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Crunching Numbers: Sabres Have Best Fourth Line in NHL

The Buffalo Sabres were able to rebound from their disappointing loss last Saturday by shutting out the New York Islanders 3-0.  Two power play goals and the best fourth line in hockey were the difference for the Buffalo Sabres.  It was amazing to see how good Patrick Kaleta, Paul Gaustad and Matt Ellis were in the victory.  They were so good they actually had more ice time than the top line of Derek Roy, Thomas Vanek and Drew Stafford.

 


 

This video of the Gaustad goal is the perfect example of how hard working that line was. I should have probably put up a video of Kaleta who had a remarkable seven hits in the game.

Star-divide

 

Game Stats
# Player Pos TOI +/- FO% Hits GV TK BS
4 Steve Montador D 17:17 0 - 0 0 0 1
9 Derek Roy C 12:42 0 100% 0 2 0 0
10 Henrik Tallinder D 18:06 1 - 1 2 0 0
13 Tim Kennedy C 15:14 -1 100% 0 0 0 0
19 Tim Connolly C 19:16 0 - 0 0 0 0
21 Drew Stafford RW 13:29 0 - 1 0 0 0
25 Mike Grier RW 15:51 0 - 0 0 0 0
26 Thomas Vanek LW 11:47 0 - 0 1 0 0
28 Paul Gaustad C 15:14 1 76% 1 0 0 0
29 Jason Pominville RW 19:28 0 33% 0 2 3 2
34 Chris Butler D 22:21 0 - 2 0 0 1
36 Patrick Kaleta RW 12:18 1 - 7 1 0 1
37 Matt Ellis LW 11:59 1 100% 0 0 0 0
41 Clarke MacArthur LW 13:52 0 100% 0 1 0 0
44 Andrej Sekera D 17:31 0 - 0 0 1 0
52 Craig Rivet D 19:42 0 - 0 0 0 0
55 Jochen Hecht LW 16:43 0 33% 0 2 1 0
57 Tyler Myers D 21:13 1 - 0 0 0 3
TOI = Total Time on Ice GV = Giveaways
FO% = Faceoff percentage TK = Takeaways
Hits = Total Hits BS=Blocked Shots

 

Even Strength Individual Stats Even Strength On-Ice Totals
# Player Pos EV TOI G A Shots S A/B S Miss SOGF SOGA SOG Diff Tot SF Tot SA Corsi
4 Steve Montador D 16:48 0 0 2 0 1 11 8 3 20 10 10
9 Derek Roy C 9:21 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 -1 11 7 4
10 Henrik Tallinder D 14:57 0 1 2 0 0 12 2 10 16 9 7
13 Tim Kennedy C 15:14 0 0 1 0 0 9 6 3 16 7 9
19 Tim Connolly C 13:30 0 0 2 0 0 6 8 -2 11 15 -4
21 Drew Stafford RW 10:07 0 0 1 1 1 4 6 -2 9 9 0
25 Mike Grier RW 13:05 0 0 2 0 0 9 4 5 13 5 8
26 Thomas Vanek LW 8:44 0 0 2 1 1 3 6 -3 8 10 -2
28 Paul Gaustad C 11:15 1 0 3 0 1 12 3 9 17 7 10
29 Jason Pominville RW 14:20 0 0 0 1 1 6 8 -2 12 16 -4
34 Chris Butler D 17:17 0 0 0 2 0 8 9 -1 18 15 3
36 Patrick Kaleta RW 12:18 0 0 0 2 0 11 3 8 19 6 13
37 Matt Ellis LW 11:59 0 0 6 1 1 11 3 8 20 7 13
41 Clarke MacArthur LW 12:14 0 0 1 0 0 4 8 -4 8 14 -6
44 Andrej Sekera D 17:02 0 0 1 0 2 10 10 0 20 13 7
52 Craig Rivet D 15:34 0 0 2 1 0 4 6 -2 13 13 0
55 Jochen Hecht LW 14:52 0 0 4 0 2 9 4 5 15 5 10
57 Tyler Myers D 16:26 0 1 0 1 1 13 7 6 19 13 6
EV TOI = Even Strength time on ice SOGA = Team shots against while on ice
EV TOI = Even Strength time on ice SOG Diff = Difference shots on ice
S A/B = shots attempted and blocked Tot SF = Total shots including blocked/missed
S Miss = Shots missed the net Tot SA = Total Shots Ag. Including blocked/missed
SOGF = Team Shots while on ice Corsi = Difference in Total Shots

 

The Corsi number is a statistic that what created by Sabres goalie coach JIm Corsi. It is the difference in total shots for and the total shots against. It factors in all shots that were on net, attempts that were blocked and shots that missed the net. The idea is that it is a better reflection on a players two-way play because it shows puck possesion as opposed to only shots on goal.

Notes
  • Patrick Kaleta had seven hits.  That is the most for a Sabres player in a game this season.  Without looking it up, I want to say the previous high was four.
  • Kaleta and Matt Ellis were both a plus-13 Corsi Rating in the game.
  • Thomas Vanek had the least amount of ice time on the team.  The fourth line played more than the first line.
  • Five players had a 10 or better Corsi Rating
  • Matt Ellis had six even strength shots on goal.
  • The Sabres dominated.

0 recs  |  Comment 3 comments |

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The Gaustad goal is absolutely the perfect example of the fourth line work ethic. If we can keep rolling four lines with this much success the cramped NHL schedule will end up benefiting us – especially down the stretch.

It’d be cool to see an analysis of how we’ve played while rolling four lines as a opposed to the more traditional ice time allotment. I know we’ve had games exemplifying each.

I’ve got to guess that Montador has had the best overall Corsi number thus far.

Nice to see Vanek having such a nice game despite the ice time, too.

by Traver on Nov 5, 2009 11:10 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

awesome numbers

And our 4 lines are all doing EXACTLY what they are supposed to be doing.

LETS GO BUFF-A-LO!!

by bflo on Nov 6, 2009 9:01 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

The angle of this video is awesome. Just focus on Gaustad the whole time. Does his job perfect.

1) Wins the draw by being agressive and not giving up.

2) Gets his big body to the front of the nets.

3) Locates the puck and gets it in.

Perfect play. Gotta keep that line hot. Ruff has done a great job so far this year with his line changes. Seems to be keeping everyone very much involved in the game

LETS GO BUFF-A-LO!!

by bflo on Nov 6, 2009 12:47 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

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