A look back at the 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres season--October

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-6-2018


There was a strong sense of optimism pulsating through Sabreland as new general manager and new head coach took the reigns of the Buffalo Sabres. After three-plus years under GM Tim Murray and only two years under his head coach, Dan Bylsma, the Sabres were moving in the wrong direction and the new regime seemed to have the proper plan to right things.

Botterill had spent nearly 10 years in a Pittsburgh Penguins organization that went on to win three Stanley Cups during his time there. Housley came from the Nashville Predators organization which saw him coach the most dangerous defense in the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs. Those two met in the Cup Finals that season with the Pens coming out on top.

You want optimism in Sabreland? You can't ask for much more than that as owners Terry and Kim Pegula plucked two of the brightest up-and-comers the National Hockey League had to offer.

In saying that, however, it's best to keep in mind that Botterill and Housley would be entering the 2017-18 season as a first-time GM and coach, respectively, and the trouble that the Sabres were going through deep and varied.

Was it too much for those two rookies to handle? A devastating start to the season and a last place finish might indicate the answer was, yes.


October

The season started out fairly well despite an opening night shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Was it any surprise that the Sabres lost in the shootout? Not really, as starting goalie Robin Lehner extended his losing streak in the shootout to seven games since coming to Buffalo in a trade. The good news is that he took a step forward as Montreal's Paul Byron missed his shootout attempt. Prior to that the opposition had scored on eight consecutive shootout attempts covering all four of Lehner's shootout losses the prior season.

Regardless of the shootout doom and gloom, the Sabres played a nice game against the Canadiens pouring 45 shots on net and getting two goal from 34 yr. old Jason Pominville who returned to Buffalo after Botterill traded for him and defenseman Marcon Scandella on June 30, 2017.

Buffalo travelled to Brooklyn with plenty of optimism heading into a road tilt with the NY Islanders. But that game fell to pieces as the Isles extended a 1-0 lead with a three-goal barrage in a 1:47 span that sent Lehner to the showers. The first two came :50 seconds apart with Buffalo on the powerplay with the third Islanders goal coming seconds after their powerplay ended. It was the second game in a row the Sabres gave up a shorthanded goal.

Evander Kane single-handedly kept the game within reach as he scored two short-handed goals of his own later in the second period, but the damage was done.

If you thought that was a bad game, the Sabres returned home to take on the new and improved New Jersey Devils for a Kids Day matinee game at KeyBank Center. It was a debacle that should have had many of the parents shielding their children's eyes as it turned into a massacre. That 6-2 bludgeoning completely changed the way the Sabres would approach the rest of the season.

Housley did not have the personnel to play the style he wanted nor did his adjustments to the league's best powerplay help in any of those three games. The team was a train wreck skating around as if they forgot how to play the game while the powerplay went 2/11 and allowed four short-handed goals.

Probably the best thing for the Sabres would be for them to get away from it all and they did so with four-game western swing. To give you an idea as to how bad it was, defenseman Josh Gorges was inserted into the lineup to help stabilize things. Gorges' talent-level wasn't the reason he was inserted into the lineup for the first time, but his play as a veteran defensive-defenseman added one element of stability on a team that was scatterbrained.

The Sabres played much better in back-to-back losses to San Jose (3-2) and the LA Kings (4-2) and got Housley's first win as a professional head coach in Anaheim as rookie Justin Bailey, Sam Reinhart and Johan Larsson all scored their first goals of the year and backup goalie Chad Johnson lead the Sabres to a 3-1 win over the Ducks.

(Reinhart's game-winner vs. Anaheim via Sabres.com)


Buffalo would follow their first win of the season with another strong performance in their first-ever visit to Las Vegas but lost 5-4 in overtime against the Golden Knights. They would finish the month of October with back-to-back wins at Boston (5-4, OT) and at home against Detroit (1-0) surrounded by three losses to give them a 3-7-2 record for the month. October proved to be a harbinger of just how difficult the season would be.

Kane and the rejuvenated Pominville would lead the Sabres in goals (6 each) while the duo and Jack Eichel lead the team with 12 points each. On the opposite end of the spectrum the Sabres individual woes were found in the bottom-three plus minus players:  Ryan O'Reilly (-9)  Sam Reinhart (-8) and Kyle Okposo (-7). The trio scored a combined for eight points at even strength (2+6) and were on the ice for a combined six shorthanded goals (minus-12 total) and three empty-net goals against (minus-6 total.)

As a team they were in the bottom half of the league, or near the bottom, of every statistical category save for the penalty kill which was 11th in the league at 82.5%. The powerplay juggernaut that lead the league last season sunk to 23rd with a 14.3% conversion rate.

After reveling in the excitement of a new season with a new GM and coach and a new direction, the Sabres put up a number of clunkers in October leaving fans to ask for the license plate of the car that just hit 'em. And it wouldn't get much better the following month.


For Buffalo's 2017-18 team stats for October click here and for their individual October stats click here.

