The Sabres are a much improved hockey team this season, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have things to work on.
One of Buffalo’s biggest struggles is their inability to find the back of the net.
Only three teams (Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Anaheim) have scored less than the Sabres’ 88 goals this season.
“I am surprised that we don’t have more goals,” said head coach Dan Bylsma, per the Buffalo News. “Not by one particular person specifically, but I am surprised. We’ve created and done things that you need to do to score goals, and we haven’t always gotten them throughout the year.”
Ryan O’Reilly has done his part. The 24-year-old has a team-high 15 goals in 38 games, but a number of the team’s veterans have been stuck in long slumps.
Captain Brian Gionta has just one goal in his last 10 games.
Matt Moulson has tallied four goals this season, and he hasn’t found the back of the net since Nov. 1 (25 games).
Tyler Ennis, who’s missed some time due to injury, has three goals in 23 games.
Zemgus Girgensons had 15 goals in 61 games last season, but he has just three in 34 contests in ’15-16.
Buffalo is nine points back of the final Wild Card spot in the East. If they want to make a late-season surge, they’ll have to improve on their poor 7.7 percent shooting percentage.