12 Questions For Christmas – #8

The less said about last night’s Sabres debacle at the Penguins the better. Some nights it’s the Sabres defense leaving opponents open and they score, and some times it’s the Sabres goalies letting in softies. Last night was the unfortunate confluence of both those occurrences, resulting in eight goals, but it could actually have been much worse.

So, for today’s portion of ’12 Questions For Christmas’, we are going to take a look at the men between the pipes for the Sabres – Ryan Miller & Jhonas Enroth.

#8 – What is wrong with the Sabres goaltending?

The stats paint a pretty grim picture – 31.5 SA/G (24th) leading to 2.91 GA/G (20th). Miller has not resembled anything like his Vezina-year form, his reflexes and ‘quickest legs’ (per Harry Neale) haven’t been getting to tipped shots and he often gets beaten up high on point shots too. After returning from a concussion-related layoff, he was just starting to get back in the groove and then looked very ordinary last night. Enroth was brilliant initially in spot-duty, but since the time he filled in full-time for Miller he has not looked sharp at all either. Gone are the halcyon days of a month ago when both were in form and fans were ready to trade either!

Since that fateful night in Boston, the Sabres have been giving up an astounding 3.47 GA/G, while only scoring 2.41 GF/G – that is not going to get this team very far in the League. The Chicago Blackhawks have the same overall GA/G ratio as the Sabres, but are scoring at 3.22 GF/G, leading to their lofty position in the standings. The Sabres have neither the depth nor the skill to play that kind of Western Conference run-and-gun game, so their only hope lies in shoring up the defense.

Here are the two goalie’s Corsi Numbers for 5-on-5 play (numbers courtesy of Behind The Net, with the description key here). If anyone can explain why Miller’s Off Ice numbers are so different from Enroth’s On Ice numbers, feel free to drop us a line in the comments section.

So there’s the bare numbers. Now let’s hear it from you, what really is wrong with the Sabres goaltending? Or are the goalies and defense just fine and it’s the forwards who aren’t scoring?