4-7-3. That’s quite a disappointing record for the month of December, for any team. For Buffalo, even with all of the injuries, four wins in 14 games is completely unacceptable, and the Sabres are sliding in the standings.
The Sabres scored three or more goals in a game just four times throughout the month of December, and one of those games was in a losing effort against Pittsburgh during an 8-3 beating.
On the defensive side, the Sabres allowed three or more goals in all but four of the 14 games during December.
One month ago, Buffalo were five points out of first place in the Eastern Conference, but are now five points out of a playoff spot and almost at the halfway point of the season.
The Sabres had plenty of opportunities in the final month of 2011 to gain ground on divisional opponent, but failed to make the most of it.
Buffalo dropped all three games against Ottawa (although two were in overtime/shootout) and one of two to Toronto.
We also learned that the Sabres road team isn’t any better than the one on home ice. After an impressive start on the road this season, the team has dropped five straight away from home and are now 8-8 (9-9-4 on home ice).
In the past month the Sabres penalty kill had dropped from 5th to 9th place, but the power play jumped one spot from 10th to 9th.
With both the power play and penalty kill, it’s kind of odd that the team isn’t performing as well. The have played well during the past few games, but not much to show for.
The problem for the Sabres is their offense. With just 100 goals on the season, the Sabres are 13th in the Eastern Conference in goals for. Montreal (99) and the Islanders (84) are the only other teams in the East who have scored less.
The Sabres’ schedule only gets tougher as they head into the new year.