Buffalo has its problems

By Eric Redner

"The best defense is a good offense."

The quote by "Blood and Guts", General George S. Patton, definitely applies to war, but not so much in hockey.

This year Buffalo is by far the most dominant scoring team in the league. As of December 10, the Sabres have a goals-per-game average of 3.97, almost half a goal more than the than the next closest team, Anaheim.

Not only are they good offensively, but the Sabres get scoring from all four lines.

You would expect a team that leads the league in offense to have at least one guy in the top 10, but that is not the case.

Their leading scorer, Thomas Vanek, has 34 points (17 goals and 17 assists), which puts him at No. 16 in the league. Daniel Briere and Maxim Afinogenov are also in the top 20 at No. 17 and No. 19, respectively.

The weakness of the team, though, is its defense.

Buffalo sits at 18th in the goals-against category with an average of 2.97 goals a game. While a lot of those goals come after the team has already racked up an impressive lead, it is still a problem.

Ryan Miller is a fabulous young goaltender and has a long career ahead of him. What he needs, though, is a defense that can stop the opposing team from getting so many shots off, since Buffalo currently ranks 23rd in shots against per game average.

Compare those numbers to aforementioned Anaheim.

The Ducks rank fourth in the league in goals against with a 2.22 average. Not only that, they have one of the top goaltenders in the league in Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who leads the league in wins with 19 and is ranked sixth in goals against with a 2.10 average. Also, they have a better backup in Ilja Bryzgalov. Buffalo's backup, Martin Biron, is a fine second netminder, but if something should happen to the No. 1 guy on either team, Anaheim is in better shape.

With that said, Buffalo is still the class of the Eastern Conference and barring injuries, should easily make the Stanley Cup.

In the grinding race that is the Stanley Cup playoffs, despite the new rules and more scoring, defense and solid goaltending are what bring that coveted chalice home.