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Buffalo Sabres are giving themselves chances to win

By Sion Fawkes

Apr 16, 2022; Buffalo, New York, USA; Buffalo Sabres center Vinnie Hinostroza (29) celebrates his goal with left wing Zemgus Girgensons (28) during the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 16, 2022; Buffalo, New York, USA; Buffalo Sabres center Vinnie Hinostroza (29) celebrates his goal with left wing Zemgus Girgensons (28) during the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Buffalo Sabres are not as hot in April 2022 as they were in March, but ascension in one statistical category is improving their chances to win.

For months, the Buffalo Sabres had not been aggressive in giving themselves scoring chances, with opponents at times threatening to log twice as many shots on goal. However, that has changed recently.

And although the Sabres suffered a few ugly losses lately, they can’t blame it on lack of effort. Over the past four games, here is how the Sabres fared in shots on goal:

  1. Buffalo: 29  Philadelphia: 21
  2. Buffalo: 37, St. Louis: 28
  3. Buffalo: 28, Toronto: 26
  4. Buffalo: 28, Tampa: 28

While there were times the Sabres ended up tying or even outshooting opponents in the past, they suffered entire periods where opponents held a clear shots on goal advantage, sometimes logging 10 or more than Buffalo. In the past four games, this has not been the case.

Buffalo Sabres have created numerous scoring chances over the past four contests

While the losses to Tampa Bay and St. Louis were hard to stomach, the Sabres and their fans can at least see the progress the team has made in the shots on goal department. With a young team, blowout losses will continue regardless of the number of shots on goal, but as the team continues put forth a respectable effort, they’re progressing.

Before this week’s slate of games, the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers substantially outshot the Sabres. In the two games combined, Carolina and Florida recorded 75 shots on goal, converting nine of them, for a 12% shooting percentage.

Meanwhile, the Sabres logged just 43 shots on goal, converting six, good for a 14% shooting percentage. No, the Sabres aren’t always going to convert 14% of the time. But that’s beside the point.

But most of the time recently, the Sabres are either posting a higher shooting percentage than their opponent. Or they, as in the case in last night’s win over the Flyers, are roughly 50-50.

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And if they outshoot opponents and come up empty, which is what happened against Tampa and St. Louis, at least they lost giving themselves scoring opportunities. Knowing they, most of the time, record shooting percentages either greater or within a half of a percentage of their opponent.

(Scoring statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)

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