Five things to know about the Sabers

The Canadian reconnects with his division rivals Adams, Northeast and now Atlantic for a rare Monday night duel against the Sabres. What’s good going on in Buffalo? Here is a pentagon of useful information to impress colleagues at the office this lunchtime.

Two teams, six goalkeepers

He has long been seen as the organization’s goalie of the future, but he finds himself in the thankless role of number 3 and has yet to play this season. We’re not talking about Cayden Primeau here, but rather Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, a guy who likes his double consonants. Quebecer Devon Levi and Eric Comrie have shared the work in front of the net so far. In fact, Levi had gotten the first four starts, posting a rather low save percentage of .892. Then Comrie scored a 3-1 win against the New York Islanders on Saturday. Like Primeau, UPL was drafted in 2017 (54^e in total) and must now go through waivers before being sold to the American League. He had difficulties in Buffalo last year (3.58 average, .892 efficiency), but we can imagine the Sabers fearful of seeing a rival pounce on a 24-year-old goalie with a certain potential, who measures 6 ft 5 in…

A recruit to follow

Zach Benson stood out at the rookie tournament in Buffalo, in which the Habs participated. The Sabres’ first-round pick came back strong during the preseason, amassing seven points in six games to earn a spot with the team despite his 18-year-old and frail frame. Benson recorded two points in his first four games, before being left out on Saturday. Sabres head coach Don Granato said Benson was nursing a few injuries, but also suggested to local media that the teen needed to “catch his breath.” The Sabers have not yet indicated whether they intend to keep Benson for the entire season or send him back to the junior ranks.

The Power of Power

Let’s stay with the young people. Last season, Owen Power became the 11^e rookie defenseman to finish a season with an average playing time of 23 minutes or more (42 games minimum), third in the last 10 years after Moritz Seider and Miro Heiskanen. Knowing that the NHL has been compiling this statistic since 1997-1998, his feat is not trivial. Power was not drafted first overall for nothing… The big defender remains a central element of the Sabers’ defense this season, whose average usage stands at 24:08 so far. So expect to see the number 25 (and Rasmus Dahlin’s 26) quite often on your CRT.

Have they lost their touch?

Last season, Tage Thompson scored 47 goals and 47 assists, prompting the most forward-thinking journalists to target him as a candidate for the Maurice Richard Trophy this season. His partner Alex Tuch scored 36 goals and 43 assists for 79 points. Together, Thompson and Tuch have a goal and an assist after five games. This explains in large part why the Sabers come to 26^e ranked in the NHL for goals scored (2.40 average) and 29^e rank on the power play (6.3%). Knowing that the team, with essentially the same personnel, finished last season 3^e and 9^e ranks in these two categories, it is tempting to see it as a simple question of time.

Quiet at the counters

The closure of borders during the pandemic has hurt the Sabres, since Buffalo borders the Canadian border and many of their fans remain in southern Ontario. Before the pandemic, the team attracted 18,000 spectators per match on average every year. In 2021-2022, this average was only 9,998, going up to 15,567 last season, a figure still far from the levels before 2020. After four home games, here they are at 15,218 spectators on average. So on the face of it, this is a drop from last season, but with the Bills monopolizing the attention in town, crowds are often modest early in the season. Thus, last year, the average after four games was 13,532. With their most talented core since the golden years of Daniel Brière, Jason Pominville, Ryan Miller and Henrik Tallinder, the Sabers could finally turn the KeyBank Center into an amphitheater intimidating as the Auditorium was.