Your votes have all been tallied up and the results are in. Despite no independent verification of the polls, there have been no reports of widespread rigging of the election. Without further ado, from the first four Buffalo Sabres games, here are your three stars and three goats from last week (in alphabetical order) –
Note – definitions of CF% and FF% provided below
Three Stars
Brian Gionta (2G, 1A, +1, CF% 35.71%, FF% 35.48%)
The captain had a good week on the Sabres’ checking line, but his presence here is a classic example of the eye-test versus stats-check. His Corsi/Fenwick for numbers are among the worst on the team, but are papered over by his goals and assists.
Ryan O’Reilly (3G, 2A, +/-0, CF% 50.57%, FF% 47.89%)
One can safely assume that ROR is going to be on this side of the list every week that he can lace up his skates and make it out onto the ice. While he led from the front with points, he was pretty much middle of the pack in the fancy stats.
Kyle Okposo (1G, 2A, +2, CF% 55.07%, FF% 46.15%)
The new signing has brought some ‘oomph’ to the Sabres top line, and his Corsi numbers look pretty good too, but not so much on the Fenwick side. If anyone can explain that wide disparity that would be great, because I have no idea.
Three Goats
Nicolas Deslauriers (0G, 0A, -2, CF% 30.61%, FF% 34.21%)
At this point, De-Lo is just a glorified John Scott. Easilt the worst forward on the team, the only thing he has brought to the table this season has been 13 hits and 1 takeaway.
Tyler Ennis (0G, 1A, -4, CF% 39.06%, FF% 43.14%)
Enzo looked like he gave away the puck 1 out of every 2 times he touched it, so imagine my surprise that the official stats credit him with 0 giveaways. I dunno man.
Derek Grant (0G, 0A, -2, CF% 38.78%, FF% 41.67%)
The center set the bar really high for himself in the preseason when Jack Eichel and ROR were out. He’s got the third highest TOI on the penalty kill for the team, with Bylsma using him and ROR exclusively for PK faceoffs.
Glossary
- Corsi For % (SHOT ATTEMPTS % or SAT %)/
Calculation = 100 x (shot attempts for / shot attempts for + shot attempts against) or 100 x (SATF / SATF + SATA).
- Fenwick For % (UNBLOCKED SHOT ATTEMPTS % or USAT %)/
Calculation = 100 x (unblocked shot attempts for / unblocked shot attempts for + unblocked shot attempts against) or 100 x (USATF / USATF + USATA).
- Data from NHL.com/