Former Sabres dot the 2020 Stanley Cup semi-finals

Nearly every National Hockey League team can lay claim to former players in the NHL's 'final four," and Buffalo is no different. However, the Sabres have the dubious distinction of trading away a player in center Ryan O'Reilly who ended up being a 2019 Conn Smythe winner for playoff MVP while helping to lead the St. Louis Blues to their first-ever Stanley Cup. O'Reilly also won the Selke Trophy for best two-way forward in 2018-19 while the Sabres were extending their playoff drought to eight seasons.

Egg meat face.

It happened. And there's no sense in re-hashing the details as that horse has been beaten to the point of cremation. Yet, as we move along in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, there's another player from former Tim Murray's "young-vet" group of acquisitions that is helping power his team to possibly their first Stanley Cup.

Murray took over as Sabres general manager, made sure the Sabres finished dead last in 2015 (guaranteeing either Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel in the Blue and Gold,) and went for a quick rebuild after gutting the entire organization of talent. The process ended up setting Buffalo back years and the organization still hasn't fully recovered. While the Sabres are stuck in the bottom third of the league, closing in on an NHL playoff drought-tying record, some of the players Murray counted on to speed up the rebuild process have advanced with their teams.

The 2015 NHL Draft was a whirlwind of activity for the Sabres as not only were they planning on drafting Eichel second-overall, but also had Murray working the phones and pulling off trades for O'Reilly from the Colorado Avalanche and goalie Robin Lehner from his former team, the Ottawa Senators. 

Lehner actually kicked off the day for the Sabres as Buffalo traded the 21st-overall pick for a 23 yr. old goalie who was caught up in a three-way battle to man the crease in Ottawa. Murray called Lehner "high-end competitive" and believed he would become "a No. 1 starter...on a good team, on a contending team, on a playoff team."

True words, but not in Buffalo where he went 42-61-22 with a 2.77 goals-against average and .916 save percentage before the Sabres. It was a tumultuous time in Buffalo as not only was Lehner battling inconsistencies in front of him on the ice, but he was also, as we would come to find out after the Sabres let him walk in 2018, battling debilitating demons within. He finally landed with the Vegas Golden Knights after a 2018-19 season with the New York Islanders and a partial 2019-20 season with the Chicago Blackhawks who traded him to Toronto before the Leafs moved him to Vegas. Lehner would win the trust of Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer in the playoffs and wrestled the starters job away from three-time Cup-winner, Marc-Andre Fleury and just led Vegas to a Game-7 shutout win over the Vancouver Canucks last night. He heads to the semis with an 8-4-0 playoff record, a 1.99 GAA, .918 sv% and three shutouts.

Was Murray right in trading for O'Reilly and Lehner back in 2015? Yes and no. Right players (albeit a a premium,) bad timing might be the best way to look at it.

Another Murray-trade that turned out poorly was trading defenseman Brayden McNabb (2009, 66th-overall,) along with two second-round picks and F, Jonathan Parker to the L.A. Kings for Nicolas Deslauriers and prospect Hudson Fasching, whom he acquired as "heavies" for the team. Although this wasn't a direct egg-in-the-face trade, embarrassment came later. The Kings left McNabb exposed to the 2018 NHL expansion draft, the Knight's plucked him and McNabb has been a mainstay on their top-pairing displaying definitive chemistry with top Vegas d-man Nate Schmidt.

Another member of Vegas who was once in the Sabres organization is forward William Carrier, whom Buffalo left unprotected at the expansion draft. New GM Jason Botterill made a deal with Vegas GM George McPhee sending a 6th round pick to Vegas to protect goalie Linus Ullmark. McPhee took that pick and Carrier who has now played in 162 regular season and 32 playoff games over three seasons for the Golden Knights.

Carrier and Vegas recently agreed to a 4yr./$5.6 million contract extension.

Staying out west, the veteran laden Dallas Stars will take on Vegas with two former Sabres patrolling the blueline in lesser roles. 

Defenseman Andrej Sekera was a 2004, third-round pick of Buffalo and at 34 yrs. old is doing that journeyman thing. Sekera left Buffalo after the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season and has had stints in Carolina, Toronto, Los Angeles, Edmonton and now Dallas. The Stars have him in a lower-pairing role with heavy penalty killing duties. As a player who was much maligned in Buffalo by a fan-base that over-emphasized his short-comings while de-emphasizing his positive qualities, it would bring this writer some pleasure seeing him skate around the ice with the Cup in his hands.

Taylor Fedun is another former Sabres d-man playing for Dallas. The undrafted free agent initially signed with the Edmonton Oilers out of Princeton University, and played for the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks before landing in Buffalo in 2016. Botterill traded Fedun to the Stars in November, 2018 where he's been contributing as expected in a reserve role.

The NY Islanders have no former Sabres on their team as they head to the Eastern Conference Championship series but their opponent, the Tampa Bay Lightning do.

Defenseman Zach Bogosian was another young-vet, Murray acquisition and though he wasn't the primary piece received in a blockbuster deal with the Winnipeg Jets in 2015 (winger Evander Kane was the key player,) he was expected to, at the very least, be a top-four defenseman who would be with Buffalo a long time while Murray worked young players through the system.

Bogosian was in Buffalo for a relatively long time, six years, but only played in 243 games for the Sabres due to a rash of injuries that hit like clockwork on a yearly basis. The former first round pick (2008, third-overall) was drafted as a big, gritty defenseman with excellent skating and some real good offensive touch but little of that showed in Buffalo as he was either playing injured, on injured reserve or recovering from injuries. Eventually it came to the point where the Sabres wanted to trade him, but his $5.14 cap-hit made him immovable. 

When he came back from his latest injury, head coach Ralph Krueger gave him a shot and made him a healthy scratch (for the first time in the defenseman's career) prompting Bogosian asked for a trade. With no takers the 29 yr. old was waived, failed to report and was given his unconditional release. Bogosian hooked up with the Lightning on an NHL-minimum salary.

Like O'Reilly before him, Bogosian walked into a situation where the team was set and he had his defined role within that setup and he's performed well with nearly all of his advanced metrics either at the top amongst Tampa Bay defensemen or in top-three.

Odds are that at least one former Sabre will be skating around with a big smile on his face while lofting the Stanley Cup high above his head. Which one will it be?

We shall see.

Notes

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-12-2018


Entertaining, fun and suspenseful hockey made it's way into Sabreland late last week and into the weekend. Sure, the Buffalo Sabres back-to-back, come-from-behind wins were eventually dwarfed yesterday by a 2-7 Buffalo Bills team that managed to run roughshod over the New York Jets (41-10) as a seven-point underdog, but what the Sabres were able to do was pretty impressive too.

On Thursday night in Montreal the Sabres blew four one-goal leads over the Canadiens before hitting the second intermission down 5-4. Buffalo tied it early in the third period before winning it in overtime. It was as entertaining a game as you'd find and coming out on the winning end made it all the better. They returned home for a Saturday matinee against the Vancouver Canucks and scored twice in the final 2:27 to tie the score at 3-3 and eventually win it in the shootout. According to the NHL it was only the seventh time in the history of the team, and the first time since March 24, 2010, that they tied the score while being down by two goals with 5:00 or less left in the game.

It's also the first time since January, 2017 that the Sabres have won back-to-back games in overtime and the first time since December, 2014 when including a shootout. Those two on wins on December 13th and 15th happen to be the tail end of their last winning streak of more than three games.

The Sabres are also above over the real .500 mark again with a 9-6-2 record and they are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games. Included in that stretch is a three-game win streak that kicked off a five-game point streak (3-0-2.)

There's a confidence level with this team that we haven't seen in a long time. In fact one can make the argument that it may have been over a decade since we've seen a Sabres team truly believe, and we the fanbase actually believe, that they're never out of a game. "You look at probably the last few years, it’s been a little bit tougher to come back in games," said Sabres captain Jack Eichel to the media after the Vancouver game. "This year we’ve had some third periods where we’re down or trailing or maybe we give a goal up we’re not happy about, but I think the resiliency in this group and that never-out-of-it attitude, the ability to continue to fight, it’s been tremendous."

At the 17-game mark of this young season the Sabres are third in the Atlantic Division with 20 points and they're playing some good hockey that many times is fun to watch.


*****

A big reason the Sabres are fun to watch, have the confidence to come back and are where they are in the standings is that they're scoring more. Buffalo was at the bottom of the league three times in the last five seasons including 2017-18 where they managed 2.41 goals/game. This season, with the help of a nine-goal eruption vs. Ottawa, the Sabres are 19th in the league averaging 3.06 g/gm. The last time the Sabres were finished the season over three goals/game was in 2007-08 at 3.06 g/gm.


