Five Facts About The Buffalo Sabres’ Season So Far
The Buffalo Sabres began their 2014-15 season exactly a week ago today. Four games into the season, the Sabres sit at 26th in the league. While not the best nor the worst team in the league, the Buffalo Sabres currently have a 1-3-0 record and two points on the season.
One week into the season, here’s five semi-interesting facts about the Buffalo Sabres season so far.
1. Six players have skated in their first games with the Buffalo Sabres already this season.
The Buffalo Sabres saw a lot of new players come in during the summer, and it’s already reflecting in the team’s lineup this season. Of the 20 skaters (excepting goalies) who have appeared in at least one game for the Sabres so far, six had never played a game with Buffalo prior to the start of this season.
Can you name all six? (Don’t worry, I’ll reveal them at the bottom of this article.)
2. The Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes shootout on Tuesday was the longest of the season.
The shootout between the Sabres and Canes several nights ago was one of ten shootouts in the NHL so far this season.
The 16-round event that saw Zemgus Girgensons eventually tally the game-winner was the longest of any of shootout in the NHL this year. It beat out the October 9th shootout between the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals, which went 10 rounds.
3. The Buffalo Sabres have the highest shots-against average this season.
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After allowing 42 and 47 shots against in the first two games of the season, we knew it was going to be bad. Thankfully, the Buffalo Sabres did slightly better the other night, allowing only in the 20s against. But overall, the team has the highest shots-against average of any NHL team so far this season.
The Sabres have allowed an average of 39.0 shots-against per game. In comparison, the Boston Bruins have allowed the fewest, at 23.0.
4. Three Buffalo Sabres players are all in the top 30 league-wide for time on ice.
Tyler Myers is fifth in the NHL, having played 105:38 of ice time in four games this season.
The four players ahead of – Mark Giordano, TJ Brodie, Zdeno Chara and Kris Russell – have all played in five games. Myers is currently averaging 26:24 ice time per game, higher than any of those four and highest of any player with the top 30 total ice time.
Myers’ defense partner, Josh Gorges, is 24th in the NHL with 89:13 of ice time (average 22:25/game), while Andre Benoit is 26th with 88:50 and averaging 22:12.
5. Cody Hodgson has 8.3 percent of all the Buffalo Sabres’ shots so far this season.
Hodgson has a team-high 10 shots on the year so far. In semi-related news, 19 of the 20 skaters for the Sabres have taken at least one shot this season, with Andrej Meszaros the lone exception.
Another fun fact: Torrey Mitchell is at 100 percent accuracy for his shots this year. His goal on Tuesday came on his first and only shot of the season so far.
So – going back to point number one, did you name all six players correctly?
Here’s the list: Brian Gionta, Andrej Meszaros, Tyson Strachan, Josh Gorges, Andre Benoit and Sam Reinhart.
Next up for the Buffalo Sabres are a pair of home games this weekend, as the team hosts the Florida Panthers on Friday before the Boston Bruins come to town on Saturday.