Crunching Numbers: A Statistical Look at the Sabres Loss to Montreal

by David Oleksy on Oct 7, 2009 9:03 PM EDT in Crunching Numbers Comment 7 comments

Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, right, protects the net as Buffalo Sabres left winger Matt Ellis tries to re-direct a pass during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Don Heupel)

5 months ago: Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, right, protects the net as Buffalo Sabres left winger Matt Ellis tries to re-direct a pass during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Don Heupel)

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Statistics are becoming more and more a part of hockey and Die by the Blade wants to keep you informed. This season we want to give you a deeper look at the Statistics within the game. The statistics included in this post are a direct inspiration of On the Forecheck. I used this post as a template for the statistics I am sharing with you.

Follow the jump to see the stats and feel free to let me know anything you want added to the post.

This is a look at the Sabres even strength play from the 2-1 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens. I kept it to only even strength play because the power play and penalty kill time will be greatly one-sided and will disrupt the cohesiveness of the numbers.

	Even Strength		Individual Stats								On-Ice Totals
	Player	Pos	EV TOI	G	A	Shots	S A/B	S Miss	Hits	BS	SOGF	SOGA	SOG Diff	Tot SF	Tot SA	Tot Diff
4	Steve Montador	D	18:09	0	0	1	2	0	0	1	5	5	0	8	14	-6
9	Derek Roy	C	11:20	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	4	3	1	6	8	-2
10	Henrik Tallinder	D	12:53	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	6	3	3	10	6	4
13	Tim Kennedy	C	9:07	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	6	2	4	9	9	0
19	Tim Connolly	C	11:04	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	4	4	0	6	8	-2
21	Drew Stafford	RW	11:57	0	0	3	0	2	2	0	8	0	8	13	4	9
25	Mike Grier	RW	10:24	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	7	2	5	10	5	5
26	Thomas Vanek	LW	11:12	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	4	3	1	8	9	-1
28	Paul Gaustad	C	9:59	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	8	4	4	11	7	4
29	Jason Pominville	RW	10:00	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	9	1	8	10	4	6
34	Chris Butler	D	14:40	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	11	2	9	15	9	6
36	Patrick Kaleta	RW	8:28	0	0	0	0	1	4	0	5	1	4	8	5	3
37	Matt Ellis	C	8:52	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	6	0	6	9	1	8
41	Clarke MacArthur	LW	9:12	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	7	2	5	8	6	2
44	Andrej Sekera	D	16:24	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	9	5	4	12	12	0
52	Craig Rivet	D	13:40	0	0	4	0	0	1	0	12	3	9	15	8	7
55	Jochen Hecht	LW	12:10	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	7	4	3	10	8	2
57	Tyler Myers	D	12:05	0	0	1	0	1	3	2	7	3	4	12	6	6
S A/B = Shots Att. That were blocked
BS= Blocked Shots

Chart Explanation - The individual stats are those that are actual accumulated by the player. The On-Ice totals are stats for all players while the player is on the ice. SOGF and SOGA are actual shots while the player is on the ice. The columns for Tot SF and Tot SA are shots for and against including shots that are missed or blocked. If there are any other questions leave them in the comments and I will try to answer them.

This chart is a little bit difficult to follow but you should get a general idea of what I am trying to show you. There are some interesting numbers when analyzed. Drew Stafford played on a line with Matt Ellis and Patrick Kaleta most of the game and all three players had good numbers. Only Kaleta was on the ice for a shot against in the game. Stafford tied with Pominville as the leader among forwards with a plus-eight shot differential.

It's only one game but there has to be some concern that Derk Roy, Tim Connolly and Thomas Vanek were all on the ice for a total of four shots. Those three players are supposed to be the key offensive contributors for the Sabres and they can't score goals without taking shots-on-goal.

I will try to perfect this chart as the season goes on and I would love to hear your feedback. Is this worth doing? Should I add something to the chart? Should I remove something from the chart? Should I color code the chart (first I have to figure out how to)?

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Comments

A suggestion

For those who are pretty new to the sport, you might consider more explanations at the bottom of what various initials stand for, even though it might be obvious to most people here.

by ccthemovieman on Oct 7, 2009 9:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs