Zack Kassian can't spell his name; a Buffalo Sabres experience hitting Rock Bottom

[HeroWorship]

November Report: Sabres keeping up furious pace


Sabres fans on Backstrom

As the end of November, or more precisely, Movember, ends, the Buffalo Sabres are still one of the top teams in the National Hockey League. Like last season, you'll fail to locate a Sabre among the top twenty-five point scorers despite being in the top five in goals as a team.

The concerns surrounding the Sabres as they enter the month of December is injures and goaltending. The team has played without the services of shut-down defender Josh Gorges due to a concussion, allowing twenty five year old Nick Deslauriers the opportunity to receive time in the lineup. As Sven Baertschi was starting to look better, he too would be a victim of a concussion. In the last game against the Arizona Coyotes, Jhonas Enroth fell victim to an ankle injury and his timetable to return is unknown.

Enroth's injury has come at a bad time for the Sabres. Niklas Backstrom's performances improved somewhat last month, but the veteran goaltender still sports a .899 save percentage in the first two months of the season. Enroth's injury forced the team to recall goaltender Linus Ullmark from the Rochester Americans, whom has been solid abet in limited time. Since starting goaltender Matt Hackett would have to clear waivers once Enroth recovered, the team will rely heavily on Backstrom as December begins.

Backstrom went 6-2 in the month of November and sported a .915 save percentage, yet Enroth finished the month with a .940 save percentage. While Sabres Head Coach Ted Nolan refused to acknowledge it, Enroth received more starts in the month of November, which could quietly be assumed to the fans that the staff has begun to lose confidence in Backstrom.

The Sabres injury woes saw three players from Rochester emerge as call-up's; Patrice Cormier, Jake McCabe, and Nikita Zadorov. Zadorov did not appear out of place in his five-game stint with the club, even playing tough minutes during the stretch. McCabe played over twenty-one minutes during his lone appearance for the Sabres in a one to nothing loss against the lowly Blue Jackets, and Cormier could easily battle for a spot on the club if the club elects to re-sign the forward in the off-season.

Zadorov's play in Rochester has been solid, which may lead to a few names on the move if the club elects to bring Zadorov up for good this season or next. As of right now, only Mark Pysyk, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Nick Deslauriers are set to become restricted free agents in 2016, and it's strongly likely all three will be retained. The Sabres may move one of the three veterans on the roster; Gorges, Andrej Meszaors, or Jeff Petry.

Petry would make the most sense, since the team is already carrying three defensemen who shoot right, but he was signed to a multi-year deal in free agency, and the team would likely not trade him right away, fearing perspective free agents may be scared to sign with the organization. Meszaros was re-signed in the off-season, and he logs heavy minutes (22:25 per game) for a depleted Sabres squad. Gorges would be a tempting option, but his play with Myers is stellar and gives the Sabres a true shutdown defensive pairing that every team craves.

The club went 8-4-0 during the month of November, with Cody Hodgson leading the way with eight goals and twelve points. Matt Moulson recored a hat trick during the club's seven to one win against the Washington Capitals, and Brian Gionta recorded four points (two goals and two assists) in five games before injuring his knee.

The Sabres begin the month of December on the West Coast, and only make six dates at the First Niagara Center. Their first home game of the month is December 10th against the Colorado Avalanche.



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BUFFALO SABRES 2015-16 SEASON

Record: 15-8-1 (31 Points)
Atlantic Division: 3rd
Eastern Conference: 3rd
NHL: 4th
Goals For: 77 (3rd)
Goals Against: 59 (7th)
Power Play: 19.4% (11th)
Penalty Kill: 73.8% (29th)
Home Record: 13-1-0
Away Record: 2-7-1
Last Ten Games: 6-4-0

Injury Report

LW Sven Baertschi (Head) - Expected back by 12.13.2015
G Jhonas Enroth (Ankle) - Being evaulated; injured during game @ Arizona
RW Brian Gionta (Knee) - Expected back by 12.24.2015
D Josh Gorges (Head) - Expected back by 12.18.2015

BUFFALO SABRES LINES

Matt Moulson - Samson Reinhart - Cody Hodgson
Evgeny Kuznetsov - Frans Nielsen - Mikhail Grigorenko
Marcus Foligno - Zac Dalpe - Johan Larsson
Matt Cooke - Zemgus Girgensons - Cody McCormick

Andrej Meszaros - Tyler Myers
Rasmus Ristolainen - Jeff Petry
Nick Deslauriers - Mark Pysyk

