Crunching Numbers: Sabres Have Best Fourth Line in NHL

by David Oleksy on Nov 5, 2009 9:04 PM EST

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.

		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.

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Comments

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

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

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