*****

The acquisition of Carolina Hurricanes left winger Jeff Skinner was a huge get in the goal-scoring department for Buffalo. GM Jason Botterill went into the off-season without a top-six left winger and acquired Conor Sheary and Skinner in separate trades to solidify that side of the forward group. Sheary, a former Pittsburgh Penguin, got off to a good start faded a bit but now has six goals through 17 games.

Skinner got off to a slow start as head coach Phil Housley tried to find him a home with the right linemates. The three-time 30-goal scorer started out on the top line with Eichel and Sam Reinhart but was moved to the second line for the next handful of games before eventually landing back with Eichel on the top line. That  move was part of a big forward shake-up heading into a road game against the Los Angeles Kings has paid huge dividends for both Skinner and the Sabres. He started out with a hat trick in LA and has scored 11 of his team-leading 12 goals in the ten games since Housley made the move. Skinner is tied for second in the lead in goals.

The Sabres are also getting contributions from their defensemen, something that hadn't happened last season until December. As of right now all but one d-man has scored a goal (Casey Nelson) and they've contributed eight goals total to Buffalo's cause. Rasmus Ristolainen, who scored the game-winner on overtime against Montreal, and Nathan Beaulieu, who opened the scoring against Vancouver, lead the d-men with two goals each.


*****

Beaulieu has been playing very well while in the lineup, most notably cutting down on the egregious errors that were very commonplace last season, his first as a Buffalo Sabre.

Botterill traded a third round pick to Montreal for Beaulieu as he needed to add more mobility to the Sabres back-end. The 25 yr. old Strathroy, Ontario was selected 17th-overall in the 2011 NHL Draft but eventually the Canadiens lost faith in him as he started the 2016-17 season on the top-pair but fell all the way out of the lineup as a healthy scratch in Montreal's final game of their 4-2 ousting by the NY Rangers in the first round of the playoffs. He was traded about two months later.

Beaulieu's career in Buffalo didn't start out all that well as he finished his first season as a Sabres with only one goal and nine points while his minus-19 was seventh worst on a last place team. However, he's managed to turn that around by keeping his turnovers low and his plus-6 is second-best on the team behind Skinner's plus-11.

"I know last year was obviously a struggle,” said Beaulieu via Joe Yerdon of the Athletic. “But yeah, I’ve heard murmurings I’ve had good (numbers) and I feel like that’s a reflection of my play. I like my game when I’m out there.”

The Sabres coaching staff challenged him (as well as every player) to focus more and Housley has taken notice, He’s been sharp, he’s been focused, he’s moving the puck, he’s on his toes," said the coach (via Yerdon.) "I think that was just the body of work. You’re going to have times when your play dips a little bit, but he’s certainly has been really focused this year.”

Circumstances, including and injury in San Jose and a Sabres three-game winning streak, have kept Beaulieu in the press box for seven of the team's 10 games, but he has looked much better when on the ice and he's slowly earing the confidence of the coaching staff.


*****

Perhaps another element that has Beaulieu more focused is the push for playing time that reaches all the way down to Rochester. The Sabres have seven defensemen on the roster right now and a bevy of players and prospects in Rochester who are garnering the attention of big club.

The Americans are off to a raucous 10-3-1 start that has them atop the AHL's North Division and only one point behind the Charlotte Checkers for the tops in the league. They've scored 54 goals through 14 games (3.86 g/gm.) and have three players in the top-10 in scoring with two of those being defensemen.

Thirty-year old Zach Redmond leads all AHL defensemen with 10 goal (third in the league) and his 18 points place him fifth. Defenseman Lawrence Pilut is 22 yrs. old and is in his first North American pro season. He's tied for sixth in the league with 17 points (2+15.)

And those are just the point-scorers.

The Amerks have a plethora of defensemen playing various roles and the shear numbers allowed for them to trade Taylor Fedun to the Dallas Stars over the weekend. The 30 yr. old journeyman defenseman was signed by the Sabres to a one-year, two-way deal in 2016 and was extended with at two-year, two-way deal in 2017.

He was an Amerks alternate captain the last two seasons.


*****

Speaking of Redmond, he was part of another trade with Montreal back on October 4, 2017. Buffalo sent Nicolas Deslauriers to the Canadiens for Redmond in a straight-up player-for-player swap.


****

And for fun, here's Casey Mittelstadt's shootout-winner vs. the Canucks (via NHL.com):

Luckily, there isn't much time for last night's dual-debacles to fester

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-5-2017


For Team USA and Buffalo Sabres fans, it was about as bad as it gets yesterday as the Americans got swamped 4-2 in their IIHF World Junior Championships semi-final game versus Team Sweden, and in the main bought, the Sabres got smoked by the Minnesota Wild 6-2. And in both instances it wasn't as close as the score indicated.

After a lackluster performance by both teams in the first period Team Sweden seemed to find their legs with a powerplay goal with 6:30 left in the second. It was one of four penalties Team USA took through the first two periods. The Swedes would add to their lead early in the third then had to kill a penalty less than a minute later.

No worries, Team USA would pull of a perfect imitation of an early season Sabres game (at the NY Islanders) and proceed to give up two shorthanded goals on the same powerplay. At 4-0 with just over 11 minutes to play in the third period, the game was over.

The U.S. had a golden opportunity to tie the game late in the first period after Sweden got caught on a poor line change. Casey Mittelstadt lead a 3-on-0 break with less than a minute to play in the period but was stifled by Swedish goalie Filip Gustavsson, a second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins (2016, 55th-overall.) And to add insult to injury, USA's Kieffer Bellows (2016, 9th, NYI) was called for goalie interference.

Mittelstadt, who's tied for the tournament lead with 10 points (4+6) told the gathered media post-game, "To be honest I didn't even really know it was a 3-on-0. Someone was yelling 'Go' so I just kind of went and I didn't finish there and that's what it comes down to."

Gustavsson said he was focused solely on Mittelstadt the whole time. "It was more like calling his bluff there that he wasn't going to pass or give it to someone else," he said.

Team USA takes on Team Czech today at 4pm in the bronze medal game. As the defending champs, the Americans could be setup for another let down playing in the consolation game, but if they want to medal, they'll need to be on their game.

Although the Czechs got bombed 7-2 to Team Canada, they're hell-bent on bringing home a medal. Winger Filip Zadina, who scored both Czech goals last night and considered a top-five prospect in this year's draft, had this to say via ESPN's Chris Peters twitter feed, "I was glad to play well, but I’m so sad because we lost. My goals mean nothing. We will do anything tomorrow, we will die on the ice to bring a medal back to Czech Republic."

Zadina's seven goals is tied for the tournament lead with Bellows and Canada's Drake Batherson (2017, 121st, OTT,) who had the hat trick for Canada last night.


*****

All is not lost for Sabres fans as Team Sweden has two Buffalo prospects going for gold today.

Forward Marcus Davidsson (2017, 37th) has been solid in his fourth-line support role for Sweden and continued last night breaking up an American rush at the blueline and feeding his team mate for Sweden's fourth goal. Davidsson has a goal and two assists and is a plus-1 for the tournament.

Buffalo's first round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Alexander Nylander (8th-overall,) continued to put up points with the primary assist on Sweden's first goal of the game last night. With Sweden on the powerplay, Nylander grabbed the puck on the right half-wall and sent a sharp, cross-ice pass to Elias Pettersson (2017, 5th, VAN) who ripped it home.

Nylander is tied for 10th in the tournament in scoring with seven points on one goal and six assists.

Lest we forget him, Buffalo d-prospect Vojtech Budik (2016, 130th) is also on the Czech team fighting Team USA for the bronze medal. Although he and his fellow countrymen were run over by a dominant Canadian team, the 6'1" 193 lb. Budik enters today's final matchup with five assists and a plus-3 rating. Despite the route, Budik had an assist an even rating in 16:17 of ice-time against Team Canada last night.


*****

If you thought a 4-0 deficit was a bummer last night, the Buffalo Sabres were down 6-0 at the Minnesota Wild before they scored two meaningless goals in the third period.

To say it was ugly would be an understatement. Minnesota jumped on the Sabres early with two goals in the first 2:15 of play. They added another goal on a five-minute powerplay in the first period then added three more in the second period. Sam Reinhart scored early in the third period and Evander Kane scored with 1:01 left for the 6-2 final score.