A look back at the 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres season--April

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-17-2017


The Toronto Maple Leafs had made the playoffs once since the 2004-05 NHL lockout, and that was in a shortened season due to, you guessed it, another lockout in 2012-13. When they came back to KeyBank Center on April 3, the Leafs were in a three-way battle for second in the division with the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators while the Tampa Bay Lightning were climbing fast up the standings, joining the NY Islanders in the race for the second wild card spot.

The Buffalo Sabres were eliminated from playoff contention on March 28 so there wasn't much to play for except pride and the opportunity to play spoiler. The matchup between Toronto and Buffalo also had some interesting plot twists as Leafs franchise center Auston Matthews and Sabres franchise center Jack Eichel would be meeting again and the brothers Nylander--William for Toronto and Alexander for Buffalo--would be squaring off on NHL ice for the first time. As I wrote prior to the game, "if you cant' get up for this one, you probably don't have a pulse."

Buffalo had lost to the NY Islanders the night before on fan appreciation night at KeyBank. The generally uninspired play lead to the 4-2 defeat as the Islanders, who were without John Tavares, needed only two assists on their four goals. The highlight of the evening for the Sabres was UMASS-Lowell product C.J .Smith getting his first NHL point in his first NHL game. Smith went in 2-on-1 with Evander Kane and calmly slid a backhand to Kane who promptly buried his team-leading 27th goal of the season.

 

 

With the Sabres playing their 18th back-to-back of the season, it didn't take long for Toronto to get their raucous fans going as the Leafs scored three goals in a :43 second span five minutes into the first period. Starting goalie Robin Lehner was the victim allowing those three goals on only five shots. He was pulled and Anders Nillson came in to act as a target in a shooting gallery. Nilsson faced 40 shots in just over 55 minutes as the Sabres dropped their third in a row in front of large contingent of Leafs fans taunting the Sabres faithful on Buffalo's home ice.

 

It was pretty obvious that the Sabres headed for the bus against the Islanders and the Leafs and they would end up finishing the season by going 1-4. Buffalo finished the season with a 33-37-12 record good for 15th in the conference and 26th in the league which was worse than the prior season.

 

The Leafs would make the playoffs. By one point.

 

GM Tim Murray and head coach Dan Bylsma were both fired on April 20 after a rather tumultuous 2016-17 season. Murray had been with the club since January, 2014 and had signed a three-year contract extension in the Fall of 2017. Bylsma was fired after only two years in Buffalo with three years remaining on his contract.

 

And so it goes.

 

 

For the final Sabres team stats click here.

A look back at the 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres season--March

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-16-2017


Late in 2010, Bucky Gleason of The Buffalo News did a piece on Terrance M. Pegula, who at the time was attempting to purchase the Buffalo Sabres. Amongst many things in his profile Gleason noted that Pegula had season tickets to the Sabres when they played at Memorial Auditorium and could "tell you the section, row and seat number."

Pegula had his opinions while following his favorite team as a fan. Gleason pointed out in his article that the owner in waiting "was upset when Chris Drury and Daniel Briere left the organization [in 2007] and couldn't comprehend how the team let Henrik Tallinder get away [in 2010]."

At the March 1, 2017 NHL Trade Deadline, the opposite might have been true in the view from the owner's box. It was said that Pegula (as well as nearly everyone in Sabreland) couldn't figure out why defenseman Dmitry Kulikov wasn't traded.

Kulikov was acquired by GM Tim Murray at the 2016 NHL Draft in Buffalo as the Sabres and Florida Panthers swapped defensemen and picks. Gone from the Sabres was defenseman Mark Pysyk, referred to as "an analytics darling," by Murray and in came a defenseman whom he thought would be a top-four, at least. Unfortunately Kulikov suffered and injury in the preseason and was never quite right from October through February.

However, Kulikov was healthy to the point where he could be of use in a depth-role for a playoff-bound team. Rumors had it that there was at least one offer of a lower-round pick for him, but for some reason Murray balked and decided to keep him. Why? We're not sure, especially when it was revealed that Kulikov did not like playing in Buffalo.

And I'm sure that question was posed to Murray by Pegula at their end of season meeting. Murray, however, had no answers. After the two met, Gleason tweeted this, "I'm told Pegulas were looking for answers on how to proceed, and Murray didnt have many, or any."

The Sabres entered the month of March with the same team and playoff prospects all but ended. The began the month none points out of third place in the division and six points out of the second wild card spot in the East. Sure, they could still make the playoffs, but being six points behind and having five teams to jump in the wild card race is a pretty tall hurdle with 19 games to play.

Buffalo started out well with a win over Arizona, but the weight of the season took it's toll. It's best to remember that in addition to injuries, there were disconnects on and off the ice. Coach Dan Bylsma's system didn't sit well with some players, including franchise center Jack Eichel, and that would eventually engulf the team. Goalie Robin Lehner called out teammates for not playing the system, center Ryan O'Reilly and captain Brian Gionta blamed the players for the team's woes and in the locker room there was talk of a disconnect between vets and youngins.

