Sabres are 8th for 5 on 5 xGoal%

[JoeSchmoe]

Problem is they're 23rd for actual Goal%.

They are the 2nd worst team in the league for 5 on 5 goaltending (goals against above expected) so until that gets better it'll be tough to improve.

[inkman]

Just now, JoeSchmoe said:

Problem is they're 23rd for actual Goal%.

They are the 2nd worst team in the league for 5 on 5 goaltending (goals against above expected) so until that gets better it'll be tough to improve.

Frankly, their goaltending, while being slightly improved over last season is still below league average.  Until that’s resolved, this team is booty cheeks. 

[tom webster]

2 minutes ago, inkman said:

Frankly, their goaltending, while being slightly improved over last season is still below league average.  Until that’s resolved, this team is booty cheeks. 

The problem is that there are about ten teams looking to improve their goaltending, fifteen teams learning to live with what they have and seven, maybe less, have franchise goalies. Their best hope is one of the guys in the system, either already here or in the minors, turning out to be that guy.

[Sidc3000]

Shooting directly into the chest of the goalie gets you a ***** ton of shots but you’ll never score and that’s what they’re doing.  On top of that I would love to see if there is stats on how many shots go wide and enter the Sabres stand with that. 
 

[JoeSchmoe]

26 minutes ago, tom webster said:

The problem is that there are about ten teams looking to improve their goaltending, fifteen teams learning to live with what they have and seven, maybe less, have franchise goalies. Their best hope is one of the guys in the system, either already here or in the minors, turning out to be that guy.

Hopefully Ellis can do it. He's the only guy with any runway left.

[Pimlach]

26 minutes ago, Sidc3000 said:

Shooting directly into the chest of the goalie gets you a ***** ton of shots but you’ll never score and that’s what they’re doing.  On top of that I would love to see if there is stats on how many shots go wide and enter the Sabres stand with that. 
 

All except for Tuch, right?  Don't all of his shots go wide?   Isn't that one of the many knocks you have on the guy? 

[tom webster]

1 minute ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Hopefully Ellis can do it. He's the only guy with any runway left.

In the short term yes, but they have to commit to one guy. Teams like Carolina have learned that if you don’t have “that guy,” you ride the consistent guy and learn to overcome his shortcomings.

[inkman]

12 minutes ago, tom webster said:

In the short term yes, but they have to commit to one guy. Teams like Carolina have learned that if you don’t have “that guy,” you ride the consistent guy and learn to overcome his shortcomings.

If Ellis flames out than it may be time to see if Levi can be the guy.  It’s probably too much of a mental hurdle for Kevyn to figure out how he can dog that with 3 goalies already on the roster but it’s probably time to cut bait with at least one of them. We all want it to be UPL, I just don’t see a buyer out there even at 50% salary retention which we know Daddy Wantsbucks isn’t fond of.