For all the talk that there would be no post-Winter Classic hangover, it's exactly what happened. to put it in perspective, if Team USA was a half-step behind Team Sweden at the WJC, the Sabres were a full step behind the Wild. They couldn't fight out of a wet paper bag early on last night and if there was any hope of a comeback after quickly falling behind 2-0, the five-minute major and game-misconduct handed out to Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen at the 10:16 mark of the first period pretty much shattered any hopes of that.

Ristolainen got his shoulder high on a check to Miko Koivu at the Sabres blueline. Initially the refs called a two-minute interference penalty but after a conference, and maybe because Koivu was bleeding rather profusely around his mouth, the major and game-misconduct was assessed.

Sabres bench-boss Phil Housley did his best to distribute the minutes amongst his rear-guard but when Zach Bogosian is over 25 minutes of ice-time, Nathan Beaulieu's over 20 minutes and Justin Falk is logging 19:55, it doesn't make for the best of situations.

No word yet on any further disciplinary action against Ristolainen, so it looks like he'll be in the lineup tonight.

The Sabres head into Winnipeg to face the Jets tonight for their 41st game, or the halfway point of the season. Buffalo's 10 wins are tied with Arizona for the fewest in the league and their 29 points is only four more than the last place Coyotes. An abysmal October and November lead to a December of hope where they played much better but could only win one of five overtime games leading to a 4-5-4 record for the month.

Buffalo continued on with that theme on January 1, 2018 as the lost in overtime to the NY Rangers in the Winter Classic, but last night's debacle sent them back to their woes of earlier in the season. The Sabres haven't been trounced this bad since back-to-back games against the Pittsburgh Penguins December 1 and 2. They had a dog of a game against the Carolina Hurricanes just prior to the Christmas break, but at worst trailed by three goals en route to a 4-2 defeat.

The Sabres beat Winnipeg last season in both meetings, 3-1 in Winnipeg on October 30 and 4-3 at home last January 7 and are on a four-game win streak vs. the Jets. However, according to Sabres PR, Buffalo is only 5-5-0 in their last 10 vs. Winnipeg, 3-6-1 on the road and they're facing a Jets team that has only one regulation loss in their last eight games (5-2-1) and are 14-3-1 on the season.

A couple of quick notes, Reinhart's goal vs. the Wild was his second in as many games while Kane' goal was his first in five games and tied him with Jack Eichel atop the Sabres leaderboard with 35 points (16+19)

Also of note, defenseman Taylor Fedun is healthy again and was sent to Rochester. Fedun began the season in Rochester and played seven games in Buffalo before being felled by a lower-body injury. He returns to an Amerks team that's only two points behind the Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Marlies.

Injuries on defense continue to mount for Sabres. Two Amerks recalled

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-16-2017


Although the news isn't quite as earth-shattering as the Buffalo Bills going to their backup quarterback while still in a playoff spot, for Western New York hockey fans, the injuries hitting the Buffalo Sabres is becoming more of an issue. The Sabres announced today that defenseman Taylor Fedun was placed on injured reserve (out 6-8 weeks, according to reports from today's practice) and that defenseman Matt Tennyson was moved to IR from the injured list.

The Sabres have been getting hit hard by injuries on defense and have already dressed 10 defensemen just 18 games into this season. Zach Bogosian, who has yet to play this season, remains on IR while their top defender, Rasmus Ristolainen, suffered an upper body injury on November 2 and was also placed on IR. Justin Falk missed the first the first 12 games of the season while Nathan Beaulieu and Josh Gorges both suffered injuries that placed them on the injured list.

To help fill the holes in the defense-corps this season, Buffalo brought up Zach Redmond on recall, appearing in three games, while Fedun skated in seven games. Today the Sabres announced that they recalled defenseman Casey Nelson from Rochester. Nelson was a 2016 free agent signing out of Minnesota State and played seven games for Buffalo late that season. He started out his NHL career with a three-game point-streak (4 assists.)

Nelson began last season with the Sabres and played in eight forgetful games through November 15 registering zero points and a minus-4 rating while averaging around 12 minutes of ice-time per game. He came back for two more stints for a total of three games and showed improvement. He began this season in Rochester doing yeoman's work with four points (1+3) and a plus-2 rating in 14 games for the Amerks.

Where Nelson fits in will be determined tomorrow as Falk, according to reports, had a maintenance day at today's practice. According to the Sabres these were the pairings for practice:

Scandella-Nelson
McCabe-Beaulieu
Gorges-Antipin


*****

The Sabres also recalled forward Kyle Criscuolo who was signed by the Sabres to a two-year, two-way contract on July 1 by GM Jason Botterill.

Criscuolo came over from the Detroit organization after helping their Grand Rapids Griffins to the 2017 Calder Cup Championship. The 25 yr. old graduate of Harvard is tied for Amerks lead in scoring with 11 points (5+6) in 14 games while his plus-4 rating also leads the team.

At the time of the signing, Botterill said that Criscuolo "can play center...plays with a high compete [level] and can play the type of pace that (coach) Phil (Housley) wants to play." The Sabres could use some pace in the bottom-six as that group has struggled mightily thus far. The forward lines at today's practice were:

Pouliot-O'Reilly-Okposo
Kane-Eichel-Reinhart
Griffith-Larsson-Pominville
Nolan-Criscuolo-Girgensons

Head coach Phil Housley told the gathered media today that Criscuolo will be a game-time decision for tomorrow night's game at Detroit.

*****

Nelson and Criscuolo were called up from an Amerks team that's really starting to gel. After a rough start where they went 2-3-0 the Amerks have gotten points in eight of their last nine games while posting a 6-1-2 record. Rochester has outscored their opponents 33-25 during that stretch and the Amerks now find themselves second in the AHL's North Division.

Botterill got the ball moving in Rochester by making some July 1 moves strictly related to fortifying a franchise that had been neglected the past few years. He brought in center Kevin Porter from the Pittsburgh Penguins organization as captain to anchor the revival in Rochester. Once the Penguins AGM, Botterill ran their AHL affiliate, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and saw what Porter had to offer."He's a player I'm very familiar with," said Botterill of Porter. "[He] was a strong leader for Wilkes-Barre over the past couple of years, but also was a player, especially two years ago, that (Penguins head coach) Mike Sullivan really trusted at the National Hockey League level."

With Porter and Criscuolo in the fold, Rochester was eventually handed over to Botterill's AGM, Randy Sexton, who is the general manager of the Amerks. Sexton began adding more players and more depth with signings like defenseman Stuart Percy and forward Sahir Gill (both from Wilkes-Barre) along with right wing Steve Moses (KHL) to help anchor the club. The goal was to build a winning culture and simultaneously provide an atmosphere where their young players can develop properly.

Only a handful of Sabres draft picks are in Rochester right now and that includes Brendan Guhle. With all the injuries on defense, many believe the Sabres top blueline prospect could be with the big club right now, at least on a temporary basis. But word out of Rochester is that the team is intent upon developing him the right way.

From a Let's Go Amerks tweet, Rochester head coach Chris Taylor had this to say about Guhle:

"He understands the process of it. Does he want to be a guy that goes up for one or two games or does he want to be a guy when he goes up, he's going to be there forever? He's got to understand that and that's what the best interest here is for him. That's what we have for every player (their best interest) and him especially. He's still learning. He's still making a lot of mistakes. We don't want to ruin his confidence. One of those mistakes up in the NHL is in the back of the net. We're being patient with him and he's understanding that. That's why he's still playing well right now with us."

That thought process should come as no surprise to any hockey fan in Western New York as Botterill is following through with what he said he'd do. All along he's been saying that he wants, needs, Rochester to be a winning environment that will allow the youngins to develop properly. It's what he saw in Pittsburgh during his 10 years with the organization and what he wants in the Buffalo organization.

The short-term pain in Buffalo will hopefully be a long-term gain for the entire Sabres organization.

Griffith, Antipin in, Johnson in net. Vancouver in town.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-20-2017


Forward Seth Griffith and defenseman Victor Antipin are in the lineup tonight for the Buffalo Sabres. Griffith was last seen in Los Angeles playing his third non-descript game in a row against the Kings while Antipin hadn't seen the ice since the Sabres got smoked by the New Jersey Devils on October 9.

This may be one of the last chances for Griffith as he's played in five games for the Sabres this year and has on assist and a -3 rating while averaging just over 12 minutes of ice-time. Buffalo takes on the Vancouver Canucks tonight at KeyBank Center then travels to Boston for the second of a back-to-back against the Bruins. Injuries could still keep him on the ice as Jacob Josefson has been placed on IR and Zemgus Girgensons is day-to-day but Griffith's play will ultimately determine his fate. Rochester is a stones throw away from Buffalo and will be home for their next two contests tonight and tomorrow night.