The two games they blew post bye week didn't help either and after that win against the Coyotes to begin March, and a shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the bottom fell out. Buffalo dropped out. They dropped three in a row and five of their next six. Despite the fact that they would counter by ending the month by winning four of six games, the Sabres were eliminated from the playoffs on the last day of the month after a 3-1 loss in Columbus. It was the sixth consecutive season the Sabres failed to make the playoffs.

Of note in that Columbus game, forward Sam Reinhart was benched in that game by Bylsma for "violating team policy," according to Bylsma, who would go on to say, "We’re going to move forward from here. Disappointing, but it happened and we dealt with it. We’re going to move on from here.”

Reinhart apparently missed the team stretch when he thought the time was a half-hour later than it was. Murray and Bylsma had instituted a zero-tolerance policy for things like that and Reinhart was suspended, although he did dress for the game because Kyle Okposo was ill and the Sabres needed Reinhart to fulfill the required 20 skaters. He sat on the bench the entire game.

Murray said of the incident (via The Buffalo News,) "To me it's unfortunate that anybody broke the rule the first time after it gets changed at that point. To have it be a second-year player like Sam, he might have been the last guy. If I had made public we tweaked the team rule and who is the last guy I think would break it, he might have been the guy I would have brought up. I would have said, 'It won't be Sam.' But it was."

Such was the downward spiral of the team at that point in the season.

About the only real bright spot in that month was the Sabres dinging the hated Toronto Maple Leafs playoff hopes a bit with a 5-2 victory at home. As everyone on the QEW knows, when the Leafs hit town, they occupy the Sabres' arena and it was no different for that game. With huge clumps of Blue and White throughout KeyBank Center, boisterous Toronto fans give the feel as if it was their home game.

For a fiery competitor like Eichel, who had all kinds of trouble this season from injury to rumored coaching problems, having the Leafs in house dominating the crowd didn't sit well. After scoring his second goal of the game to put Buffalo up 5-2 he went over to a clump of Leafs fans along the boards with an in your face moment:

 

 

For their March team stats click here, for individual stats click here.

A look back at the 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres season--February

Published by hockeybuzz.com 8-14-2017


Former Sabres GM Tim Murray was a great listen during interviews because he was colorful, yet clean, and was pretty much a straight-shooter. His attitude basically said, "here you go, this is how I see it." He also guided the Sabres through two tank seasons in a scorched-earth rebuild with the 2015 Arizona/Buffalo race to the bottom in the "McEichel Sweepstakes" reaching embarrassing lows for both the organization and the NHL.

It's something that the league probably didn't look too kindly upon as their image was taking a hit, but it was his job and he was going to do it. After all, who said it was going to be all "rainbows, unicorns and jujus."

Was there retribution for the Murray and the Sabres because of all that transpired in 2015? Maybe, but if there was, it wasn't anything that could be traceable. Buffalo did miss out on the first-overall pick two years running after finishing in last place in the league but that was more than likely a severe case of Buffaluck as opposed to rigged Ping-Pong balls.

However, one thing the league could do is make the Sabres' lives a little more difficult by placing them last on the list when it came to scheduling priorities. In 2015-16 amongst the things they piled on Buffalo was the new Sabres with a new coach having to play the defending Eastern Conference Champion Tampa Bay Lightning four times in a 30-day span at the beginning of the season. Last year the Sabres had a league leading 19 sets of back-to-back games (tied with Columbus) but they included three in January (all within a 10-day span,) four in the short month of February and five in March.

An overall condensed NHL schedule in 2016-17 was a necessary evil for all teams because the regular season started a week late due to the inaugural World Cup of Hockey. If that wasn't enough, the league's schedule maker really laid the hammer down on the Sabres as they also put Buffalo's mandated five-day bye week in February meaning that an already condensed schedule would be compacted even further for them.

Prior to Buffalo's mandated five-day break (February 20-24) the Sabres packed in 11 games in 19 days including two back-to-back sets as part of five games in seven nights stint. Their final game before the break was at home against the Chicago Blackhawks which, of course, was the second game of a back-to-back. They had just finished playing 10 games in 18 days including three of their back-to-back sets and looked every bit the part of a team playing a ton of hockey in a short amount of time. They got steamrolled 5-1 by Chicago. Despite those scheduling difficulties, the Sabres got themselves on a little roll by going 6-3-1 before their bye week and it looked as if the playoffs were still a possibility.

Coming out of their bye week the Sabres were looking at a golden opportunity to grab four important points as they would play two bottom-dwelling teams--the Colorado Avalanche and the Arizona Coyotes--albeit with both games on the road.

Any thoughts of a possible playoff push vanished when the Sabres dropped both games. In Colorado, a defense slowly returning to health ultimately showed glaring weaknesses as Buffalo lost 5-3. Even with the loss the Sabers headed to Arizona still within seven points of the third place Toronto Maple Leafs in the division and five points behind the Boston Bruins who were in the second wild card spot.

In Arizona (to no Sabres' fan's surprise) Buffalo had a 2-0 lead in the third period before allowing three unanswered goals  and ended up on the wrong side of a 3-2 score. With back-to-back losses to the two worst teams in the league, the season was done for all intents and purposes and with the trade deadline but a few days away the "For Sale" sign went up .

