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.

Three-game Sabres recap, Feb. 23-29

The sucking sound you hear is the wind going out of the Buffalo Sabres sails. Prior to Monday's trade deadline the Sabres posted two convincing wins and went into the break with a solid 7-3-1 record in the month of February which was enough to convince general manager Jason Botterill to reconfigure the roster a bit instead of moving pending UFA's for low-value futures. Anyone and everyone knew that the playoffs were a longshot for Buffalo but to his credit, Botterill rewarded his team for toughing out a difficult season full of inconsistencies by showing some faith in them.

Botterill's two acquisitions at the deadline--forwards Dominik Kahun and Wayne Simmonds--replaced two forwards moved out and were as advertised. Simmonds has had two starts for Buffalo while Kahun made his Sabres debut against the Vegas Golden Knights. Kahun made a quick impression as he scored on his second shift to give the Sabres the lead against Vegas. As for Simmonds, everyone and their brother knows that he's in the latter stages of a strong career and that his production is waning, but he does provide veteran leadership and an on-ice toughness that's sorely been lacking this season.

Of the coaching search, Kane, O'Reilly and Lehner

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-18-2019


All's quiet on the Buffalo Sabres coaching front right now after Todd McLellan and Alain Vigneault were hired by the Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers, respectively. Of the two, only McLellan was a consideration by the Sabres as he came in for an interview while his son was in the NCAA Frozen Four being held in Buffalo. Nothing came of it as reports suggest that the Sabres didn't even make him an offer.

If you're a fan like myself who is interested in seeing Buffalo hire a veteran hockey coach, pickins is mighty slim and none seem very appealing with a list that includes Mike Yeo, Todd Richards and Michel Therrien, among others. Former Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff's name has come up for whatever reason in Sabreland, mostly nostalgia, but it's a ship that's sailed even though I'd pick him over any of the "retreads" available on the coaching market right now.

It's not a good situation for the Sabres be in as they just finished a disastrous two-year stint with a rookie head coach and, barring any unforeseen firings of 2019 NHL playoff coaches, right now that's about the only thing left on the market. Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe seems to be the front-runner for a NHL job while back-to-back NCAA Champion head coach Scott Sandelin of Minnesota-Duluth might be the other hot rookie candidate. Rochester Americans head coach Chris Taylor's name is always mentioned but as of now there have been no reports of the team contacting him about the position, and there's a possibility he may not be interested in the job at this time. Also, Sweden national coach Rickard Gronborg's name is getting hot for a head coaching position in the NHL and the Sabres have been said to be interested in him dating back to last season.

It's quite the pickle general manager Jason Botterill has himself in right now and barring an unforeseen veteran coach hitting the market soon, we're in a situation where we could see another head coach go down the drain over the next few years and in the process the Sabres might be looking for another GM.

Considering the circumstances the Sabres find themselves in right now, the ideal situation in this bloggers eyes would be for any potential rookie head coach, if that's what it comes down to, to be surrounded by veteran assistants who command the respect of the players.

Impressions of, and questions concerning--G, Robin Lehner

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-18-2018


Goalie--Robin Lehner
DOB:  July 24, 1991 (Age, 27)
Draft:  2009, 2nd round (46th-overall) Ottawa
How acquired:  June 26, 2015 Draft-day trade with Ottawa
Last contract signed:  1yr./$4 million
Final year of contract:  2017-18 (RFA)


2017-18- Stats:  53 games played | 14 wins | 26 losses |  9 OT | 3.01 GAA | .908 SV% | 3 shutouts

Buffalo Career Stats:  133 games | 42 wins | 61 losses | 22 OT | 2.77 GAA | .916 SV% | 6 shutouts

The off season is just a weekend away.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-5-2018


It's a sure sing of spring lately. The Augusta, GA bloom fills the Masters with the joys of spring while the Buffalo Sabres are shining up their golf clubs for yet another early off season. It will be the seventh year in a row that the Sabres have missed the playoffs and it will be the third time in the last five years that Buffalo will finish dead last. Further ignominy lies in the fact, as someone pointed out, that the Sabres will be the first team ever to finish in 31st place as the Vegas Golden Knights entered the league this year.

Having said that, most here felt a sense of "Mission Accomplished" as Buffalo secured last place with a loss vs. the 30th place Ottawa Senators last night. With that loss the Sabres will have an 18.5% chance of winning the lottery and about a 50/50 chance of landing a pick in the top three. Buffalo, like every other team in the league, would have heart palpitations at the thought of landing the first overall pick and being able to draft a franchise defenseman in Rasmus Dahlin. Yet even if they drop to second or third, they'll still be able to land an impact player at a position of need as wingers Filip Zadina and Andrei Svechnikov.

At worst the Sabres will be drafting fourth overall meaning one of forward Brady Tkachuk or defenseman Adam Boqvist or Quntin Hughes will be there for the taking. So all is not lost.

