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2020–21 Buffalo Sabres season

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2020–21 Buffalo Sabres
Division8th East
2020–21 record15–34–7
Home record8–16–4
Road record7–18–3
Goals for138
Goals against199
Team information
General managerKevyn Adams
CoachRalph Krueger (Jan. 14 – Mar. 17)
Don Granato (interim, Mar. 17 – May 8)
CaptainJack Eichel
Alternate captainsJake McCabe
Kyle Okposo
ArenaKeyBank Center
Minor league affiliate(s)Rochester Americans (AHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL)
Team leaders
GoalsSam Reinhart (25)
AssistsVictor Olofsson (19)
PointsSam Reinhart (40)
Penalty minutesRasmus Ristolainen (36)
Plus/minusSteven Fogarty
Jake McCabe (+2)
WinsLinus Ullmark (9)
Goals against averageLinus Ullmark (2.63)

The 2020–21 Buffalo Sabres season was the 51st season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.[1]

On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment the Sabres played this season in the East Division and only played games against the other teams in their new division during the regular season.

With an 18th consecutive loss on March 29, 2021, the Sabres equalled the NHL record for the longest losing streak in a season, tied with the 2003–04 Pittsburgh Penguins.[2] In that game, the Sabres blew a 3–0 lead and lost 4–3 in overtime.

On April 17, the Sabres were eliminated from playoff contention after a 3–2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, extending their playoff drought to ten seasons, tying an NHL record.[3]

In the Sabres' 18-game losing streak, they were 0–15–3 (two overtime losses and one shootout loss). In the first 34 games, they were 6–23–5 for 17 points. In their final 22 games, they were 9–11–2, ultimately finishing with a 15–34–7 record for 37 points. For the fourth time in eight seasons, the Sabres finished with the worst record in the whole NHL.

Off-season

[edit]

The Sabres introduced three new jerseys for the season. On August 11, 2020, the Sabres revealed their new uniforms, which was an updated version of the team's original jerseys. The team reintroduced their original royal blue, gold, and white colors, which was worn by the team from 1970 to 1996.[4] On November 16, 2020, the NHL introduced Adidas "Reverse Retro" jerseys for all 31 teams, which feature throwback uniforms with a modern twist.[5] The Sabres' Reverse Retro jersey is a modern update to the team's first third jersey worn in 2000, with the exception being that it was done in the team's current colors on a white template.

Standings

[edit]

Divisional standings

[edit]
East Division
Pos Team GP W L OTL RW GF GA GD Pts
1 y – Pittsburgh Penguins 56 37 16 3 29 196 156 +40 77
2 x – Washington Capitals 56 36 15 5 29 191 163 +28 77
3 x – Boston Bruins 56 33 16 7 25 168 136 +32 73
4 x – New York Islanders 56 32 17 7 24 156 128 +28 71
5 e – New York Rangers 56 27 23 6 24 177 157 +20 60
6 e – Philadelphia Flyers 56 25 23 8 17 163 201 −38 58
7 e – New Jersey Devils 56 19 30 7 15 145 194 −49 45
8 e – Buffalo Sabres 56 15 34 7 11 138 199 −61 37
Source: National Hockey League[6]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
e – Eliminated from playoff contention; x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division

Schedule and results

[edit]

Regular season

[edit]

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.[7]

2020–21 game log

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)   Postponement

Player statistics

[edit]