The trend for head coach Dan Bylsma and his Sabres team was folding when it mattered most. It became predominant in December and really came to light as they dropped both games of a home-and-home with the Boston Bruins when they could've really closed the gap against the Atlantic Division's third place team. But even before that they lost ground to Carolina, Tampa Bay, Florida and Toronto either in the division or conference as they went a combined 1-4-2 versus those teams from mid-December through February and their record against those four teams plus Boston in that span was 2-8-2.

The Sabres finished a very busy month of February with an overtime loss at home against the Nashville Predators. They compiled a 6-6-2 record for the month which wasn't close to what they needed to be in the playoff chase. They were 0-3-1 headed into the NHL's Trade Deadline and the playoffs were a miracle away with the only question now being, "Who's on their way out?"


For their January team stats, click here, individual stats click here.

A look back at the 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres season--January

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-13-2017


Despite a dismal end to a once promising month of December for the Buffalo Sabres, there was still half a season of hockey to be played and although they were far behind a playoff spot in the division, the fat lady wouldn't be singing for quite some time. Especially in a division with as much parity as the Atlantic.

The Sabres began January, 2017 against the NY Rangers and once again came out on top which was the beginning of a four-game point streak (3-0-1.) They proceeded to drop three of the next four before going on three-game winning streak in dramatic fashion. In three consecutive games they came from behind to beat Detroit, Montreal and Nashville in overtime which included a heavyweight goaltending duel between Buffalo's Robin Lehner and Montreal's Carey Price with Lehner making a phenomenal save in OT and much maligned defenseman Zach Bogosian clanking in a blistering slapshot off the post past Price on the next sequence.



(thx, Sportsnet)

The Sabres seemed to be on a serious role and it looked as if they were on their way to a fourth consecutive overtime game in Dallas until some weird things began to happen.

What wasn't weird at the time for the Sabres was going into prevent defense with at two-goal lead even if it was early as the first period like in Dallas against the Stars. Or maybe for those of us in Sabreland it was a strange way of approaching the game while being two goals up, especially knowing the firepower Buffalo had when healthy. But for coach Dan Bylsma locking it down seemed to be his preferred method of coaching in those situations. It's what the Sabres did at home against Boston at the end of December and against Toronto earlier in the month of January.

They did the same thing against the Stars as well and just like the other two games, they proceeded to allow four unanswered goals. The Sabres ended up losing to the Bruins and Leafs and eventually lost to the Stars 4-3, but not before controversy kept them from tying the score. With the Stars up 4-3 Buffalo amped things up in the third period eventually outshooting Dallas by a 16-2 margin. Unfortunately they were unable to get the game-tying goal. Or did they?

Twice in the third period the Sabres thought they tied the game. On this one, with 8:53 left in the third period, Sam Reinhart wheeled in the slot and sent a backhand to the net that Kari Lehtonen stopped, although it looked as if he did so from behind the goal line. Jack Eichel was behind the net pointing to the puck over the goal line but an out of position, and slow to the scene, referee in Justin St. Pierre did not see it, and it was called a no-goal.

Here's the video thanks to Sportsnet:

“The puck was in the net,” Eichel said to the gathered media post game. “I mean, usually the puck goes in the net it’s a goal. It’s kind of weird how that didn’t happen.

“The ref sees it in the net. I saw it go in the net as well. Then on the last one, that one might even be more conclusive. The puck clearly crosses the red. That’s two goals along with a lot of other things that happened during the game. It’s tough to put the outcome of something into the referees’ hands, but once again I think we get the short end of the stick there."

When all was said and done, despite Lehtonen kicking a puck that was six inches over the goal line from out of the net, the evidence was inconclusive and the score remained 4-3 which is how the game ended and how they went into the All-Star break.

After a four day All-Star hiatus, where Kyle Okposo skated in the All-Star Game, the Sabres got back on the ice presumably refreshed and on a high from the four games prior to the break, despite the no-goal calls in Dallas. They proceeded to get mauled by the Montreal Canadiens 5-2.

It was an ugly finish to the month for Buffalo as the Canadiens made them look silly, yet the team still managed to finish with it's best month of the season as they went 7-5-1. Evander Kane was the star of the month as he lead the team with six goals and 11 points while upping is even-strength goal total to 13 on the year. Kane played on a line with center Zemgus Girgensons and right wing Brian Gionta and the trio contributed 14 goals and 13 assists with a cumulative plus-9 rating.

At the end of January the Sabres were nine points out of third place in the division and seven points out of the second wild card spot in the east.


For their January team stats, click here, and for individual stats click here.

A look back at the 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres season--December

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-12-2017


December was a tale of two halves although one thing continued to dog the Sabres--injuries. Unlike the prior two months where injuries were taking a toll on the forwards, they were dropping like flies on defense. Josh Gorges took a shot that broke his foot and kept him out weeks while Taylor Fedun, who joined Justin Falk as call-ups to replace the injured Dmitry Kulikov and Zach Bogosian, went down with a shoulder injury.

