The Buffalo Sabres haven’t done much scoring this year, but their defense has been particularly egregious in this regard. While they weren’t expected to be a six-pack of Bobby Orrs back there, through fourteen games the players who’ve started on the Sabres blue line have been underwhelming, to say the least, in the offensive end
How bad has it been? Let’s start with the fact that through fourteen games, the defensive unit has zero goals. Of course, the Sabres as a team only have 15 total goals (good lord) so let’s look at the assists. The Sabres defensive leader has to be Tyler Myers, right? He’s played the most minutes, plays on the power play, and has some serious offensive skill, as we’ve seen in the past. But no, Myers only has two measly points. Okay, let’s look at the new players the Sabres brought in this summer – Josh Gorges, Andre Benoit and Andrej Meszaros. They’ve got to have more points than Myers, right? Amazingly, these three men have only one point between them.
The Sabres defensive leader in points is, in fact, Tyson Strachan, who has three points in just five games. As a whole, all of the Sabres defensmen, including previously-unmentioned Rasmus Ristolainen, Nikita Zadorov, and Mike Weber have just six total points. If you take out the part-time Strachan, that number drops to THREE POINTS. FROM ALL THE DEFENSEMEN.
Sorry for the caps, but that’s an incredible number. Nobody expected greatness out of this unit, but all Sabres fans expected more than pathetic. The team has struggled mightily as a whole, but with just three points among the regulars, the guys on the back end certainly aren’t helping the cause.