Skaters

[edit]
Regular season[71]
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Sam Reinhart 54 25 15 40 −28 10
Victor Olofsson 56 13 19 32 −23 6
Rasmus Dahlin 56 5 18 23 −36 26
Casey Mittelstadt 41 10 12 22 −10 10
Taylor Hall 37 2 17 19 −21 24
Rasmus Ristolainen 49 4 14 18 −18 36
Jack Eichel 21 2 16 18 −9 6
Tage Thompson 38 8 6 14 −6 17
Jeff Skinner 53 7 7 14 −11 14
Brandon Montour 38 5 9 14 −13 24
Riley Sheahan 53 4 9 13 −8 8
Dylan Cozens 41 4 9 13 −15 16
Kyle Okposo 35 2 11 13 −1 0
Colin Miller 48 4 8 12 −20 27
Rasmus Asplund 28 7 4 11 +1 0
Eric Staal 32 3 7 10 −20 8
Curtis Lazar 33 5 4 9 −4 0
Jacob Bryson 38 1 8 9 −1 12
Henri Jokiharju 46 3 5 8 −11 4
Tobias Rieder 44 5 2 7 −9 2
Cody Eakin 46 3 4 7 −9 14
Arttu Ruotsalainen 17 5 1 6 −9 8
Anders Bjork 15 3 3 6 −5 4
Drake Caggiula 11 2 1 3 −5 4
Jake McCabe 13 1 2 3 +2 9
Steven Fogarty 9 1 2 3 +2 8
Mattias Samuelsson 12 0 2 2 −8 4
Matt Irwin 24 0 2 2 −10 19
Will Borgen 10 0 0 0 −4 4
Brandon Davidson 6 0 0 0 −4 4
C. J. Smith 1 0 0 0 0 0
Jean-Sebastien Dea 1 0 0 0 −1 2
Brett Murray 2 0 0 0 +1 0

Goaltenders

[edit]
Regular season[72]
Player GP GS TOI W L OT GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Linus Ullmark 20 20 1,117:05 9 6 3 49 2.63 591 .917 0 0 0 0
Dustin Tokarski 13 10 729:26 2 8 2 43 3.54 447 .904 0 0 1 0
Michael Houser 4 4 243:02 2 2 0 14 3.46 141 .901 0 0 0 0
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 4 4 216:42 1 3 0 14 3.88 149 .906 0 0 0 0
Carter Hutton 13 12 674:43 1 10 1 39 3.47 341 .886 0 0 0 0
Jonas Johansson 7 6 379:53 0 5 1 24 3.79 207 .884 0 0 0 0

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Sabres. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.
Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Transactions

[edit]

Trades

[edit]
Date Details Ref
September 16, 2020 (2020-09-16) To Minnesota Wild
Marcus Johansson
To Buffalo Sabres
Eric Staal
[73]
October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07) To San Jose Sharks
2nd-round pick in 2020
4th-round pick in 2020
To Buffalo Sabres
2nd-round pick in 2020
[74]
March 20, 2021 (2021-03-20) To Colorado Avalanche
Jonas Johansson
To Buffalo Sabres
6th-round pick in 2021
[75]
March 26, 2021 (2021-03-26) To Montreal Canadiens
Eric Staal
To Buffalo Sabres
3rd-round pick in 2021
5th-round pick in 2021
[76]
April 10, 2021 (2021-04-10) To Florida Panthers
Brandon Montour
To Buffalo Sabres
3rd-round pick in 2021
[77]
April 12, 2021 (2021-04-12) To Boston Bruins
Taylor Hall
Curtis Lazar
To Buffalo Sabres
Anders Bjork
2nd-round pick in 2021
[78]

Waivers

[edit]
Date Player Team Ref
April 9, 2021 (2021-04-09) Drake Caggiula from Arizona Coyotes [79]

Draft picks

[edit]

Below are the Buffalo Sabres' selections at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, which was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020 at the Bell Center in Montreal, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was held October 6–7, 2020 virtually via Video conference call from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 8 Jack Quinn RW  Canada Ottawa 67s (OHL)
2 341 John-Jason Peterka LW  Germany EHC Red Bull Munchen (DEL)
5 131 Matteo Costantini C  Canada Buffalo Jr. Sabres (OJHL)
7 193 Albert Lyckasen D  Sweden Vita Hasten (HockeyAllsvenskan)
7 2162 Jakub Konečný C  Czech Republic Sparta Jr. (U20 Extraliga)

Notes:

