Looking at all of the games over the past 3 years in which Comrie has faced 30 SA and more, he has a respectable .908 SV%. Isolating it to just his 2 years in Buffalo, and it's basically at his career norm of .892 SV% -
not good - but LEAVING HIM IN FOR 10 (!!!) goals vs Dallas isn't helping him at all. Remove that
one game, and it jumps up to a .904 SV% over the duration of his time in Buffalo in games when he faced 30 SA and more.
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Of course the inverse of that, has meant that he's been horrible in games when he hasn't faced many shots. But, I think that the Jets will be relying heavily on their forwards as they did last season, doing a lot of the heavy lifting with our defense corps; at least taking a step back (on paper) to start out the season. Perhaps they will be giving up a lot more shots on net, and (hopefully) a lot clean looks.
Going over Comrie's time in Buffalo, I don't think that he was in a very good position throughout his tenure with the team. After a 10-4 home game loss to Dallas in 2023:
WIVB.com
"Comrie shouldn't shoulder all the blame, as the Sabres gave up 49 shots on net, and 42 scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. Five of the Stars goals came in the final 11 minutes after
frustration and doubt deteriorated Buffalo's defensive structure and resolve."
"Losing their third game in a row, the Sabres (32-28-4) slid into fifth in the race for two wild-card playoff spots in the Eastern Conference with 68 points, tied with the Senators, and behind the Capitals (69), Panthers (70), Penguins (74) and Islanders (76). Buffalo chances of ending its NHL-record playoff drought after 11 seasons are now below 4%, according to Money Puck, after rising close to 50% in recent weeks."
"Buffalo also continued its trend of poor play at home, dropping to 13-18-2 at KeyBank Center this season, and 4-10 since the start of January. The Sabres return to home ice Saturday to face Patrick Kane and the Rangers."
"Sabres coach Don Granato said he had thought about replacing Comrie after the Stars built a 4-1 lead midway through the second period, but the Sabres closed the gap to 5-3 in the third, he decided to stick with the veteran instead of switching to rookie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who has struggled of late."
Comrie from January on:
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Do they the hate the guy?
And last year, he only played in 10 games.
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Nashville's a back-to-back (above), so he should play in that game.
October 31st, 2023
"Comrie has been placed on the injured reserve with a lower-body injury after recording a 2.45 GAA and .914 SV% in three games (1-1-0) and is expected to miss at least a few weeks. With Devon Levi still unavailable, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has filled in admirably, posting a 2.84 GAA and .915 SV% along with one shutout in three games (2-1-0) and should continue to be the number one goaltender for the Sabres in the interim."
Carolina (7th), Detroit (9th), Florida (11th, Nashville (10th), and Tampa Bay (5th) ranked in the top third in Goals For among the 32 teams in the NHL last year. Buffalo wasn't eliminated from the playoff race until April 10th, 2024.
Coming back from an early season injury, getting sent down to the minors, having an eratic schedule, not exactly playing the best teams to face against, being placed on waivers (Dec 31, 2023), can't be good for his confidence either.
He was bad in Buffalo, but they weren't exactly helping him out either.