After today's game-day skate Sabres coach Phil Housley told the gathered media that Griffith needs to use his speed and that he needs to compete "in his own way." Housley mentioned that Griffith used his speed and contributed in the preseason, but the 5'9" 190 lb. Griffith has yet to make an impact.

Antipin has been in the pressbox since the New Jersey game on October 9. The 24 yr. old Russian looked as if he couldn't get a good feel for the pace of the NHL and was benched after a stat-line of zero points and a minus-4 rating in three games.  Housley told the gathered media after the team's game-day skate today that he wants to see Antipin defend better. "He's come a long way with the stick position and the body position," said the coach, "but he's got to use his speed. That's one asset he has to close quickly and create that body position early."

A spot on defense was opened up when Josh Gorges was listed as day-to-day. Housley put Antipin in the lineup despite the team calling up defenseman Taylor Fedun.

Back up goalie Chad Johnson will start his third game in a row for the Sabres. He had a strong game in Anaheim helping the Sabres get their first win of the season and Housley the first win of his career. Johnson was hung out to dry by his teammates against the Golden Knights but the Sabres managed an overtime loss in that game.

Starter Robin Lehner was ill and missed practice yesterday but Housley said today that Lehner "is back now with us" and that "he's healthy." Lehner will back up Johnson tonight.

With both Josefson and Girgensons out, Sam Reinhart moves back to center. Reinhart started out the season there and struggled mightily before Housley moved him back to wing. He began the Sabres road trip on third line wing and his play began improving to the point where Housley skated him alongside Ryan O'Reilly in the top-six. Reinhart responded with goals in consecutive games to end the trip.

Injuries have also allowed Matt Moulson and Jordan Nolan to stay in the lineup.

From today's game-day skate, the lines and defense pairings according to the media in attendance:

Kane-Eichel-Pominville
Bailey-O’Reilly-Okposo
Pouliot-Reinhart-Griffith
Moulson-Larsson-Nolan

Scandella-Ristolainen
Beaulieu/Fedun-Tennyson
McCabe-Antipin

With the way that d-corps is set up, it wouldn't be all that surprising to see Fedun get the not over Tennyson. It's not that the latter has been playing all that bad, although his last game against Vegas was one he'd probably like to forget, but Tennyson doesn't have the on-ice vision that Fedun has. There were many times, almost on a nightly basis where Tennyson missed obvious opportunities, situations that Fedun might be more aware of.

While this is the first of a back-to-back for the Sabres, the Canucks are on the second game of their back-to-back. Last night Vancouver was pounded by the Boston Bruins 6-3 with former Sabres goalie Anders Nilsson in net.

Another former Sabre, Thomas Vanek, will also be back in Buffalo tonight for Vancouver. Vanek has four points (3+1) in six games for the Canucks.

Sabres preseason begins tonight vs. CAR. Lineup + storylines

Published by hockeybuzz, 9-18-2017


The Buffalo Sabres open up their preseason with a visit from the Carolina Hurricanes tonight. As with every preseason opener the ice will have a number of youngins that went through training camp and will get a taste of the NHL before being sent to their proper developmental leagues. A handful of vets will be on hand to work through the game and one can bet there will be a surprise player or two that will pique our interest.

This morning the Sabres held a intrasquad scrimmage featuring some four-on-four action, a little three-on-three and two shootouts. The shootout portion was interesting as each team had five pucks at center ice and when the whistle blew they sent a player towards the net. If the player scored he headed to the bench and the next player grabbed the another puck at center ice. If the player didn't score he had to retrieve the puck and bring it back to center ice before his teammate could take the next turn. It was fun to watch save for the center-ice camera which couldn't keep up even when the players were at opposite parts of their shootout.

Those playing in the scrimmage this morning will not be playing tonight and that included names like Jack Eichel, Evander Kane, Marco Scandella, Nathan Beaulieu, Jason Pominville and Victor Antipin. But there will be plenty of intrigue as the Sabres ice this lineup (from sabres.com):


28 Zemgus Girgensons - 90 Ryan O'Reilly - 21 Kyle Okposo
67 Benoit Pouliot - 23 Sam Reinhart - 52 Stevie Moses
49 C.J. Smith - 51 Kyle Criscuolo - 95 Justin Bailey
25 Seth Griffith - 71 Evan Rodrigues - 59 Cliff Pu

45 Brendan Guhle - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
19 Jake McCabe - 27 Taylor Fedun
8 Casey Nelson - 38 Cody Goloubef

40 Robin Lehner
35 Linus Ullmark

New head coach Phil Housley talked to the gathered media today and said that 19 yr. old Cliff Pu "earned a game tonight due to a strong Prospects Challenge Tournament. Pu will be skating on a line with former London Knights winger Seth Griffith and according to Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com/sabres.com, the Knights open up their season on Friday so it looks like a one-and-done for him with Buffalo.

Also intriguing is Zemgus Girgensons on the top line with Ryan O'Reilly and Kyle Okposo. As has been mentioned before, there's a big hole on the left side after Evander Kane and Girgensons gets first crack at landing it. The former 15-goal scorer was moved down the lineup by former coach  Dan Bylsma but as was pointed out by Jon Vogl of The Buffalo News, "Botterill included him on the seven-forward protected list, then signed Girgensons to a two-year, $3.2 million contract in August."

And now Housley's giving him a whale of an opportunity on tonight's top line. "It's new coaches, new management, so I think it's fresh start for everyone," Girgensons said in HarborCenter. "You can't come in thinking that you have a spot. You have to prove it in the practice, off the ice, so I think it's good for everyone."

As we take a look at the defense, I'm sure there are Sabres fans drooling at the Rasmus Ristolainen/Brendan Guhle pairing, as this could be a glimpse into the future. Guhle has been having a extraordinary camp and is pressing hard for a spot with the Sabres on opening night. Both can get up ice and look to be ideal fits for the way Housley wants his team to play. Ristolainen is 22 yrs. old and Guhle is only 20.

Sam Reinhart is at center as Housley wants to get a good look at him in his natural position. If he move there for good, that opens up a huge opportunity on the right of Eichel and Kane. Pominville looks to get first crack at that during the preseason which means a third-line spot will be open. Free agent Stevie Moses and 2013 second-round draft pick Justin Bailey are looking to impress tonight while Hudson Fasching and Nicolas Baptiste skating tomorrow night.

Taylor Fedun, who had a very solid 27-game stint with Buffalo last season seems like exactly the type of strong skater and puck-mover Housley wants on his blueline and former second round pick Cody Goloubef is simply looking to land a job. The right-shot d-man attended training camp on a tryout as is the only player skating with the team who doesn't have a contract.

The game is radio only.

Fedun signing adds depth to D, plus the qualifiers and Andreychuk.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 6-27-2017


In addition to bring two assistant general managers aboard in Randy Sexton, who will be the GM in Rochester, and Steve Greeley the Sabres made some player moves.

But before we get to that, a tip of the hat to Dave Andreychuk who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame yesterday. The veteran of 23 NHL seasons heads to hockey immortality in a November 13 ceremony with the rest of the 2017 class--Teemu Selanne, Paul Kariya, Mark Recchi along with Danielle Goyette and two in the builders category, Buffalo native and Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs and Clare Drake.

Andreychuk spent 11 season with the Sabres using his long reach and big body go amass 368 goals and 904 points in 837 games. He would go on to total 648 goals and 1338 points in his 1639 game NHL career. The 640 goals ranks 14th all time and before his induction, he was the only one of the top-15 goals scores not in the HOF.

Although third on the all-time goals list for left wings, a good chunk of those goals came on the powerplay which may have kept him out of the Hall this long. Winning the Stanley Cup as captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2003 helped Andreychuk's chances of getting inducted but it still took him nine years to get in.

His days in Buffalo were marked by individual success but much like team mates Phil Housley and Tom Barrasso, lack of team success lead to a divided fan base when it came to his accomplishments. I was of the "meh" crowd who teetered on whether or not he was a Hall of Famer, but upon hearing about his induction I thought to myself, "Good for him."


*****

The Sabres are still in need of a defenseman to anchor the left side of the top-pairing. It's a difficult acquisition to make as they're not readily available and if they are, it will cost a bundle to land one. And by the looks of it, new GM Jason Botterill isn't going to pay the price even if one were available. I lieu of that, Botterill continues to add depth to the blueline.

Yesterday it was announced that the Sabres re-signed veteran d-man Taylor Fedun to a two year deal that will pay him $650k/year, according to CapFriendly. Fedun's Rochester Americans salary is $300k.