Buffalo tapped junior defenseman Brendan Guhle, playing in his first NHL game, to replace Gorges while Fedun was replaced by another Rochester call-up in Eric Burgdoerfer, who also played in his first ever NHL game. It was strangely reminiscent of the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals where a rash of injuries devastated the defense corps. Burgdoerfer's first game was against the Washington Capitals and this was the defense:

Rasmus Ristolainen-Jake McCabe
Cody Franson-Brendan Guhle
Justin Falk-Eric Burgdoerfer

They lost 3-2 in overtime at Washington.

That same group would be together again as the Sabres hosted Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. Buffalo would defeat the Oilers for the second time with Evander Kane's two goals powering the Sabres and Ristolainen scoring "the loudest goal in Buffalo this year," according to legendary announcer Rick Jeanneret, in overtime.

Despite the injury problems to start the month, the Sabres still got off to a good start as they played six of seven inside the friendly confines of the KeyBank Center and went 4-2-1 during that stretch. They started out December by beating a high-powered NY Rangers team (with their league-leading 3.67 g/gm.) by a score of 4-3. Despite a loss in the next game against Boston for the second time this season, the Sabres would get points in seven of the first nine games of December (4-2-3.) It was a stretch that pulled them to within five points of the third place in the division.

Amongst the wins for the Sabres was a high-flying game at home against the Los Angeles Kings. Buffalo was looking to get back into the win column after another loss vs. Washington and they found themselves down 2-0 at the 7:34 mark of the second period. However, the Sabres would find their legs in a big way as they rocked the Kings for four unanswered goals in 6:15 span of the second period and finished with a 6-3 win. It was another exciting game for the fans to watch and yet another game where Eichel (2g, 1a) and O'Reilly (1g) ignited the team.

Yet, despite the success vs. Ottawa the previous month and vs. LA, the team couldn't find it's soul and the bottom began to fall out. After the Kings game they dropped two in the shootout, two in regulation then beat Detroit to stop the bleeding. Yet however dismal this last stretch was, redemption was there as they'd be playing the Bruins in a home-and-home to finish out the 2016 portion of the schedule and were still only six points behind them of the third spot in the division. “They’re within earshot,” Bylsma said at the time. “You have a chance of sweeping these two games and gaining four points on them, putting yourself right near them.”

But, it was the Bruins that did all the sweeping.

The Sabres tried to sit on an early 2-0 lead in the first game and got beat 4-2 at home then didn't show up in Boston as the Bruins beat them 3-1. From a possible two points behind Boston to 10 points back. Eichel had his disgust on display after the second game. "After a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins in TD Garden that wasn't nearly as close as the score might say, a red-faced Eichel went berserk," wrote Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News from Boston. "He fired some pieces of equipment into his duffel bag, pounded others on his locker seat and drove the bag hard into the rubberized floor at one point.

"There were also some choice four-letter words spliced into the outburst of Eichel, who stormed out of the room without speaking to reporters."

Perhaps subconsciously he knew the inevitable, that after blowing this golden opportunity they'd probably miss the playoffs again.

To keep with the injury theme that haunted the Sabres for the first three months of the season, O'Reilly underwent an emergency appendectomy on Christmas Eve and was out until January and third-line center Johan Larsson was lost for the year after crashing into the boards in Boston.

In all the Sabres finished the month with the same 5-6-3 record they had in November.


For their December team stats, click here, individual stats click here.

A look back at the 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres season--November

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-11-2017


Buffalo started November well enough with a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild for their third win in a row but the injuries continued to mount as Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian went down with a knee injury in a 2-1 home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. A 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators would give the Sabres wins in four of their last five games  pushing their overall record to 5-4-2 and into a spot just two points out of third place in the division.

Then it hit.

The Sabres would go on to lose to the Boston Bruins which began a six-game winless streak (0-4-2.) By mid-November they dropped to the bottom of the conference and had an injured list that now included Dmitry Kulikov, who was placed on IR to help his back heal, and Ryan O'Reilly. Entering a November 19 game against Pittsburgh the Sabres were without their top two centers in Jack Eichel and O'Reilly, two of their top four defensemen (Bogosian and Kulikov) and were also missing top-nine forward Tyler Ennis.

The lineup for that game looked like this:

Evander Kane-Johan Larsson-Kyle Okposo
Marcus Foligno-Sam Reinhart-Brian Gionta
Zemgus Girgensons-Cal O'Reilly-Matt Moulson
William Carrier-Derek Grant-Cole Schneider

Josh Gorges-Rasmus Ristolainen
Jake McCabe-Cody Franson
Justin Falk-Taylor Fedun

Anders Nilsson got the start against the Pens and backstopped the Sabres, who were featuring five AHL recalls, to an odds-defying 2-1 shootout victory that included 46 saves in regulation/overtime while stopping Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang in the shootout. They went on to go 1-1-1 in their next three games and had a 4-6-3 record before the return of Eichel on November 29.

The Sabres won with defense as it was a brutal month for the Sabres in the goal-scoring department. Prior to Eichel's return they scored two or less goals in 13 of the 14 games played while averaging 1.63 goals/game. It was dismal hockey to watch and how they managed to win five games during that stretch was a minor miracle.

Despite all that transpired in November, Buffalo would finish the month on a strong note as Eichel returned and helped lead the team to an exciting, fun-filled 5-4 win at Ottawa. He had a goal and added an assist in his first game of the season and O'Reilly contributed two goals and an assist in his third game back from a stint on IR. Yet, however fun this was for the players and fans, it was a game that might represent the basis for a disconnect between coach and players, one that seemed to plague them for the rest of the season.

Sabres coach Dan Bylsma acknowledged the obvious saying that the return of Eichel brought "a different level of execution" and "a different level of speed" to his team. Bylsma watched as they flew up and down the ice drawing five minor penalties and scoring three powerplay goals on the night. Yet, despite the positives which included abundant fan excitement and his team scoring five goals (while admittedly giving up four,) Bylsma wasn't really thrilled with the overall play of his team. "It was a little bit of a haphazard game and those aren't easy on the heart," he said postgame. "It's not the way we want to play the game."

Buffalo finished 5-6-3 in the month of November with their scoring for the season at a paltry 1.95 g/gm, which was just barely above their 1.87 g/gm during the 2015-16 tank season.  Yet, as they looked ahead towards December with Eichel back in the lineup and the team seemingly on the mend, at least up front, Sabres fans had a lot to look forward to

For their November team stats, click here, and for individual stats click here.

A look back at the 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres season--October

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-10-2017


The Sabres had a very difficult 2016-17 season which ultimately lead to the firing of their general manager and head coach. The reasons for Buffalo's difficulties last season are multiple with various factions staking their claim as to why the Sabres finished with less points than the prior season. Was it the personnel? Injuries? Defense?

Here's a look back at the season that was 2016-17 for the Buffalo Sabres.


October

The Sabres had some injury problems heading into the 2016-17 season. It began with lesser known one as forward Ryan O'Reilly developed back spasms. O'Reilly played for gold medal winning Team Canada in the tournament and during his first preseason game for Buffalo was pulled for "precautionary reasons." Then defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, who was acquired earlier in the summer, was checked into an open bench door and smashed his tailbone. It was an injury that would bother him throughout the season.

The injuries continued with big one hitting Jack Eichel on the eve of Buffalo's season opener. On the final day of practice before the Sabres were to face Montreal, Eichel got tangled up with Zemgus Girgensons at practice and suffered a high ankle sprain. Eichel's agony reverberated throughout Sabreland as he would be lost for the first 21 games of the season and any hopes of jumping out of the gate quickly towards possible playoff contention vanished in the screaming echoes of KeyBank Center.

If that wasn't enough, the hits just kept coming on the injury parade as winger Evander Kane went down in the opener vs. the Canadiens. Kane was charging hard into the Montreal zone with only 13 seconds left in the second period when he was checked and lost his balance before crashing hard into the boards and cracking four ribs in the process.





(Thx, All Things Buffalo Sabres)

And for good measure, starting goalie Robin Lehner was sidelined because of an illness. The Sabres had just completed their Western Canada swing and Lehner would miss the next three games.

All-in-all Buffalo didn't fare too badly as they went 3-3-2 for the month and had they not blown a three-goal third period lead at Philadelphia it would have been a notch better. They lost the opener to Montreal and started out by going 1-3-2 through the first six games. However they would turn it around with two very convincing wins at home vs. Florida and at Winnipeg by a combined 6-1 score.

Kyle Okposo and Matt Moulson lead the team with four goals apiece with Moulson's all coming on the powerplay and despite the injuries the team got off to a better start then they did the previous season when Buffalo was 2-6 in their first eight games.

For their October team stats, click here and for individual stats click here.

What the players might be thinking while sitting thru their exit interviews

Whelp, one more game and then we can say goodbye to a very disappointing 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres season.

After the Sabres finish up this evening at Tampa Bay, it’s back home for locker cleanout and exit interviews with the players and eventually the coaching staff. Word on the street is that head coach Dan Bylsma, as well as GM Tim Murray, will have some explaining to do when they meet with owners Terry and Kim Pegula to review the season and the Pegula’s will be looking for reasons as to why the team finished with a worse record than the prior season.

But most important for the future is what Murray can glean from his players concerning Bylsma and the coaching staff.

There seemed to be some serious disconnects as to how the players and the coaching staff wanted to approach the game and although njuries certainly were a factor early on, as the season progressed and the team got healthier they failed to make progress as a team.

While we’re not sure exactly what the individual players might be saying about their experience with Bylsma this season, perhaps this is what they may be thinking as they sit down for their exit interviews:

Jack Eichel: Hang on a second, am I in the right spot to do this?

Ryan O’Reilly: It’s my fault. I have to be better. Does that sound right?

Robin Lehner: Everyone’s responsible and if anyone disagrees, look into my eyes.

Rasmus Ristolainen: He should’ve played me until I collapsed.

Sam Reinhart: Sorry I'm late. Jiminy Christmas, I wish Jack would do the dishes. At least once.

Brian Gionta: I’m a professional professing about professionalism. And after this season, I'm done professionally playing for the Sabres.

