Went to the Game
We went to the Sabres game last night. It was a good game, and the Sabres beat Florida FINALLY. I mean, here’s a team that the Sabres should just dominate, and lost 3 out of 4 times.
They let the Panthers get back into the game during the second period. That’s a pattern I’ve noticed lately. Earlier in the season, they would start slow, and then get better in the second, and then have a triumphant third period. Now they have been having good first periods, slow, if not sloppy second periods, and fairly decent third periods.
Another thing that I’ve noticed is that they have been controlling the puck for a good amount of the game. I wonder why they don’t keep a stat on that? Probably because it’d be too difficult to track. Anyway, I digress. The Sabres are good at controlling the puck, and throughout the season, the puck has not been in the Sabres’ zone for most of the game. The problem is, in most situations, they tend to puck control and pick and choose when and where they place the puck on the net. It’s good because they are scoring and they are winning, but I have to wonder what would happen if they shot the puck more often in the first and put teams away right away, if that would not make them better? Throughout the game, I would hear people in the stands yelling “shoot!” and that’s what drew my atttention to this.
The Sabres play Carolina today, and then it’s the Olympic break. The Sabres are tied with St Louis and San Jose for fewest games played. They are fifth in the league in wins and win percentage. In the ever-important points race, they are sixth in the league, but they are still trailing Ottowa by three points with one game in hand. They are 9th in the league in goals per game, and 8th in goals against per game. They are ranked second in power play percentage, and second in penalty killing. They are tied for third in win percentage when scoring first, and fifth in the leagure when trailing first, 7th when leading at the end of the first, and sixth when leading at the end of the second. Overall, at least statistic-wise, I’d say they are doing quite well.
Hopefully, this will be something they will be able to continue to do after they get back from the Olympics. Between March 1 and April 1 they have to play 18 games, which is a lot in this day and age.