However, what's been lost in this season, is a sense of winning and it has to be affecting the players. This is Jack Eichel's third season and the Sabres have regressed to where they were when they drafted him. Sam Reinhart and Ryan O'Reilly have been here three seasons, Zemgus Girgensons the last five. In his 31 Thoughts piece for Sportsnet.ca, writer Elliotte Friedman had plenty to say about Buffalo and wrote that he talked to some players with one of them saying, “Look at Rasmus Ristolainen. He’s a really good player. But he’s been here the longest. [Losing is] all he knows.”

Friedman also said he had a long chat with Sabres GM Jason Botterill concerning teams taking advantage of Eichel's on-ice frustrations, to which Botterill replied, “You just want see him have some success. We need to win games. It’s not just Jack’s team. We need to help him. Teammates need to help him. When he is challenged, he responds in a good way. You talk about changing culture. How do you do that? You can’t always just trade for it.

"That’s why it’s so important that Rochester made the playoffs. Those young players are going to understand what it is like to play meaningful games, what it takes to win them.”

The Rochester Americans were a major emphasis for Botterill and his AGM/Amerks GM, Randy Sexton. They basically rebuilt that team from scratch with only a handful of players from the previous season and got them to the playoffs. It's the first time in three seasons Rochester has made the AHL post season.

In building that team, Botterill brought in some veteran with proven track records in scoring and/or leadership. Keving Porter, Zach Redmond (whom Botterill traded for,) Seth Griffith, Sahir Gill and Kyle Criscuolo all have had individual and/or team success at the AHL-level and were brought in to carry much of the weight as the Sabres youngins get a feel for the way Botterill wants to see them play.

Porter is the Amerks' captain and was with Botterill when they were in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization.  "He's a player I'm very familiar with," said Botterill back on July 1 after signing Porter and a host of other players. "[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."

Two years ago Sullivan took over as coach of the Penguins in mid-season and guided them to the first of two consecutive Stanley Cups.

The Sabres just called Porter up from Rochester on Tuesday but he did not dress for Buffalo's home finale', but the media caught up with him today at Key Bank Center. Porter was asked what it means to have a winning team AHL team coupled with a last place NHL team. "There's going to be four, five, six, seven guys from that team coming up here," Porter said in response. "If they're used to losing, it's going to continue up here. But if we can get down there and go on a long playoff run and hopefully win a Calder Cup, that experience for them is going to translate up here."

There will be changes for the Sabres this off season as Botterill fashions his team his way. He took over a Sabres club that seemed more geared towards a Western Conference style of player featuring big bodies and heavies. That didn't work out too well in Buffalo and we've seen first hand that there will need to be a lot of turnover for him to fashion a team based upon speed, quickness, and skill. "We’ll make some changes,” Botterill told Friedman, “because you can’t come back with the same group. We have talent, but we don’t have consistency."


*****

With the off season just around the corner, it looks as if goalie Robin Lehner may have played his last game in Buffalo as he stayed back while his Sabres teammates boarded a plane for Florida where they'll play the last two games of the season. Although it's not official, the pending restricted free agent has not had a great season by any stretch of the imagination and it seems as if Botterill and Co. might be ready to hand the team over to Linus Ullmark.

Lehner played some solid hockey for the Sabres, albeit, rather inconsistent, especially this season. The thing about the 26 yr. old, who was traded for by former GM Tim Murray, is that the team traded the 21st pick in the 2015 NHL Draft for him and there would always be that cloud hanging over him because of it. In many, if not most, fan's minds, trading a first round pick for a goalie is taboo. For the record, the player taken in that spot by the Senators was forward Colin White who has spent most of the past two seasons with the Senators AHL affiliate and has played in 21 games for the big club.

The bottom line with Lehner it just didn't work out in Buffalo. His first year with the Sabres he was injured right off the bat, was resectable upon his return, but finished the season injured. He was the designated No. 1 goalie last season playing in a career most 59 games while putting up solid numbers despite a losing record. Last off season he was an RFA and signed a one-year deal stating that he proved everything he needed to prove in 2016-17.

But this season was a mess for him as he watched his goal-against average go to 3.01 and his save percentage fall to .908. Granted, Lehner didn't get much help, but he just looked awkward on way too many occasions and gave up way too many softies. It might be safe to say that he didn't trust his teammates on defense nor did his teammates really trust him in net.

It would be surprising if Lehner re-signed with Buffalo.


*****

The Sabres have some really good prospects that are moving up the ranks. Center Casey Mittelstadt actually jumped the ranks going from college freshman to the NHL. Where the eighth-overall pick in 2017 lands next year is up in the air, but Botterill told Friedman that he likes Eichel, O'Reilly and Mittelstadt down the middle. I believe there are many in Sabreland, myself included, who like that trio of center.

