Fansided

Stars, Coyotes, Sabres; Execute Victories Despite Being Outshot

By Catherine Silverman

Oct 1, 2014; Buffalo, NY, USA; Buffalo Sabres defenseman Andre Benoit (61) checks Washington Capitals left wing Dane Byers (50) during the third period at First Niagara Center. Buffalo beats Washington 6 to 1. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 1, 2014; Buffalo, NY, USA; Buffalo Sabres defenseman Andre Benoit (61) checks Washington Capitals left wing Dane Byers (50) during the third period at First Niagara Center. Buffalo beats Washington 6 to 1. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports /
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Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars, and Arizona Coyotes all net extremely unlikely wins Saturday night

It may seem hard to find a connection between the Dallas Stars, the Arizona Coyotes, and the Buffalo Sabres.

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The Stars came into the 2014-2015 season as the dark horse favorites for a number of fans and analysts around the NHL. The Coyotes were expected to squeeze into the playoffs with a healthy Mike Smith, and the Buffalo Sabres weren’t expected to do much more than keep plodding along in a slow and painful rebuild phase.

These three teams have found themselves closer than two of them would care to admit, though; the Sabres may round out the bottom of the league, but both the Stars and the Coyotes have struggled to stay at the tail end of the league’s competitive pack, as well. They sit side-by-side in 23rd and 24th overall, with only a single point in goal differential separating the two Western Conference franchises.

Coming into Saturday night, they were also all bound by one thing — a relatively high likelihood of losing.

In an impressive yet inexplicable comeback, though, all three franchises walked away with the maximum two points — despite getting outshot by nearly double.

The Stars pulled off a 5-4 victory in regulation over the Los Angeles Kings, even though they got outshot 31-10 in the final two periods. Similar situations occurred at both the Verizon Center, where the Sabres got outshot 44-26 in their 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals, and at the SAP Center in San Jose, where the Coyotes netted a 4-3 shootout victory over the San Jose Sharks with only 25 shots to San Jose’s 43.

Could be that the favored teams slacked off too much against the underdogs — but it could also be that these teams are figuring out how to hold it down on the blue line. After all, this trend characterizes essentially the entire 2013-2014 season for the Colorado Avalanche… and they claimed the regular season division championship.

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