  1. The San Jose Sharks' second-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on October 7, 2020, that sent a second and fourth-round pick both in 2020 (38th and 100th overall) to San Jose in exchange for this pick.[80]
  2. The Dallas Stars' seventh-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on November 10, 2018, that sent Taylor Fedun to Dallas in exchange for this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).[81] The condition – Buffalo will receive a seventh-round pick in 2020 if Fedun plays in 25 games during the 2018–19 NHL season and 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs combined[81] – was converted on January 17, 2019.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ National Hockey League (2010). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011. Triumph Books. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-60078-422-4.
  2. ^ "Buffalo Sabres' winless streak hits 18 games after collapse in third period against Philadelphia Flyers". ESPN.com. March 29, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  3. ^ "Penguins hold off Sabres, run point streak to five". NHL.com. April 17, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  4. ^ "Sabres bring back beloved royal blue, charging buffalo uniforms". NHL.com. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  5. ^ "Reverse Retro alternate jerseys for all 31 teams unveiled by NHL, adidas". NHL.com. November 16, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  6. ^ "NHL Hockey Standings". www.nhl.com. National Hockey League.
  7. ^ "2020-21 NHL schedule announced". NHL.com. December 23, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  8. ^ "Washington Capitals - Buffalo Sabres - January 14th, 2021". NHL.com.
  9. ^ "Washington Capitals - Buffalo Sabres - January 15th, 2021". NHL.com.
  10. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Philadelphia Flyers - January 18th, 2021". NHL.com.
  11. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Philadelphia Flyers - January 19th, 2021". NHL.com.
  12. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Washington Capitals - January 22nd, 2021". NHL.com.
  13. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Washington Capitals - January 24th, 2021". NHL.com.
  14. ^ "New York Rangers - Buffalo Sabres - January 26th, 2021". NHL.com.
  15. ^ "New York Rangers - Buffalo Sabres - January 28th, 2021". NHL.com.
  16. ^ "New Jersey Devils - Buffalo Sabres - January 30th, 2021". NHL.com.
  17. ^ "New Jersey Devils - Buffalo Sabres - January 31st, 2021". NHL.com.
  18. ^ "Sabres game at Islanders postponed due to NHL COVID-19 protocol". NHL.com. February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  19. ^ "Sabres games postponed through Monday due to NHL COVID-19 protocol". NHL.com. February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  20. ^ "NHL postpones additional Devils, Sabres, Wild games due to COVID-19". NHL.com. February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  21. ^ a b "NHL announces updates to regular-season schedule". NHL.com. February 16, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  22. ^ "New York Islanders - Buffalo Sabres - February 15th, 2021". NHL.com.
  23. ^ "New York Islanders - Buffalo Sabres - February 16th, 2021". NHL.com.
  24. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Washington Capitals - February 18th, 2021". NHL.com.
  25. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - New Jersey Devils - February 20th, 2021". NHL.com.
  26. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - New York Islanders - February 22nd, 2021". NHL.com.
  27. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - New Jersey Devils - February 23rd, 2021". NHL.com.
  28. ^ "New Jersey Devils - Buffalo Sabres - February 25th, 2021". NHL.com.
  29. ^ "Philadelphia Flyers - Buffalo Sabres - February 27th, 2021". NHL.com.
  30. ^ "Philadelphia Flyers - Buffalo Sabres - February 28th, 2021". NHL.com.
  31. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - New York Rangers - March 2nd, 2021". NHL.com.
  32. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - New York Islanders - March 4th, 2021". NHL.com.
  33. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - New York Islanders - March 6th, 2021". NHL.com.
  34. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - New York Islanders - March 7th, 2021". NHL.com.
  35. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Philadelphia Flyers - March 9th, 2021". NHL.com.