Zemgus Girgensons: God, I really hope we don’t end up in Vegas together.

Evander Kane: Shoulda played me with Jack more.

Dmitry Kulikov: Sorry, can’t talk. Gotta catch next flight outta here.

Kyle Okposo: It doesn’t matter. I’ve got my health to think about right now, and even if I didn’t, it still doesn’t matter.

Jake McCabe: I want to stand somebody up.

Zach Bogosian: Screw the stretch pass.

Marcus Foligno: I love that guy. Second-line minutes with Jack? Who wouldn’t?

Josh Gorges: I’m confused. What did he want us to do?

Evan Rodrigues: I’m cool. Hope the next guy realizes I played on Jack’s wing in college.

Cody Franson: I never thought a coach could make me play slower than I actually am.

Justin Falk: I’m better than Franson and a faster skater too.

Sean Malone: I’m Ivy League and I can’t figure out his system .

Matt Moulson: Man, I love the powerplay. Hope he stays.

Alexander Nylander: It’s gonna suck at the family gathering this summer.

Will Carrier: I just wanna skate. Can I just do that?

Nicolas Deslauriers: Why didn’t you let me loose?

CJ Smith: Friggen’ A. I made it.

Tyler Ennis: I hope I impressed him with my fancy stickwork. Hope he stays if I did.

Taylor Fedun: I’m better than Franson and a much better skater, scorer and passer too.

Anders Nilsson: I told him to put me in for the shootout. He wouldn’t listen and now we both may be out of a job. (God I wish Lehner would stop with the death-stare)

Ice-time shows Buffalo not taking points for granted this early in the season.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-20-16


Often times, a teams playoff destiny can be traced to points lost or gained in October and November, especially a team like the Buffalo Sabres this season who some consider a playoff bubble team. Although losing a point here or there doesn’t seem like a lot in an 82-game season, they can add up and Buffalo is not taking anything for granted at this early stage of the game as the line up and ice-time indicate.

Do you remember when head coach Dan Bylsma said that the team would be paring back defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen’s 25:16 average time on ice per game last season? It's actually up through three games this season to 25:21. Center Ryan O'Reilly was suffering from back spasms for opening night to the point where he would only take faceoffs from the right side. Amongst forwards he's averaging a league-leading 22:30 minutes of ice-time per game or about :45 seconds more per game than he did last season when he also lead all forwards in ATOI. Other players like defenseman Jake McCabe, who lead all Sabres in plus/minus last season, has seen his ice-time increase after earning time on the powerplay (2:07 PPTOI) as has forward Sam Reinhart who is skating on the top line and playing and extra 1:37/game thus far.

All four were definitive contributors last season. As mentioned, Ristolainen lead the team in ice-time and O'Reilly lead the team in points while Reinhart was second in goals (23) as a rookie. With the Sabres missing Jack Eichel and Evander Kane the responsibility of carrying the load rests mainly on their shoulders and they've done yeoman's work thus far as Buffalo heads to Vancouver with a 1-1-1 record.

Assistant captain O'Reilly is well aware of the importance of every point and after losing to the Calgary Flames in overtime on Tuesday he let it be known he was none too happy. "We were lucky to get one point really. The way we played was pathetic at times and it starts with myself. I had so many chances, I have to bury them. That was really nothing what we wanted. We could have walked away with a win here and we have to respond now."

It was the second game of a three-game western Canada swing for Buffalo which is a pretty tough situation to begin with for a relatively young team. The Sabres also played a Flames team that was desperate for a win after starting the season 0-2-1. And it didn't help that Buffalo had a couple of things go against them during the game but facts are facts and the bottom line is that they had a one-goal lead three times, including twice in the third period, but couldn't lock it down.

The Sabres face a surprising Canucks team with a quirky stat. Vancouver is 3-0 with all three wins coming after never having the lead in regulation.

Buffalo has not fared all that well against Vancouver going 1-8-1 on the road in their last 10. The Sabres last won in Vancouver was March 13, 2012 and they're coming off a 5-2 loss last year that capped off an o-fer, three-game western Canada swing as they were outscored by Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary by a combined 13-7. This season through two games the Sabres have outscored the Oilers and Canucks by a combined 10-6 and have three points to show for it.

Game time is 10:00 p.m. ET and rumor has it that backup goalie Anders Nilsson may be in net for the Sabres. In net for Vancouver will be Jacob Markstrom (2-0, 1.97 gaa, .913 sv%) as former Sabre Ryan Miller remains on the sideline with an injury.

Some positives for Buffalo after letting a point slip away in Calgary

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-19-2016


The Buffalo Sabres gave up three one-goal leads last night against the Calgary Flames and eventually lost in overtime 4-3. Although disappointment was the prevailing theme after the game, there were a lot of positives to take away. Sure the Sabres blew three one-goal leads, including two in the third period, only to lose in OT, but they've managed points in back-to-back games on this road trip and now stand 1-1-1 on the season after an ugly opening night loss. There was frustration in the locker room overall for losing a point but the team in general has to like where they are right now.

