The Buffalo Sabres Need Their Defense To Protect Their Young Goalies
The Buffalo Sabres' two young goaltenders are in a slump right now. That means their best defensemen must lead the team to improve even more on the back end.
Just when the Buffalo Sabres started to heat up, the Florida Panthers reminded them about the need for improvement on the back end.
The Sabres went 4-2-1 in their last seven games after a nasty 0-3-0 start to the season. They won three straight games before Monday's 5-2 loss to the Panthers. The winning streak couldn’t have come at a better time, as Buffalo was on the verge of burying itself in the Atlantic Division standings right out of the gate. But being outscored 27-14 in their six losses means they need to improve on shutting the door.
Although their 3.20 goals-for per game is 14th-best in the NHL, it's on the rise from last season, when they had 2.98.
The same cannot be said on the defensive side. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has a 3.31 goals-against average and .890 save percentage, while Devon Levi has a 3.79 GAA and .874 SP. While the Sabres finished last season with the 11th-fewest goals against per game, at 2.96, they're ranked 26th in that category at 3.60 this season.
That number is shocking, considering the promise of the Sabres' top four defensemen.
Star captain Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power lead the way on defense, averaging 24:02 and 20:55 of ice time per game, respectively. Dahlin has done the D-corps' best job of limiting chances against. Power could do a better job of limiting high-danger scoring chances against, but his offensive production helps make up for that.
Buffalo also has capable defenders in Bowen Byram and Mattias Samuelsson, so it's not like GM Kevyn Adams needs to find someone else on the trade market – there'd likely be no solution there, anyway. There are also no easy ways to get another goalie.
Coach Lindy Ruff must prioritize even more defensive help to protect 25-year-old Luukkonen and 22-year-old Devon Levi while they develop. Those two make a pretty young tandem in the NHL goaltending sphere, and although they're preventing fewer goals than expected, based on the quality of chances that get through the defense, it's too early to give up on them.
The Sabres' 74.2-percent penalty-kill percentage won't do any favors after logging 104 penalty minutes, while the 29.9 shots-against per game is subpar. The entire team has done a nice job limiting total chances against, but they should work on reducing the quality of those chances that get through. Their expected goals against of 2.52 per 60 minutes is ranked 16th in the NHL, per naturalstattrick.com.
On paper, at least, Adams has built a young, strong group of D-men who will be around for the long haul. The team is paying their top four blueliners a combined $27.4 million for this season and each of the next five years as well, so the pressure is on the quartet to help the team correct its course and push Buffalo into a playoff spot for the first time in 14 seasons.
At the moment, those defensemen – and Buffalo’s young group of forwards – simply aren’t getting the job done well enough in their own zone to bail out their still-developing goalies of the future. Something will still need to improve if they’re to shake off the letdowns of the past and truly start a new, improved era of hockey in Buffalo.
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