Since coming on board May 11, Botterill signed free agent Russian defenseman Victor Antipin, whom the previous regime set the table for, and traded for Montreal Canadiens defenseman Nathan Beaulieu.

With the signing of Fedun the depth chart looks something like this:

Jake McCabe-Rasmus Ristolainen
Zach Bogosian-Beaulieu
Antipin-Fedun-Josh Gorges-Justin Falk-Casey Nelson

Rookie Brendan Guhle is the wild card here. His athleticism, skill, skating and puck movement place him above the bottom-five listed above talent-wise, but Botterill and Co. may feel more comfortable having him start the year in Rochester.

The Sabres may carry eight defensemen or they may carry seven, but in either case, as of right now Nelson looks to be the odd man out unless there's a trade. Falk was re-signed in February and would be a strong veteran presence in Rochester were he not on the Sabres roster.


*****

Speaking of defense, 2012 seventh round pick (193rd overall,) Brady Austin was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Sabres which means he's an unrestricted free agent. The 6'4" 225 lb. rearguard, who is surprisingly mobile for a man his size, can still be resigned by the Sabres at a lower number that his $635K NHL salary from last season or he could be signed to a minor league contract with the Rochester Americans if Botterill's so inclined.

With Housley as the new head coach and Botterill coming from a Pittsburgh Penguins organization that leaned heavily on puck-movers on the back end, it's not too surprising that Austin wasn't qualified. The Bobcaygeon, Ontario native struggled in Rochester for much of his pro career with the Amerks but looked pretty solid in a five-game stint late last season with the Sabres and perhaps Botterill and Amerks GM Sexton may want to see more of Austin, but not at that price. The duo will need to rebuild a flawed Rochester club from top to bottom.

Should Guhle end up in Rochester, they have the makings of a pretty solid defense-core when you add in one or both of Falk and Fedun along with Nelson, who made great strides in the latter part of the season. They'll also be joined by first year pro Devante Stephens.

Others in the mix at this juncture could be Brycen Martin, who's signed for two more seasons and Anthony Florentino who had a five-game audition with Rochester on a minor league contract.

Forwards Jean Dupuy and Justin Kea also were not qualified.

The Sabres tendered qualifying offers to:

G, Robin Lehner--$3.15M
F, Marcus Foligno--$2.25M
F, Zemgus Girgensons--$1.15M
D, Nathan Beaulieu--$1M
F, Johan Larsson--$997k
F, Evan Rodrigues--$787k

George McPhee's potential top-three unprotected Buffalo Sabres

Published by hockeybuzz.com 6-4-2017


Las Vegas GM George McPhee was in Buffalo for the annual NHL Scouting Combine getting a good look at over 100 prospects who were in town for interviews and testing. It was a lot to take in for the expansion Golden Knights GM but as he walked about downtown discussions with other GM's invariably were directed towards potential deals. "It seemed the other day we go down to lunch, and I ran into a few GMs and the conversations started," McPhee said, via TSN. "It's been a busy week, but certainly productive."

Productive in the sense that he's already "far enough along with a few teams that my plan is to sit on the phone all day Monday, Tuesday to see what we can accomplish," according to the TSN piece.

With Buffalo as the host city, of course McPhee would hook up with new Sabres GM Jason Botterill to exchange wants. McPhee was quoted as saying that their first and only discussion went very well and that they would be talking soon.

The Sabres are in good shape when it comes to potential exposure to the draft. Names like Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Justin Bailey and Nick Baptiste did not meet the requirements to be exposed and of the ones that do, only a couple would represent a loss to a degree. The key for Botterill will be to entice McPhee into taking on a bloated contract. There are four on the books ranging from $3.9-$5.1 million ranging from one to three years. McPhee intimated that teams looking to either keep their roster intact or ditch a hefty contract will pay a price.

One should expect a deal to be made between Buffalo and Vegas. The Golden Knights have a prospect pool to fill and are looking for as many draft picks as they can get their hands on. Buffalo will be heading into the NHL Draft on June 23, a mere two days after the announcement of  Vegas' roster, with one extra second and one extra third rounder. Would one of those be enough of an enticement to take on one of those four contracts?

We'll see. But in lieu of that using CapFriendly's mock expansion draft tool to come up with the top-three players left exposed by Buffalo that McPhee might be interested in.

1. LW, William Carrier

Carrier's speed and quickness are tailor-made for the way the NHL is played these days. He also has size (6'2" 212 lbs.) and a some good scoring instincts. Although he didn't dazzle when he played in Buffalo last season with eight points (3+5) in 41 games, the 22 yr. old second round pick has upside and might just be of interest to McPhee.

It looks as if Botterill and Co. might have a decision on their hands between exposing Carrier and F, Zemgus Girgensons, who's a year older and is more versatile up-front in that he could play every position.

2. G, Linus Ullmark

If former Sabres GM Tim Murray was still at the helm, it would be a slam dunk that Ullmark would be exposed. Murray's the one that traded the 21st overall pick to Ottawa for Murray and there's no way he'd expose Buffalo's starter last season. But even though he's gone, Botterill still may opt to expose Ullmark over Murray.

The Knights will have some pretty good goalies to pick from at the expansion draft which will probably names like veterans Marc-Andre Fleury (PIT) and Jimmy Howard (DET) for the starters role. But they'll have three other slots to fill in the organization. Washington's Philipp Grubauer tops the list of good young goalies who will be on the Knights' radar and Ullmark, who's waivers-exempt, could easily fill in one of the two remaining spots for Vegas.

3. D, Taylor Fedun

Normally an unrestricted free agent like Fedun would still be under contract with the Sabres until July 1. For expansion draft purposes, the Knights will have an exclusive window during the weekend of the expansion draft to negotiate with UFA's. However, if they do sign a team's UFA, that will count as that team's player selected in the expansion draft.

The 29 yr. old Fedun has been wallowing away in the minors for the better part of five year professional career. Last season injuries in Buffalo gave him the opportunity to showcase his talents for an extended period. He played a career-high 27 games for the Sabres registering seven assists and a plus-3 rating. As a puck-mover with offensive acumen and the ability to man the point on the powerplay, Fedun fits right into how the game is geared towards more mobile defensemen.

Sabres in Los Angeles, plus former d-men Brayden McNabb and Mark Pysyk

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-16-2017


The Buffalo Sabres are in Los Angeles tonight for Game-2 of their three-game West Coast swing. The Sabres defeated the Kings in Buffalo back in December as they overcame a 2-0 deficit with four unanswered goals in a span of 6:15 to eventually win 6-3. Ryan O'Reilly, Jack Eichel (2,) and Brian Gionta scored in the Sabres blitzkrieg while Evander Kane and Sam Reinhart finished it off with goals late in the third period.

With that win, the Sabres are assured of at least a season split for the fourth season in a row. Somehow, even through the down years of 2013-15, Buffalo has managed a win at home. However, haven't won in Los Angeles since 2003.

The Kings are battling for a wild card spot while the Sabres, for all intents and purposes, have only 12 games left before their season ends.

It's been a rough season for the Sabres with everyone feeling the heat from the players to head coach Dan Bylsma to GM Tim Murray. Injuries and inconsistencies have plagued the club since Eichel was lost for the first 21 games with a high-ankle sprain. Although they had many opportunities to get on a roll, Buffalo's longest winning streak reached three games while their longest points-streak reached four. Every team above them in the standings has had a winning streak of at least five games or more save for the NY Islanders who've had two six game points-streaks with five wins each time.

The Sabres will face off against former defenseman Brayden McNabb who was traded by Murray to the Kings on March 5, 2014. In the deal Murray also sent two second round picks (both acquired from LA in the Robyn Regehr trade) and in return the Sabres received two "heavies," as Murray called them--forward Hudson Fasching and defenseman turned winger, Nicolas Deslauriers.
It was Murray's first trade of his own volition as the trade of Ryan Miller and Co. to the  St. Louis Blues on February 28, 2014 was in the works via the previous regime.

Murray is getting his fair share of the blame for a disappointing 2016-17 Sabres season as the defense he went into the season with has been sub-par at best, brutalized at worst. Although McNabb isn't anything close to a Bill Hajt-type shutdown defenseman, the 26 yr. old former third-round pick (2009) has managed to play a third-pairing role while also showing some capabilities when placed in the top four.

I'm not sure the left-handed McNabb would have brought much more to the table than any of the other bottom-four defenseman for Buffalo, but when you look at a poor season by Deslauriers, the injuries that have plagued Fasching this season as well, and when you add in that the Sabres defense looked to be in disarray for the better part of 2016-17, an argument could be made that he may have been able to help.