First off, Buffalo was able to get a point in the second game of a four-game road trip. After grabbing two points on Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers, the Sabres managed to come away with another one with their OT loss against Calgary. Last season on the same western Canada road trip, which will end in Vancouver on Thursday, Buffalo went without a point.

The team in general looks to be at ease with head coach Dan Bylsma's systems. Often times last night we saw an entire group turn in unison and head up ice in what looked like synchronized skating. Even Zemgus Girgensons, who has been struggling for various reasons, which included having trouble with his place in the system, found himself in the right spot twice and scored a goal on the second one. There were lapses and at times, especially on the overtime goal, where the team was caught chasing, but for the most part they played in unison.

Buffalo's special teams are excelling. The penalty kill has yet to allow a goal in three games. They successfully killed off three penalties in the first two games, which is also a tribute to playing in control, then they held the Flames scoreless on six opportunities. And last night with the team down two men for two minutes an errant Calgary high-stick caught Ryan O'Reilly and the players on the ice played keep-away for nearly 30 seconds to burn off time on the delayed penalty. The powerplay has been doing it exactly as diagramed and is 4/16 through the first three games with at least one PP goal in each. Matt Moulson, who had a horrendous season last year may have found a spot in and around the net on the top PP unit. He has two goals on the season, both on the powerplay.

It's not surprising that O'Reilly and the rest of the Sabres on the ice were aware of the delayed penalty situation last night and played keep-away. Most of the team is playing smart hockey especially the O'Reilly and his linemates--Sam Reinhart and Kyle Okposo--on the top line. O'Reilly and Reinhart have innate hockey sense to be able to play with anyone in any situation, as we saw that last season, but what we've seen so far is that Okposo brings those very same traits and the three on a line has been a joy to watch.

Sabres forward Marcus Foligno has been playing quite well since Bylsma reunited him with center Johan Larsson and right-wing Brian Gionta and he may have found out just how far playing angry can take him. After sending a puck off the referee's skate last night that landed on the stick of Calgary Flames forward Michael Ferland, who scored to tie the game, Foligno's rage at the ref turned positive 2:39 later. Foligno got the puck at center ice with a head of steam, pulled off a nifty move against two Flames defenders and sent an angry wrister that smoked Calgary goalie, and former Sabre, Chad Johnson. Ah, vindication.

That said, the players weren't happy with the loser point last night. Captain O'Reilly, who's always hard on himself as he strives for perfection told the gathered media after the game, "We were lucky to get one point really. The way we played was pathetic at times and it starts with myself. I had so many chances, I have to bury them. That was really nothing what we wanted. We could have walked away with a win here and we have to respond now."

Foligno, who yelled at the ref and slammed his stick on the ice after the turnover had a cooler head post-game. "You can yell all you want but the ref has the right to be there," he said. "It's a bad bounce and you just suck it up."

The refs didn't exactly have a great game as evidenced by the OT goal. Reinhart took a cross-check from behind and into the boards behind the Buffalo net in what's normally a penalty. But the refs let it go, Buffalo's players started chasing and Sean Monahan found himself all alone in front of goalie Robin Lehner who had no chance on the play.

Speaking of Lehner, despite his pedestrian stat-line of 1-1-1 with a 3.33 goals against average and .890 save percentage, he has looked good. His off-season work-out plan looks to have made him quicker and he's come up with a big save or two every game thus far.

The Sabres are hurting without forwards Jack Eichel and Evander Kane who accounted for 43 goals last season, but on the positive side of it, the team is sticking to the systems in place and as a whole is coming to the rink with their work boots on. After the stinker in the opener, in general the Sabres have put together two pretty strong games.

Buffalo leaves western Canada after their game with Vancouver tomorrow and will fly home before they head out to Philadephia for a tilt with the Flyers Tuesday, October 25th.

And the band played on. Eichel injury makes for bittersweet opener tonight

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-13-2016


Yes. We've been waiting for tonight for months. It's been a fairly inactive summer for Buffalo GM Tim Murray as he and head coach Dan Bylsma continue to mold the foundations into the future core of the Buffalo Sabres. However, that foundation took a big hit yesterday at practice when Jack Eichel went down with a high ankle sprain.

The howls of pain emanating from the 19 yr. old as he grabbed his leg on the ice resonated throughout the empty arena and reached far beyond the KeyBank Center walls hitting every Sabres fan right where it counts. After initial reactions ran rampant, once we found out that it was Eichel's ankle and not his knee, things began to come into focus a little more and initial diagnosis has him out for at least 4-6 weeks.

Six weeks will take us to Thanksgiving or 20 games into the Sabres regular season schedule. For a little perspective, Buffalo started the season 3-7 and through the first 20 games went 8-10-2 snaring 18 points. The Sabres finished final three-quarters of the season with a 27-26-9 record on their way to an 81-point season. To further the narrative, Eichel had six goals and four assists through is first 20 games with his first assist not coming until Game-14.

That said, with expectations high and the team poised to build upon what they were able to accomplish late last season, having your most dynamic player lost for a big chunk of time has a way of taking the wind out of your sails.