All season long, the Buffalo Sabres failed to beat teams in one major category. But It was on full display in Friday night’s tilt versus the Nashville Predators.
The Buffalo Sabres continue to trend upward following a solid showing against the Nashville Predators. All season long, the Sabres lacked puck aggression, with opponents sometimes nearly doubling them in shots-on-goal.
However, the Sabres got more aggressive with their number of shots per game. And the trend continued against Nashville when they outshot the Predators 35 to 25. The Sabres, whose power play has struggled all season, is also improving, with them converting on four of their last eight power play attempts.
But there was on major category the Sabres lost on a routine basis, even when they won. And that category helped them defeat yet another playoff contender.
The Buffalo Sabres won big in this major statistical category
Against the Predators, the Sabres won 56% of their face-offs. It started with Cody Eakin winning five face-offs in the first period alone. But it was more than just Eakin seemingly winning face-off after face-off.
Tage Thompson, the game’s First Star, won back-to-back face-off battles to open the second period. Dylan Cozens and Casey Mittelstadt also got in on the action, winning far more than they lost, setting things up for the Sabres to log 35 shots on goal and finding twine four times in the game’s first two periods.
The Sabres had their offensive mishaps. All teams do. But over the game’s first 40 minutes in which the Sabres were mostly in control, when they won face-offs, they nearly always kept control of the puck.
It’s no coincidence that, given their improvement in the face-off category against teams like the Chicago Blackhawks and the Pittsburgh Penguins, that they logged more shots on goal and created more scoring opportunities. It’s also no coincidence that when teams blew them out in the face-off category, they struggled to maintain puck possession.
Against the New York Rangers, the Sabres won just 41% of their face-offs and they logged 17 shots on goal. They won 46% against the Washington Capitals, leading to just 23 shots on goal.
Outliers exist, but most often, when the Sabres came close to the 50-50 mark in the face-off battle, they could outscore opponents. When they win the face-off battle, they will almost always outscore opponents.