Fasching, who suffered a severe groin injury in a game October 30 may be back in the lineup tonight as rookie winger Justin Bailey has been dinged. The 6'2" 207 lb Fasching got the call from Rochester for the West Coast swing and is looking for his first NHL point this season. After returning from injury Fasching played in 23 games for the Amerks registering five goals and two assists in that span. He's had one point in his last six Amerks games.

It's another late start as the puck drops at 10:30 EST.


*****

There's a tendency in Sabreland, or most any fanbase for that matter, to consecrate a lost player as the second coming. Even though said player may have been a good player, when he leaves Buffalo he's placed a notch or two above where he really was.

We went through that with McNabb after he played next to Drew Doughty and acquitted himself well. All of a sudden, a projected third-pairing defenseman became was looked at as a top-two and the Sabres screwing up.

It's happening again with departed defenseman Mark Pysyk.

Pysyk was traded to the Florida Panthers along with two picks for defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and the 33rd-overall pick at the June draft. While Kulkove was struggling with injury and downright awful play at times, Pysyk was holding his own and playing well in a third-pairing role for the Panthers.

Good for him. When playing for Buffalo Pysyk was a steady defenseman who could move the puck and occasionally jump up into the play. He was the type of player that the Sabres could've used this season although how much of an impact he could've made is debatable as he probably would've been in the same bottom-pairing role he'd been in the previous season in Buffalo.

The Panthers had him playing big minutes the last three games and Pysyk has responded with two goals and an assist while the team has gone 1-2-0 in those three games. The last game was a 7-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs which prompted Cats color commentator (and NHL Hall of Fame defenseman) Denis Potvin to get fired up about Pysyk's potential.

That in turn was overheard by former Sabres defenseman Mike Robitaille who was on with the morning crew on WGR.

The talk moved toward "who's to blame" for the disappointing Sabres season and the focus was now on Murray and some of his trades. McNabb was the first name up then the host brought up Pysyk. Robitaille used Potvin's commentary as a springboard noting that Pysyk was said to be "taking over the Florida defense" with top d-man Aaron Ekblad out. Then he went on to say that Pysyk's "solid, money in the bank," and "a 15-year defenseman, top-four.

"He's the real deal," said Roby.

Pysyk may very well be "the real deal" but just how much of a "real deal" are we talking about. Normally when you use a phrase like that you're talking superstar or star playing in a top role. When Pysyk was in Buffalo, most thought he was a No. 4-6 defenseman which is probably where he'll end up his career. He's a smart player who knows how to play the game and will do so in a manner that may in fact last 15 years.

Once again, good for him. I always liked his game and if he's a good fit in Florida more power to him and the Panthers. If the trade ends up being a flop for Murray, and Kulikov's problems certainly make it that way for this season, and/or if Pysyk does become a Niklas Hjalmarsson-type or better, than so be it.

However, spare me the canonization of Pysyk at this juncture of his career.


*****

Defenseman Taylor Fedun has been recalled from Rochester and is headed to Los Angeles. Fedun was recalled to replace Justin Falk who's dinged up.

The 28 yr. old Fedun last played for the Sabres on February 12 against Vancouver. In 25 games for the Sabres the soon to be unrestricted free agent had seven assists and was a plus-3 while averaging 13:38 of ice-time.

Sabres have one more before their bye week. Blackhawks are in town

Published by hockeybuzz.com 2-19-2017


After a blog that had "Friggen bye-week" as a part of the title, it didn't take long for a Western Canadian hockey fan to jump in and lambaste the premise that the bye week stinks and that it put an undo burden on the Sabres as there's will come in the shortest month of the calendar year. Simply put, the Sabres will play 14 games in 23 days which includes four sets of back-to-backs and their present four-game in six-day pre-bye stretch that concludes this evening with the second game of a back-to-back against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.

Vancouver Canucks follower Itsjustarash began a mini rant with this, "A team from the east complaining about the schedule?" before laying out some of the travel difficulties of Western Conference teams. That person concluded with, "About five years ago my boys (the Canucks, I assume) went on a 6 game trip that went from Edm-Nash-Det-NJ-Dal-Phoe. Thats 4 different time zones in 10 days. So to hear any team out east crying about the schedule is a joke among itself."

Regardless of that rant, the bye-week is bogus and puts undo stress on every team in the league and as Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News points out, coaches aren't very happy with it either. "We’ve had fewer practices than any time I’ve ever been a coach in this league,” Harrington quotes Minnesota boss Bruce Boudreau as saying during the All-Star Game in Los Angeles. “We finished nine games in 15 days and we never practiced the other six days because you can’t kill the guys, especially your better players."

Buffalo coach Dan Bylsma concurred. "It feels like even less practice, fewer days than an Olympic year," Bylsma said last week. "It is a little bit tougher to get a feel for where you're at, how you're feeling. "

And Toronto's Mike Babcock also chimed in, "I think it's 100 percent wrong for player safety. You've got so many games in such a short period of time and you're jamming in more. To me, the more days rest you can have by not playing back-to-backs and jamming it in, the healthier you have a chance to be."

West or East, it doesn't matter. The bye-week is not a good idea.


*****

Buffalo welcomes the Chicago Blackhawks today for the second of two meetings between the two clubs. Back in January Chicago's Artem Anisimov tied the game at 3-3 with just over two minutes remaining in regulation and Patrick Kane won it 45 seconds into overtime to complete the Hawks' come from behind victory.

The Hawks have dominated the series as of late with Buffalo winless in their last 10 overall vs. the Hawks (0-8-2) while also leaving the ice winless in their last four games at home. Chris Ryndak of sabres.com also points out that the Sabres last beat Chicago 2-1 on December 11, 2009 and haven't garnered points in consecutive games against the Hawks since they went unbeaten in four games from December 13, 2002 to December 15, 2007.

The Sabres are coming off of a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues yesterday afternoon. Buffalo hadn't beaten St. Louis in their previous nine meetings and the last time they won was a 5-3 decision on December 27, 2009.

Interestingly enough, the wins against both the Blues and the Hawks came back in 2009 when Ryan Miller was in the first half of his 2010 Vezina Trophy winning season. It was also the last time the Sabres won the division.


*****

Winning the division is merely a pipe dream at this stage of the season, although the division-leading  Montreal Canadiens are making things interesting while in the midst of a 2-7-1 slump that cost their head coach his job.

Buffalo's on a three-game winning streak for the third time this season and have climbed up the standings points-wise. However they've played more games than any of the teams surrounding them in the standings so teams will have plenty of opportunities to snare points with Buffalo on their bye week. Only six points separates seven teams in the wild card race and all seven teams have at least one game in hand on Buffalo as of right now.

The Sabres have been looking to get on a run all season but something always seems to get in the way. Buffalo has had points in four consecutive twice this season but have never won four in a row. The last time they got points in consecutive games was back in January when they started out the 2017 portion of the schedule with a win, the Chicago overtime loss and two more wins. Consecutive road losses brought them back down before winning four of the next five games.

After a three-game winless streak surrounding the All-Star break, Buffalo alternated wins and losses until last week with wins at Ottawa and consecutive home wins against the Colorado Avalanche and Blues.

Buffalo is tough at home this calendar year going 8-2-1 in 2017.


*****

Player notes:

--Defenseman Taylor Fedun went unclaimed and was sent to Rochester. In a hockey world where defensemen seem to be a scarce commodity, Fedun went unclaimed while forward Derek Grant, who was waived in January was claimed. *scratches head*  I don't get it. Despite defensive shortcomings Fedun was a plus-3 in 25 games for Buffalo this season while contributing seven assists. Grant had four assists in 46 games and was a minus-5.

--Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen collected his 100th career point yesterday while assisting on Ryan O'Reilly's goal. The 22 yr. old Ristolainen is averaging over 27 minutes a game for the Sabres this season.

--Goalie Robin Lehner has been hot as of late with a February goals-against average of 1.89 and a .950 save percentage during a 5-3-1 month. In his last three games, which came after calling out the team after a 4-2 loss in Buffalo against Vancouver, he's been down-right stingy. Buffalo is 3-0-0 since and Lehner has a 1.33 GAA and a .961 Sv%. It should be noted that he includes the team in his successes. He gets the start this evening.

