26-44
Dec 2|TAM|2-1 SO|22-27
Dec 4|@TAM|0-5|13-35
Dec 6|@FLA|2-3|28-37
Dec 9|LAK|1-0|16-34
Dec 11|CAL|4-3|19-45
Dec 13|FLA|4-3 OT|32-28
Record: 9-3-0 (
Home 7-1-0, Away 2-2-0)
1-goal games: 7-2-0
Goals for - against: 30-25 (average 2.5-2.1)
Versus backup goaltenders: 5-0-0
Scoring leaders: Ennis (3g-9a-12p), Girgensons (5-4-9), Moulson (5-4-9), Gionta (4-3-7), Stafford (2-4-6)
Goaltending: 2.06 GAA, .940 save % (Enroth 2.04, .940; Neuvirth 2.16, .938)
Shots on goal for - against: 276-415 (average 23-35)
Special teams: Power play 3-29 (10.3%), Penalty kill 27-33 (81.8%)
It's pretty obvious that a combination of hot goaltending and puck luck have played a large part in the streak. To make the point, there have been 4 games during this run in which Buffalo's opponent more than doubled the Sabres in shots on goal -- Buffalo won 3 of those 4 games.
Enroth has been fantastic but it's a lot to expect of him to keep stopping 94% of his shots.
The Sabres face the Ottawa Senators tonight at First Niagara Center.
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