  36. ^ "Pittsburgh Penguins - Buffalo Sabres - March 11th, 2021". NHL.com.
  37. ^ "Pittsburgh Penguins - Buffalo Sabres - March 13th, 2021". NHL.com.
  38. ^ "Washington Capitals - Buffalo Sabres - March 15th, 2021". NHL.com.
  39. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - New Jersey Devils - March 16th, 2021". NHL.com.
  40. ^ "Boston Bruins - Buffalo Sabres - March 18th, 2021". NHL.com.
  41. ^ "Bruins have two games postponed; four players added to COVID-19 protocol". NHL.com. March 19, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  42. ^ "NHL announces updates to 2020-21 regular-season schedule". NHL.com. March 28, 2021. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  43. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - New York Rangers - March 22nd, 2021". NHL.com.
  44. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Pittsburgh Penguins - March 24th, 2021". NHL.com.
  45. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Pittsburgh Penguins - March 25th, 2021". NHL.com.
  46. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Boston Bruins - March 27th, 2021". NHL.com.
  47. ^ "Philadelphia Flyers - Buffalo Sabres - March 29th, 2021". NHL.com.
  48. ^ "Philadelphia Flyers - Buffalo Sabres - March 31st, 2021". NHL.com.
  49. ^ "New York Rangers - Buffalo Sabres - April 1st, 2021". NHL.com.
  50. ^ Anstey, Evan (April 5, 2021). Only hundreds watched Sabres beat Rangers on Saturday. WIVB-TV. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  51. ^ "New York Rangers - Buffalo Sabres - April 3rd, 2021". NHL.com.
  52. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - New Jersey Devils - April 6th, 2021". NHL.com.
  53. ^ "New Jersey Devils - Buffalo Sabres - April 8th, 2021". NHL.com.
  54. ^ "Washington Capitals - Buffalo Sabres - April 9th, 2021". NHL.com.
  55. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Philadelphia Flyers - April 11th, 2021". NHL.com.
  56. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Boston Bruins - April 13th, 2021". NHL.com.
  57. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Washington Capitals - April 15th, 2021". NHL.com.
  58. ^ "Pittsburgh Penguins - Buffalo Sabres - April 17th, 2021". NHL.com.
  59. ^ "Pittsburgh Penguins - Buffalo Sabres - April 18th, 2021". NHL.com.
  60. ^ "Boston Bruins - Buffalo Sabres - April 20th, 2021". NHL.com.
  61. ^ "Boston Bruins - Buffalo Sabres - April 22nd, 2021". NHL.com.
  62. ^ "Boston Bruins - Buffalo Sabres - April 23rd, 2021". NHL.com.
  63. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - New York Rangers - April 25th, 2021". NHL.com.
  64. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - New York Rangers - April 27th, 2021". NHL.com.
  65. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Boston Bruins - April 29th, 2021". NHL.com.
  66. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Boston Bruins - May 1st, 2021". NHL.com.
  67. ^ "New York Islanders - Buffalo Sabres - May 3rd, 2021". NHL.com.
  68. ^ "New York Islanders - Buffalo Sabres - May 4th, 2021". NHL.com.
  69. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Pittsburgh Penguins - May 6th, 2021". NHL.com.
  70. ^ "Buffalo Sabres - Pittsburgh Penguins - May 8th, 2021". NHL.com.
  71. ^ "2020–21 Buffalo Sabres Stats – Skaters". NHL.com. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  72. ^ "2020–21 Buffalo Sabres Stats – Goalies". NHL.com. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  73. ^ "Sabres acquire Eric Staal from Wild". NHL.com. September 16, 2020.
  74. ^ @BuffaloSabres (October 7, 2020). "We have acquired the 34th pick from the @SanJoseSharks in exchange for the 38th pick and the 100th pick in the 2020 #NHLDraft" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  75. ^ "Johansson traded to Avalanche from Sabres". NHL.com. March 20, 2021.
  76. ^ "Sabres acquire draft picks in trade with Canadiens". NHL.com. March 26, 2021.
  77. ^ "Sabres acquire 3rd-round pick from Panthers for Montour". NHL.com. April 10, 2021.
  78. ^ "Sabres acquire Bjork, 2nd-round draft pick from Bruins for Hall, Lazar". NHL.com. April 12, 2021.
  79. ^ "Sabers claim Caggiula off waivers". NHL.com. April 9, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  80. ^ "Sharks Conclude 2020 NHL Draft with Nine Selections". October 7, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  81. ^ a b "Stars acquire defenseman Taylor Fedun from Sabres". November 10, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  1. ^ a b c Spectators were in attendance, but the exact number was not reported.