Sabres Goals Against: When?

November 6th, 2009 | by Vance |

This morning we got the “Goals Scored by Period As A % of Total Goals Scored” post (and aren’t you glad I didn’t name it that?), so now here is the “Goals Against by Period As A % of Total Goals Allowed” or as I’ll call it, when the Sabres are sucking. Like last time, I’ve omitted OT numbers in this. Let’s get it crackin’.

1st Period

	Team	GA: 1st Pd	% of Total	Total
1	WSH	6	13.0%	46
2	PHI	5	15.2%	33
3	CHI	6	20.0%	30
4	PHX	7	20.6%	34
5	DAL	10	22.7%	44
6	LAK	10	23.3%	43
7	BOS	9	25.0%	36
8	CBJ	12	25.5%	47
9	NYI	11	25.6%	43
10	EDM	12	26.7%	45
11	ANA	12	26.7%	45
12	NJD	8	26.7%	30
13	CGY	11	26.8%	41
14	CAR	14	27.5%	51
15	DET	11	27.5%	40
16	OTT	10	27.8%	36
17	TBL	11	28.2%	39
18	MIN	12	28.6%	42
19	BUF	7	29.2%	24
20	TOR	15	29.4%	51
21	NSH	11	29.7%	37
22	MTL	15	30.0%	50
23	COL	10	30.3%	33
24	VAN	13	31.0%	42
25	ATL	10	31.3%	32
26	NYR	14	32.6%	43
27	SJS	13	33.3%	39
28	FLA	15	34.9%	43
29	PIT	12	35.3%	34
30	STL	12	36.4%	33

2nd Period

	Team	GA: 2nd Pd	% of Total	Total
1	NYI	11	25.6%	43
2	NJD	9	30.0%	30
3	ANA	14	31.1%	45
4	CBJ	15	31.9%	47
5	PIT	11	32.4%	34
6	FLA	14	32.6%	43
7	OTT	12	33.3%	36
8	BUF	8	33.3%	24
9	STL	11	33.3%	33
10	LAK	15	34.9%	43
11	PHX	12	35.3%	34
12	VAN	15	35.7%	42
13	COL	12	36.4%	33
14	DET	15	37.5%	40
15	MTL	19	38.0%	50
16	CGY	16	39.0%	41
17	WSH	18	39.1%	46
18	CAR	20	39.2%	51
19	TOR	20	39.2%	51
20	NYR	17	39.5%	43
21	EDM	18	40.0%	45
22	NSH	15	40.5%	37
23	ATL	13	40.6%	32
24	DAL	18	40.9%	44
25	TBL	16	41.0%	39
26	SJS	16	41.0%	39
27	MIN	19	45.2%	42
28	PHI	15	45.5%	33
29	CHI	15	50.0%	30
30	BOS	18	50.0%	36

3rd Period

	Team	GA: 3rd Pd	% of Total	Tot
1	TOR	12	23.5%	51
2	BOS	9	25.0%	36
3	NYR	11	25.6%	43
4	SJS	10	25.6%	39
5	MIN	11	26.2%	42
6	STL	9	27.3%	33
7	ATL	9	28.1%	32
8	NSH	11	29.7%	37
9	CHI	9	30.0%	30
10	TBL	12	30.8%	39
11	CAR	16	31.4%	51
12	CGY	13	31.7%	41
13	DAL	14	31.8%	44
14	MTL	16	32.0%	50
15	PIT	11	32.4%	34
16	DET	13	32.5%	40
17	FLA	14	32.6%	43
18	BUF	8	33.3%	24
19	VAN	14	33.3%	42
20	COL	11	33.3%	33
21	EDM	15	33.3%	45
22	OTT	13	36.1%	36
23	PHI	13	39.4%	33
24	ANA	18	40.0%	45
25	WSH	19	41.3%	46
26	NYI	18	41.9%	43
27	LAK	18	41.9%	43
28	CBJ	20	42.6%	47
29	NJD	13	43.3%	30
30	PHX	15	44.1%	34

So there you have it; it tells me exactly what I thought, and exactly what I wanted to hear. These Sabres have been madly consistent with their defensive play this year. 7 in the 1st. 8 in both the 2nd and 3rd.

If anything, these rankings mean absolutely nothing, except to point out how wildly inconsistent defensively so many other teams have been so far during this young season. Look at the Caps, they cruise to leads and only to put the foot on the brake, how maddening must it be to give up 3 times more goals in the 2nd and 3rd periods than in the 1st?

If, and only if, the entire Sabres roster continues to buy into Ruff’s system, will they be able to keep up any semblance of a pace resembling what they’ve currently got going. There’s no world beaters on the blue line, two of their top three players in TOI are under 23, and no “star” defensive players, except of course, the one person overlooked through all this: Ryan Miller.

There’s a lot to be said about the return of Mike Grier, the new found “concept” of accountability, and Derek Roy staying, and playing, within himself. But it all comes down to everybody buying in and staying responsible to their duties. Punch-Counter punch has worked so far, no reason to change it now.

So after that rambling wreck of an analysis…what do you guys think? What do you take out of this?

Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Share and Enjoy:

Tags: Buffalo Sabres, Stats

Fanball.com | OwnersEdge.com | RotoTimes.com

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are for entertainment purposes only and are not necessarily the views or opinions of Fanball or any of its affiliates, including its ultimate parent, Liberty Media Corporation. Fanball reserves the right to edit or modify comments made on this blog in its sole discretion at any time.

Blogs