Buffalo Sabres report card following a disappointing season

Defensive zone play wasn’t bad, but there is room for improvement

The Sabres were a better team in the defensive zone this season, and it’s one reason they finished with a plus-2 goal differential. No, that isn’t great, considering their poor play in the offensive zone should have widened the gap between goals scored and goals allowed. But it shows how much better this team was defensively in 2023-24 compared to what we saw take the ice in 2022-23. 

They allowed just 2,402 shots on goal in the defensive zone, which was the ninth-lowest in the league, and 29.29 per game. This effort allowed the Sabres to finish the season with a 51.2 Corsi For Percentage at 5-on-5, which ranked 16th in the NHL. 

Unfortunately, even a plus-50 percent in the Corsi did little to help the Sabres in the offensive zone, even if the metric implied they were getting enough puck retrievals and excellent goaltending to give themselves scoring chances. 

Since the Sabres played more than well in the defensive zone with just 244 goals allowed while holding opponents’ shots on goal totals to under 30 per game, they’re getting a solid B here. Maybe next season, the Blue and Gold will once again do a sound job keeping opponents in check when they enter the defensive zone, retake possession, and parlay the effort into more goals scored.