Botterill also mentioned free agent signee C.J. Smith who leads the Amerks with 17 goals and West Seneca, NY native Sean Malone whom he thinks will “carve out a role here (in Buffalo,) the way he is going.” And, of note, was a quick mention of Victor Olofsson, a 2014 seventh round draft pick (181st) who led the Swedish Hockey League in goals with 27 this past year. Nothing has been heard concerning the signing of the 22 yr. old but Botterill told Friedman, “We’d like to give him a look, see if he can score here with our guys.”

Of those who've gained valuable NHL experience this season, Brendan Guhle and Casey Nelson looked to have carved out a spot on the roster next season as did winger Nicolas Baptiste and forward Evan Rodrigues.

That's seven new, full-time faces for Buffalo next season, not including Ullmark, and possibly another should they land in the top-three of this year's draft and select any of three NHL-ready players.

Strike while the iron's hot with Robin Lehner

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-5-2018


Buffalo Sabres starting goaltender Robin Lehner has emerged from a deep slump that hit him hard last month. Lehner was yanked after allowing four goals on 19 shots in the 7-1 Dallas Stars rout over the Sabres back on January 20, his fourth poor outing in five appearances, but since then he's been a wall. In his last four games Lehner has allowed three goals on 123 shots (.976 save percentage) which includes back-to-back shutouts in the midst of going a career-best 145:15 without allowing a goal.

Yet, thanks to the team in front of him, he's only 2-2-0 during that stretch.

Word from our insiders is that Lehner's name has not come up at the foot of Washington St. when it comes to the team moving him. The 26 yr. old veteran of 205 NHL games is a pending restricted free agent who carries a $4 million cap-hit, which is very manageable when prorated for the remainder of the season. Lehner's starting ability and his manageable pro-rated cap-hit might be very appealing to a team looking for a rental goalie.

For a while now, there have been two teams said to be looking at goaltenders for the stretch run and beyond--the Chicago Blackhawks and NY Islanders. The Hawks lost Corey Crawford indefinitely back in December and their backup goalies have struggled with inconsistency as of late. Chicago is 3-5-2 in their last 10 and they're five points out of the last wild card spot in the Western Conference with four teams to jump.

The New York Islanders are right on the precipice of the second wild card spot in the East and are said to be desperate to not only make the playoffs, but also make a deep run to help entice franchise center John Tavares to re-sign this off season. Starter Jaroslav Halak has had a tough go of it this season, and although he seems to have turned it around, they may still have some question marks with him in net while backup Thomas Greiss has seen his numbers take a precipitous drop this season (3.94 goals-against average, .883 Sv%.) Add it all up and the Islanders are on the playoff buble scoring an NHL third-best 3.28 goals/game but giving up an NHL-worst 3.60 goals/game.

NHL.com added another interesting twist to the goalie market when they wrote that the surging Pittsburgh Penguins might want to upgrade their backup goalie situation. Starter Matt Murray is a two-time Cup-winning goalie who has struggled somewhat this season but has established himself as a money goalie come playoff time. The Pens are presently in third place in the Metropolitan Division and are chasing a bit of history as they're trying to become the first team since the 1980-83 NY Islanders to win three straight Stanley Cups.

Twenty-two year old Tristian Jarry has been solid, if somewhat inconsistent, in a backup role for the Pens after getting the call from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton back in November and yo-yoing a bit since while Casey DeSmith shows promise (5-3-0 record, 2.23 GAA, .926 Sv%) albeit in a very small sample size. So it does make sense that Pittsburgh might be in the market for a veteran backup.

Two names have consistently been mentioned as goalies who could be on the move between now and the February 26 trade deadline are Lehner and Detroit starter Petr Mrazek. Carolina veteran Cam Ward (a Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe winner) has also been mentioned but has taken back the starting role for a Hurricanes' team with designs on a playoff push.

The case for Lehner to any of these teams is rather simple. In Buffalo he's needed to play a near perfect game to get a win as the Sabres are the lowest scoring team in the league (2.25 g/gm.) Lehner has an 11-20-6 record with those 20 losses being the most in the league and has a 2.80 goals-against average that's 20th in the league amongst goalies playing in 30 or more games. He's faced 1140 shots (14th-most) and his .914 Sv% is 13th in the league amongst goalies playing in 30 or more games.

All three of the Islanders (3rd,) Penguins (11th) and Blackhawks (13th) are in the upper portion of the league in scoring while the Blackhawks have the league's 18th best GAA (2.77.) As mentioned the Islanders are last in team goals-against while the Penguins rank 21st (2.98.)

What does this all mean?

Not much if the Sabres aren't going to move Lehner, but if they are (and I really think they will pull the trigger) then those are three teams who may be interested in his services at this time.

