A look at the top halfway mark season stats of the Buffalo Sabres
By Sion Fawkes
The Buffalo Sabres may or may not earn a trip to the playoffs this season, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been an exciting team to watch.
The Buffalo Sabres have been a bit of a revelation on the scoring front this season, and they are currently third in the league with 154 goals. Unfortunately, they are also 21st with 139 goals allowed, which explains their 20-18-2 record.
But records aside, the Blue and Gold have become a fun team, and many outlets have noticed. So who is pacing the Sabres stats-wise? Keep reading, because we’re going over all of the team leaders in this article.
Who leads the Buffalo Sabres in statistics at midseason?
Points, Goals, Shooting Percentage: Tage Thompson – Tage is having a legendary season, with 57 points, and 31 goals. If he keeps up this pace, he will end up with over 100 for the year, the first Sabre to accomplish the feat in quite some time. Tage also leads the Blue and Gold with an 18.3% shooting percentage.
Assists, Plus-Minus, Penalty Minutes: Rasmus Dahlin – One of the feistier players on the Buffalo Sabres, Dahlin also made a name for himself in the goal-scoring department, already matching his career high this past week. With 34 assists, he is just six away from his high in that category too. He is also leading the team in plus-minus with 16, and penalty minutes with 46.
Blocked Shots and Hits: Rasmus Dahlin – Like I said, Dahlin is one of the feistier players out there and he plays a true two-way game. With 67 blocked shots and 58 hits, he is also arguably the team’s most physical player.
Faceoff Wins: Dylan Cozens – The Sabres are still bad on the faceoff, with Cozens boasting just a 49% FOW%. But he is 292-314 in wins this season, and he has also improved in the category.
Wins: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen – Luukkonen is currently 9-4-1 in the net. While he struggled early, UPL has since found his form and could well develop into the starting goaltender at some point this season.
Save Percentage and GAA: Craig Anderson – Anderson is 41 and has played in just 15 of 40 possible contests, which is barely over one game a week. The extra rest has served him well, as he has a save percentage of 0.921 and GAA of 2.70.
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Overall, the Sabres have found some players who can play and produce this season. While the playoffs are not likely, there is an exciting buzz surrounding this hockey team. If they can improve in the second half, we might see them stick around the wild card race a little longer this year.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)
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