Score: Sabres 3 | Blackhawks 0
Shots: BUF 31 | CHI 19
Buffalo Sabres Goals | Zemgus Girgensons (4), J.J. Peterka (14), Rasmus Dahlin (13)
Plus 1: Forcing the Opponent
Something that the Sabres have not done on a consistent basis has been to take the game to their opponent. Oftentimes, the other team sets the pace, and the Sabres follow. Against a weaker opponent in the Chicago Blackhawks, the Sabres were able to make a change to this trend. They attacked the young Chicago defence and generated a lot of time in the offensive zone. In doing this, the Blackhawks were forced to take penalties. 5 minor penalties, to be exact (Kurashev’s 5-minute major was a mistake by the player and not a cause of strong play by the Sabres). This allowed Buffalo to take advantage, scoring a powerplay goal in the third.
When your opponent is taking penalties, it is typically a sign that you are outplaying them to the point that they make decisions out of desperation. This season, the Sabres have accumulated 307 penalty minutes against, which ranks them as the 13th lowest for penalty minutes taken by opponents. As a result, last night’s game was a nice change of pace. While forcing your opponent to take penalties is a strong indicator of a high-quality performance, there are other indicators as well. These include the Sabres only allowing 19 shots on goal, 14 out of 18 skaters having a shot on goal (with 19 out of 20 having at least one shot attempt), and their top 3 forward lines having a Corsi of 60% or higher. Overall, it was clear that the Sabres had full control over their opponent.
Minus 1: Still Not Finding Their Way to the High-Danger Scoring Areas
While watching Sabres games this season, one of the things that irritated me was how much they play on the perimeter. It is extremely rare a Sabres logo push their way to the net. For the majority of the season, the Sabres have sat in the bottom 10 of the league in high-danger shot attempts, and most likely bottom 10 in the NHL standings as well. Recently, they have been finding more passes to the slot, generating high-danger shot attempts. And yet, against arguably the worst team in the NHL (especially without Bedard), the Sabres were unable to generate a single high-danger shot attempt. The skill throughout the Sabres roster is evident, with more on the way. But, scoring goals from behind the goal line like Peterka’s 14th of the season is not a regular occurrence, even with the increases in Michigan-style goals. The Sabres are not a particularly small team. Of the current forward group, there are only a handful of players at 6 feet or below. They have the ability to make their way to the inside, if they are intentional with their decision-making. While playing the perimeter game against a weaker NHL roster may result in success, building the habit of generating the offence from the inside is crucial for sustained success.
Plus 2: Two Shutouts in a Row for UPL
After stopping all 19 shots, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen it has now been 120 minutes of play that the Sabres netminder has not let in a goal. With 2 shutouts in a row, this will be the 22nd time a Buffalo Sabres goalie has recorded 2 or more shutouts in a row. The last time a Sabres goalie did this was when Carter Hutton had a 2 game-shutout streak in 2019-2020. While he wasn’t heavily tested against the Blackhawks, he was still sharp on the few quality-scoring chances they had. This win marks UPL’s 4th consecutive start, winning 3 of them. From the start of the season, the 3 goalie tandem put a strain on each of the goalies. They were unable to get into a rhythm, which inevitably impacted their performances. With Comrie sent down to Rochester, both Luukkonen and Levi had the opportunity to grab the starting role. With UPL starting the last 4 games, it is becoming more apparent Granato has put his trust in for the time being. The decision definitely comes with some merit. During these 4 starts, UPL has gone 3-1 with a 0.957 Sv%, only dipping below .900 once. With a lot of ground to make up, his recent play may be the only chance the Sabres have at having a shot at getting into a playoff spot.
Sabres goalie history quiz! Let us know the answer in the comments
- Which Sabres goalie has had the longest shutout streak?
- Who has had the most shutout streaks as a Buffalo Sabre goaltender?