--In addition to saying Lehner will be in net vs. the Hawks this evening, Bylsma also said that Sam Reinhart will miss his second consecutive game with an illness. That means Nick Baptiste will remain in the lineup and on would think that there will be no changes in the lineup tonight:

Justin Bailey-Ryan O'Reilly-Kyle Okposo
Evander Kane-Jack Eichel-Nick Baptiste
Marcus Foligno-Evan Rodrigues-Brian Gionta
Matt Moulson-Nicolas Deslauriers-Tyler Ennis

Jake McCabe-Rasmus Ristolainen
Josh Gorges-Dmitry Kulikov
Zack Bogosian-Cody Franson


*****

Finally, there was a time when Buffalo choked regularly in front of a national TV audience  but this season, however, is a bit different.

The Sabres have yet to lose in regulation so far this season having gone 2-0-3 in their five nationally televised games. They blew a third period lead to Philadelphia and lost in the shootout back on October 25, beat the NY Rangers handily January 3 and two days later lost that overtime game to Chicago. They kicked off February with a 2-1 OT loss against the Rangers when they threw everything at Rags goalie Henrik Lundqvist but could only get one by him and this past Thursday they shutout the Colorado Avalanche 2-0.

Habs must be drooling at thought of facing Sabres defense

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-21-2017


And so it goes.

The Buffalo Sabres, who are already missing two defensemen, lost another one just minutes into last night's game as Jake McCabe slammed into the boards and suffered a shoulder injury. As of right now there's no word on it's severity although we do know that he came back to the bench in the first period and saw one shift late in the first period but went to the dressing room and the last we saw of McCabe was a tweeted photo of him leaving KeyBank Center with his arm in a sling.

With McCabe out, Zach Bogosian became Buffalo's No. 2 defenseman and logged 29:51 minutes of ice-time, a number he hadn't seen since late-March, 2015 while in Winnipeg. The wily veteran of over 500 NHL games held his own and finished a plus-1 in Buffalo's 3-2 overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings last night.

McCabe's absence also meant increased ice-time for Cody Franson (22:36,) Justin Falk (18:23) and Taylor Fedun (16:33) but the lion's share went to top Sabres' d-man Rasmus Ristolainen who played a whopping 35:24 in the overtime affair. According to sabres.com, no defenseman had seen that amount of ice-time since Ottawa's Erik Karlsson logged over 36 minutes on December 20, 2015. Ristolainen finished the night with an assist and was a plus-1.

With McCabe out, the Sabres called up rookie Casey Nelson who was in the lineup for the season opener and also had a stint in November as well..

Nelson was on the ice in the 4-1 season-opening loss for the Sabres while Dmitry Kulikov recovered from a back/tail-bone injury but was on the bench for the Sabres ensuing four-game road-trip and was returned to Rochester. When injuries hit again he was called up and played in a rather forgettable seven games for the Sabres with zero points and a minus-3 rating. It was quite the departure from what he was able to accomplish for Buffalo last season. Nelson was signed after leaving Minnesota State and began his career with a three-game point streak registering four assists. He finished with a line of zero goals, four assists and was a plus-1.

The Montreal Canadiens more than likely have their knife and fork in hand and are ready to feast. Les Habitants are running away with the division with an NHL seventh best goals/game average at 3.00.

Fedun and Falk have done yeoman's work in Buffalo while trying to hold the fort for regulars Kulikov and Josh Gorges. They're not without their fair share of miscues, however, but generally speaking they're performing well for the Sabres.

Both play different styles and the chemistry they had as a paring in Rochester has transferred well to Buffalo. Falk is a rugged defensive-defenseman who has three assists and has an even plus/minus rating while the puck-moving Fedun has six assists (three on the second powerplay unit) and is a plus-3. Fedun has not looked out of place and the 28 yr. old who's played in only 29 NHL games for four different organizations in the past four years may have earned himself a spot on the Sabres roster when all's said and done.

But having yet another rookie in the lineup on the back end could in Nelson be troublesome for the Sabres, especially when they're playing the second of a back-to-back, and head coach Dan Bylsma will probably, once again, lean heavily on his vets.

Ristolainen seems to have gotten over a mini-slump that came to the fore just over a week ago when the Sabres played at Carolina and at Tampa back-to-back. He's been a workhorse for the club all season and will be asked to provide a herculean performance once again. Bogosian will need to step up as well and so will Franson, who needs to ditch the one crucial goal-against gaffe he seems to give up on an almost nightly basis.

Up-front the Sabres are getting back to full health. Tyler Ennis came back on Monday but didn't play in the second of a back-to-back on Tuesday. The Sabres beat Dallas with him and lost to Toronto without him. Ennis is not 100% but even so Buffalo's team-speed has increased noticeably. Center Jack Eichel looks as if he's moving past the affects of the high-ankle sprain he suffered the day before the season opener and is skating real well. He had two assists last night to go along with six shots on goal he logged last night. With any decent passing from the other four players with him on the ice last night he could have upped those numbers.

Last night it looked as if the back spasms Ryan O'Reilly that have been bothering him for most of the season have abated. O'Reilly abused Wings defenseman Danny Dekeyser on the game-tying goal just minutes after Detroit took the lead. He entered the zone with a head of steam and out-battled Dekeyser in the corner by throwing him aside. After corralling the puck he circled around the net and lofted a sharp backhand to tie the score 2-2.  It's worth another look (thx, sabres.com):

O'Reilly has the ability to will a goal or a play and in-turn change the nature of a game. Back in December with the Sabres down 2-0 against Los Angeles, he single-handedly changed the momentum with a play that said "I won't be denied." (thx, samboke):



It was the first of four unanswered goals in a span of 6:13 that propelled Buffalo to a 6-3 win.

Last night's win against Detroit was Buffalo's fifth of the month, which ties both November and December for season-high and was their fourth in a row at home which extends a season high. With the two points the Sabres inched to within two points and two other teams (Tampa and New Jersey) clumped in the middle of the division and Buffalo has games in hand on all three. Unfortunately the Sabres have been a mess on the road this month going 1-3-1 so far.

Yesterday's win was the first one over a team in the division that the Sabres were chasing since defeating Detroit on December 27. Since then they dropped four in a row to divisional foes and it's one of the main reasons they haven't been able to get out of the basement.

Tonight represents a huge challenge for the club as they face the Atlantic Division-leading Montreal Canadiens that surely has noticed the challenges Buffalo is facing on defense and it will take a herculean effort from every player including Robin Lehner, who should be in goal for Buffalo tonight.

Undisciplined Flames key to Sabres 2nd victory in a row

The Calgary Flames came into Buffalo's KeyBank Center having played a lot of hockey as of late. The game against the Sabres was their fifth in seven days and the second of a road back-to-back. Calgary was in Detroit last night and came away with tough 3-2 win against the Red Wings.

One thing the Flames were intent upon doing on the second of a back-to-back, especially roadies, was playing a tight defensive game while using their speed to jump on any opportunity the Sabres may offer them. Sure enough, just over five minutes into the game the Sabres completely botched a 4-on-2 as Johan Larsson made one too many and defenseman Cody Franson waited too long to shoot and had his shot blocked. Up-ice went the Flames in a 4-on-2 the other way and Michael Frolik fed a cross-ice pass to Mikael Backlund for a 1-0 lead.

All was going well until the bottom fell out in a series of penalties that saw three Flames in the box, two of them simultaneously for two minute minors.

It began with Buffalo's Johan Larsson ticking people of like he does when he's on his game.

About half-way through the second period, a scrum after the whistle sent Larsson to the box for slashing and the Flames' Hunter Shinkaruk off for roughing against Larsson who had poked the puck into the net as the play was being blown dead. With the teams skating 4-on-4 Calgary's Troy Brouwer was caught slashing Evnader Kane and during the delayed penalty Dougie Hamilton tripped Buffalo's Rasmus Ristolainen. The result was a 4-on-3 powerplay for the Sabres for :40 seconds of the off-setting Larsson/Shinkaruk penalties. When those expired the Sabres had a 5-on-3 for 1:20.

The Sabres would convert as Sam Reinhart fed Kyle Okposo who was all alone in the slot for his sixth of the season and the game was tied 1-1 with :36 seconds left in the 2-man advantage. The play was set up when Cal O'Reilly took the Flames blueline and got the puck to Ristolainen who found Reinhart to the right of Calgary goalie Brian Elliot.

Buffalo still had 1:16 of powerplay time and they converted as Larsson tipped a Kane shot five-hole to put the Sabres up 2-1 just :36 seconds after the Okposo goal. That's right, in :36 seconds the Sabres were able to do something they hadn't done in the three previous games and five out of the prior six--score more than one goal.

And they weren't done either as Calgary's parade to the penalty box continued.

