Sabres v. Penguins – Scoring Chances

The Buffalo Sabres probably deserved better on Sunday afternoon. The Sabres battled back from early two goal deficit, and actually held a one goal third period lead, before dropping a 4-3 decision on home ice to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In the end it was mistakes in their own end and the inability to convert their chances that did the Sabres in. The stats below will show that Buffalo played really well in the final two periods, but they only converted twice on 17 scoring chances in the final two frames.

I am usually not described as an optimist, but there are definitely positives to take from this game. They could have quit when they were down 2-0 in the first two minutes and they didn’t. They created plenty of scoring chances on a decent Penguins team. The third line scored a goal. There other positives to take from this game as well. Post your positive views in the comments below.

Scoring Chances

This section is a listing of all the scoring chances in the game. I will do my best to explain each column in the chart so you have a better understanding of what you are looking at.

• Column 1 – The team that had the scoring chance.
• Column 2 – Which period the chance took place.
• Column 3 – The time remaining when the chance took place
• Next six columns – Sabres players on the ice for the scoring chance
• Next six columns – Opponents players on the ice for the scoring chance
• Last Column – The strength when the scoring chance happened

Sabres Stats

Head-to-Head Scoring Chances

This is my favorite chart of the group. This is a list of how many chances each player had against their opponent in even strength situations. A positive number means the Sabres had more scoring chances when on the ice against the player from the opposing team. A negative number means there were more scoring chances when the opponent was on the ice against each Sabres player.

* Click image to enlarge