How do the Sabres stack up in the NHL so far this season?

We will be without Buffalo Sabres hockey until at least next week due to the NHL’s COVID protocol. The Sabres are currently 4-4-2 and in sixth place in the East Division. So this seems to be an excellent time to look at Buffalo’s stats compared to the rest of the NHL.

The Sabres offense is certainly not where the team wants it to be, especially with their top tier offensive firepower. Buffalo has struggled mightily on 5v5 offense. The Sabres are currently scoring 2.8 goals per game, which is good for 19th in the league. Their shooting percentage is sitting at 8.7%, 20th in the NHL.

The Sabres power play has been a bright spot so far. Buffalo has converted on 30.8% of its power play opportunities, which is 6th best in the NHL. Speaking of the power play, the Sabres rarely give their opponents that opportunity. Buffalo currently averages 5.5 penalty minutes per game, which is the lowest in the NHL. And the few times they find themselves giving up a power play, they have the ninth-best penalty kill at 82.6%.

Buffalo’s top goal scorers have lacked scoring to start the season. Jack Eichel and Taylor Hall have combined for only three goals in the first ten games. Victor Olofsson currently has the most goals on the team with four.

Much like on offense, the Sabres have been struggling on 5v5 defense. Even though they have a top ten penalty kill, Buffalo allows the 21st most goals per game with 3.1. They have not been good at limiting shots on goal either. The Sabres allow 30.4 shots on goal per game, ranking them at 19th in that category. Full strength defense has arguably been the Sabres’ biggest weakness up to this point.

Eichel does have the most points on the team, however. His nine assists to go along with two goals has him sitting at 11 total points. When comparing that to the rest of the NHL, Nathan Mackinnon has the most points through ten games with 14, while Conor McDavid has the most points overall, totaling 24, but he has played in 12 games so far.

When looking at the Sabres goaltenders, Linus Ullmark has been the top goalie by a wide margin. He owns the team’s best save percentage (.914) and the best goals allowed average (2.56) by a hefty margin over Carter Hutton. It is too early to start comparing goalies as stats are still somewhat skewed this early in the season. Nevertheless, if Ullmark continues to play as he has in his last three starts, he will undoubtedly improve on those stats and could potentially be a decent starter in the NHL.

There is plenty that the Sabres need to improve on to have a shot at a playoff spot in the stacked East Division. You can only assume that Eichel and Hall will improve their goal numbers as the season continues. A team as offense-heavy as this one won’t be a bottom-half scoring team for very long. But for right now, all we can do is wait for them to be cleared to come back.