Just :53 seconds after the Larsson goal the Sabres found themselves on the powerplay again as Brouwer interfered with Buffalo's Zemgus Girgensons. Twelve seconds into the man-advantage Matt Moulson took a feed from Okposo and went top-shelf putting the Sabres up 3-1.

In a span of 1:41 the Sabres did something they hadn't done since October 30--score three goals in a game. It was just what the doctor ordered for a goal-starved team who also has had plenty of trouble at home. "The power play goals were huge for us," head coach Dan Bylsma told the gathered media post-game. "[They] let us put our most talented players on the ice and gave our team a level of comfort."

The Sabres ended up with six poweplays to none for Calgary before they were finally whistled late in the second period when Josh rookie William Carrier went off for roughing. Gorges would get the gate for cross-checking 1:23 later and the Sabres would be short two men and they would finish the period down a man.

Calgary got some life as Matthew Tkachuk scored his fifth of the season just after the Gorges penalty expired in the third but Marcus Foligno would answer with his fourth less than two minutes later for the 4-2 final score.

It was only the second time all season that the Sabers scored more than three goals.

The Calgary Flames gift-wrapped this one to the Sabres. After giving up the opening goal Bylsma said the team was gripping their sticks pretty tight. "We had a number of plays mishandled," he told the gathered media post-game. "We got the powerplay opportunities and it was a great chance for us to get some goal-scorers and get some guys that we needed to on the board."

Okposo, who got the ball rolling sounded happy and relieved after the game. "It was nice to get off the schneid a little bit for everybody," he said. "After we got that second goal, it was a big goal from our second powerplay unit."

Oddly enough, one of the players instrumental in Okposo's first goal was Ristolainen.

Buffalo's top d-man was struggling on the powerplay which included another bout with breaking his stick on a one-timer. During an early second period powerplay for the Sabres, Bylsma had Ristolainen on the bench which really didn't sit too well with the d-man. TV analysts had the coach and defenseman having words on the bench shortly thereafter.

Ristolainen would gather his senses and was a force out there the rest of the game. He drew the tripping call on the delayed penalty, calmly took the feed from O'Reilly and sent a quick tape-to-tape pass to Reinhart who fed Okposo. Ristolainen was his usual minute-eating self with a team-high 24:57 of ice-time, the assist and an even plus/minus rating.

Although the defensemen have only one goal to their collective name thus far this season, they are contributing with assists and call-up Taylor Fedun is showing how it's done while also showing some defensive acumen and finished with an even rating in 17:15 of ice-time (3:15 on the powerplay.) Fedun had two assists last night, giving him four assists in three games for the club. "We hoped he could show the poise and the puck-play on the powerplay, which he has" said Bylsma of Fedun, "but he's shown that he could defend and battle. He battled it out hard tonight on the defensive side of the puck.

"That may be a bit of a surprise for me."

For the Sabres, they're one game away from the .500-point mark as the two-game winning streak they're on raises their record to 7-8-4. But probably more importantly it should give them a boost of confidence as they finish a season-long four-game homestand against a struggling Red Wings club on Wednesday. Detroit is on a four-game losing streak, are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games and now find themselves at the bottom of the Atlantic Division one game behind the Sabres.

Can Buffalo make Bylsma's 500th game a memorable one?

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-17-2016


Head coach Dan Bylsma has been behind an NHL bench for 499 games, has a 292-160-47 record, most of that coming from behind the bench in Pittsburgh and a Stanley Cup to his resume thanks to Sidney Crosby and the rest of the 2009 Penguins.  His numbers in Buffalo are much more modest heading into tonight's game vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning at KeyBank Center as he's lead the rebuilt and still building Sabres to a 40-43-15 record in just over a season.

Despite the milestone, however, is the task at hand for Bylsma tonight. The Sabres are coming into tonight's game having gone winless in their last five games (0-3-2) and are having a boatload of trouble scoring goals. Through that five game streak the Sabres have scored a mere five goals. That trouble lighting the lamp stretches all the way back to their last three-goal game at Winnipeg on October 30. In the next eight games they've scored two goals three times, one goal four times and have been shut out once. During that stretch they've managed a 2-4-2 record while being outscored by a combined 19-10.

Only goaltending has kept this stretch from being a complete tire-fire. Robin Lehner has been rather stout for Buffalo in net having allowed only 16 goals on 218 shots against (.927 Sv%.) Worse for Lehner is that in addition to the skaters in front of him giving him no goal-support, slacking and miscommunication have lead to goals he had absolutely no chance on. Case in point. Against St. Louis with the game tied at 1-1 early in the third period, Sam Reinhart waltzed on a backcheck while his man pounced on a rebound left lying in the paint. The Blues went up 3-1 just over a minute-and-a-half later when defenseman Casey Nelson didn't skate hard on his backcheck and his man tipped one home deep in the slot.

There's really no excuse for either of those plays.

Nelson was sent back to Rochester on yesterday, a place he'd have been a long time ago had it not been for injuries on the back end. When Zach Bogosian was injured, Nelson moved from seventh d-man to the third pairing and when Dmitry Kulikov went down Nelson stuck and has been paired with call-up Justin Falk.

Falk has looked much more comfortable and has been much more aggressive the last two games, especially jumping into the play in the offensive zone. He's logged 24 shifts in each of the last two games and has a minus-one rating in them. He'll be joined on defense by former Amerks d-partner Taylor Fedun who got his first call-up of the year for Buffalo.

Fedun is a 28 yr. old Edmonton, Alberta native who's third on the Amerks in scoring this year. In 13 games for Rochester the 6'1" 198 lb. Fedun has 12 points (2+10) and also recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick against the Hartford Wolfpack (NYR) last Friday. Fedun posted a goal and three assists and also dropped the gloves for the trick. He also plays on the powerplay and was on the second PP unit for Buffalo at the morning skate according to Jourdon Labarber of Sabres.com.

Labarber also noted the following lines and d-pairings:

Evander Kane, Reinhart, Kyle Okposo
Marcus Foligno, Johan Larsson, Brian Gionta
Evan Rodrigues, Zemgus Grigensons, Matt Moulson
William Carrier, Derek Grant, Nicholas Baptiste

Rasmus Ristolainen, Josh Gorges
Cody Franxon, Jake McCabe
Falk, Fedun

Lehner gets the start in net.

Tonight marks the first of a season-long four-game homestand for Buffalo, which may not be such a good thing so far this season.

The Sabres have been lackluster at best at KeyBank this season going 1-3-2 scoring only seven goals combined in those six games while giving up 13 goals. Outside of a three-goal outburst vs. the Florida Panthers, Sabres fans at the Center have been subjected to dismal displays of hockey where Buffalo was shut out once and scored one goal three times causing many to leave early at times to avoid traffic.

The original question was whether Bylsma's players can make his 500th game a memorable one, preferably on the positive side. Buffalo caught a little break tonight as Tampa's Steven Stamkos, the league's third-leading scorer, will not play. Yet, as luck would have it, the Lightning's Jonathan Drouin is expected to return after a seven-game absence. In goal for Tampa will be starter Ben Bishop who's sporting unBishop-like numbers with a 2.94 GAA and a .902 Sv%.


***

With the Sabres and Bills in the dregs, Buffalo fans are in an ornery mood lately as hope and promise for both teams quickly faded into a cruel game of Groundhog Day. The Bills will need to come close to running the table to make the playoffs while the Sabres need to right the ship pretty quickly if they hope to make the post season.

So who are the favorite Sabres whipping boys at this point in the season?

Evander Kane, Tim Murray, Dan Bylsma, Zach Bogosian and Zemgus Girgensons seem to be the top-five with Josh Gorges and Sam Reinhart vying for dishonorable mention.

Kane is the Alabama Crimson Tide of the group as when it comes to whipping boys it's him and then everyone else for second although Murray, the Buffalo GM who traded for Kane has climbed up to rank second. While watching his team falter mightily lately despite missing his top two centers and two top-four d-men, Bylsma's is getting hit hard for not being able to right the ship, win games or play exciting hockey.

Bogosian's been injured. And that's the point, he's either injured or sucks for many. He's another reason why Murray rises up to No. 2. Bogosian and Kane came in the same package deal. Girgensons would probably be higher save for the fact that he's only making $1.15 million this season, yet WGR550 has him on their poll question of who should step up their game for the Sabres.

We've got ourselves a tough stretch in Sabreland and there's no telling if they'll get out of it any time soon.
Might be the perfect time to sit back and watch a hockey game for the sake of watching the game.

In honor of our whipping boy top-five, I offer up Ben Harper.