Niklas Backstrom
Linus Ullmark

November Results

11.03.2015: Buffalo Sabres 3, Montreal Canadiens 1
11.05.2015: Buffalo Sabres 5, Los Angeles Kings 2
11.09.2015: Buffalo Sabres 5, New York Islanders 2
11.11.2015: Buffalo Sabres 2, Boston Bruins 1
11.12.2015: Ottawa Senators 4, Buffalo Sabres 1
11.14.2015: Columbus Blue Jackets 1, Buffalo Sabres 0
11.17.2015: Buffalo Sabres 6, Winnipeg Jets 3
11.20.2015: New Jersey Devils 1, Buffalo Sabres 0
11.21.2015: Buffalo Sabres 4, Ottawa Senators 0
11.23.2015: Buffalo Sabres 7, Washington Capitals 1
11.27.2015: Buffalo Sabres 5, Chicago Blackhawks 3
11.30.2015: Arizona Coyotes 5, Buffalo Sabres 0

December Schedule

12.01.2015: @ San Jose Sharks (12-10-1)
12.03.2015: @ Vancouver Canucks (12-8-4)
12.05.2015: @ Calgary Flames (11-10-4)
12.10.2015: vs. Colorado Avalanche (11-11-2)
12.12.2015: vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (14-8-1)
12.15.2015: @ St. Louis Blues (10-12-1)
12.16.2015: @ Nashville Predators (14-7-2)
12.18.2015: @ Chicago Blackhawks (12-11-2)
12.20.2015: vs. Detroit Red Wings (17-6-2)
12.22.2015: vs. St. Louis Blues (10-12-1)
12.26.2015: @ New Jersey Devils (10-10-4)
12.28.2015: vs. Florida Panthers (7-13-4)
12.30.2015: vs. Boston Bruins (10-10-2)


ROCHESTER AMERICANS 2015-16 SEASON

Record: 14-5-1 (29 Points)
North Division: 1st
Western Conference: 1st
AHL: 1st
Goals For: 63 (3rd)
Goals Against: 38 (3rd)
Power Play: 16.0% (15th)
Penalty Kill: 87.1% (23rd)
Home Record: 6-3-1
Away Record: 8-2-0
Last Ten Games: 6-3-1

Injury Report

C Daniel Catenacci (Knee) - Expected back by 12.05.2015
RW Victor Olofsson (Knee) - Expected back by 12.09.2015

ROCHESTER AMERICANS LINES

William Carrier - Patrice Cormier - Joel Armia
Gustav Possler - Scott Glennie - Nicholas Baptiste
Remi Elie - Colin Jacobs - Justin Bailey
Paul Bissonnette - Justin Kea - Beau McCue

Nikita Zadorov - Jake McCabe
Kyle Cumiskey - Brayden McNabb
Philip Samuelsson - Jerome Leduc

Extras: Brady Austin, Jordan Subban

Matt Hackett
Jonas Johansson

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NHL Transactions

11.02.2015: The Washington Capitals have claimed center Peter Regin off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings
11.23.2015: The New York Rangers have claimed defensemen Mike Weaver off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens

Quote: Originally Posted by TheKid40

Great tables, great organization, love reading this dynasty. Awesome job! Just a quick question, as I was getting caught up on this thread I noticed Noah Hanifin slipped to #16 for the San Jose Sharks in the draft? Isn't he a top 3 pick in real life? Thanks, keep up the excellent work and good luck on the remainder of the season! EDIT: As well, isn't Oliver Kylington a projected top five prospect? EA sometimes...

Hanifin is expected to be a top-five selection in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Some mock drafts at the beginning of the year pegged him at the number three selection, but I wouldn't be shocked in the least bit if he slipped a bit (committing to college and being a defensemen are slight knocks on him; both Adam Larsson and Seth Jones were considered sure-fire top selections and both slide down to the fourth overall slot).

I created both Hanifin and Eichel in NHL 15 since neither play in major juniors and were expected to be high selections. EA does a decent job of rating players properly to where they'll be drafted, but it isn't perfect. Twelve goalies were selected in the first round of the EA draft, including several overagers (which would never happen in real life). Hanifin was still the seventh positional player (second D) taken in the draft, and I gave him a 69 overall with a four-star yellow potential (I gave a 4 1/2 green to Eichel).

I recall doing several drafts in previous EA games where players who didn't come close to being drafted were selected in the first round (Tyson Baillie and Blake Clarke in NHL 14. Ironic enough, I took Clarke in my draft. They also have him as a year younger than he is in real life. He was considered a first round pick in 2014 until his production went to hell; Baillie is Sharks property IRL).

Thanks for the compliments on the tables. If I was a web-designer, I'd probably code them to integrate them into the page itself (but I'm pretty lazy and don't feel like researching the code necessary to accomplish that feat when I can use Microsoft Office and screenshot the page instead. Also, I didn't go for Computer Programming in College). I also wish my writing hadn't gone to hell in recent years but hey, if Steve Simmons gets away with writing hores--t, then I'm allowed a few grammatical errors.

[Braeden]

Matt Cooke a +10!? Go Cooke!