With the 2011-12 Buffalo Sabres ending in disappointment and after a few weeks for us to gather our thoughts, it’s time for us to issue our report cards on the season. Over the next few weeks, we’ll grade every player that wore a Buffalo Sabres uniform in 2011 and 2012, from Luke Adam to Mike Weber.
Introduction: Many thought that Jhonas Enroth was going to be the backup goaltending solution the Sabres were looking for the past few years. Enroth’s strong finish in 2010-11 to help the Sabres clinch a playoff berth gave fans hope that he could give Ryan Miller a rest throughout the season and not have to give up points in the process. That didn’t come to fruition as Enroth had his first losing season in North America in his career.
Enroth finished the season with a 8-11-4 record, 2.70 goals against average, and .917 save percentage. The goals against average and save percentage were NHL career highs for Enroth. His only better season was in 2009-10 with the Portland Pirates where he had a 2.37 GAA and .919 save percentage. He also finished that year 28-28-1.
Key Stat: 11. That is the number of starts that Enroth lost in a row to finish his season. After starting the season 5-0 and bailing the Sabres out when Miller went down with his concussion, Enroth’s game slipped with the lack of ice time that he was getting. Factor in on top of that the fact that the Sabres were trying to make the playoffs and Ryan Miller found his game again, and Jhonas Enroth only played in three games after the all-star break.
Thumbs Up: There were some bright spots in Enroth’s game this season and it mainly came when he was getting consistent work early in the season. Before the Lucic hit, Enroth hadn’t allowed more than three goals in six appearances. He looked solid in net and appeared to be in the same form he was in at the end of 2011.
Thumbs Down: After the Milan Lucic hit on Ryan Miller, Jhonas Enroth allowed three or more goals in fifteen appearances, including in each of the final four appearances he made for the team. Enroth’s last win came on November 26th against the Washington Capitals, Bruce Boudreau’s last game with the team. He only won in three appearances with the team since November 11th and recorded one shutout during the final stretch of the season, November 18th against the Carolina Hurricanes.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how did Jhonas Enroth meet your expectations this season.
| 1 | 5 |
| 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 9 |
| 4 | 27 |
| 5 | 51 |
| 6 | 41 |
| 7 | 46 |
| 8 | 23 |
| 9 | 9 |
| 10 | 7 |