Buffalo won't be asking (or receiving) the moon for Lehner in a trade, but a second rounder or mid-level prospect might not be out of the question either. The Islanders have two firsts and two seconds (courtesy the Calgary Flames) in the upcoming draft so a second-rounder wouldn't kill them. The Pittsburgh Penguins have a second-round pick but are missing a third and their own fourth in the draft. They're also said to be looking for bottom-six center depth, of which the Sabres have some.

The Chicago Blackhawks don't have a second round pick but they might have a couple of mid-level d-prospects in Lucas Carlsson or Carl Dahlstrom that might be of interest to the Sabres.

The trade deadline is inching nearer and as has been the case for a while, Sabres GM Jason Botterill is said to be listening to offers for every one of his NHL player's not named Jack Eichel. So it's safe to assume that includes Lehner.

Gamenight. Finally. Plus, Bogosian, Nelson and Lehner

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-18-2018


If it seems like it's been a long time between games for the Buffalo Sabres, it has. Buffalo has been on their bye week since a 3-1 win vs. Columbus and based upon what we've been seeing within the last few threads, hockey's return in Sabreland couldn't come soon enough. For as bad as the Sabres have been for most of the season, discussing players, systems and coaching ends up being much less personal than, say, things like politics.

It's off the 'bye week' and into Madison Square Gardens tonight as Buffalo takes on the NY Rangers at 7:30 pm on NBCSN. In their only other meeting this season, the Rangers topped Buffalo 3-2 in overtime at CitiField in the 10th Winter Classic on January 1. The Sabres are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games vs. NY and 4-4-2 on the road.

The Rangers are fourth in the Metropolitan Division, two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets and are in the first wildcard slot, tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins (who have played two more games,) one point ahead of the NY Islanders. The Blueshirts, who went through a re-tool this past off season, have been riding the back of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist who's faced the second-most shots in the league (1115.) His .924 save percentage is tied for third amongst goaltenders who have played in 20 or more games and after his 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, Lundqvist became the first goalie in NHL history to win 20 games 13 consecutive seasons.


*****

Buffalo heads into the game tonight as the league's 30th place team with a league-low 2.41 goals/per game, a number of players who might be dealt at the trade deadline and d-corps that's been depleted by injury and/or illness.

The big hit to the blueline came when Zach Bogosian went down during an intense practice just over a week ago. Bogosian, who started out the season injured, is expected to be out at least another four weeks with a lower body injury.

It's been rough and rocky travelling for Bogosian, a former first round pick (2008, 3rd-overall) of the Atlanta Flames. His time in Buffalo has been marked by inconsistent play, with some of it being unwatchable, as the Sabres are saddled with a nearly immovable contract that carries a cap-hit of $5.14 million for the next two seasons.

Since acquiring him in February, 2015 the NHL has relied less on his rugged style of play from the back end and more on speed and finesse leaving Bogosian searching for his game. The East is loaded with speed and his bruiser mentality seems to have gotten lost in the quick Lilliputians skating circles around him. Bogosian may be better suited to the Western Conference where there's still a lot of speed, but size and a heavy style of play can still be effective vs. much of the conference.

Word on the street (viaWGR550's Howard Simon) is that the Los Angeles Kings might be interested in Bogosian or fellow Sabres d-man Josh Gorges, among a few others, to help bolster their blueline. The Kings have about $3.8 million in cap-space this season so the Sabres would need to eat a good portion, probably half, for it to work out financially for Los Angeles.

Methinks that if the Kings wanted to work a deal for Bogosian, Sabres GM Jason Botterill would jump at it.


*****

In addition to Bogosian, the Sabres also have had the flu bug hit two defensemen.

Rookie Victor Antipin got it in December and that bout helped extend the number of games since he's played to 10 games. Antipin was a healthy scratch in the two games prior to the Christmas break and missed the last eight as a result of his bout with the flu. He said he lost 10 pounds during his illness and during the bye week he's been trying to add weight and strength for a return to the lineup.

Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu missed practice yesterday and won't play tonight as he's listed as day-to-day with an illness.

With Bogosian and Beaulieu out and Antipin a game-time decision, the Sabres were down to five healthy defensemen--Rasmus Ristolainen, Marco Scandella, Jake McCabe, Justin Falk and Gorges--so they called up Casey Nelson from the Rochester Americans.

Nelson was a 2016 free agent signee who played in seven games for the Sabres registering four assists through a three-game point-streak to start his NHL career. Many thought he could jump right in but he had a terrible go of it in 11 appearances early in the 2016-17 season and was sent to Rochester for seasoning. It took a while for him to get acclimated, but finished his rookie season with 21 points (7+14) in 56 games but had a minus-10 plus/minus rating. This year he's been playing bigger minutes, has 11 points (2+9) in 37 games and leads the team with a plus-11 rating.

The well-earned promotion has Nelson excited and somewhat nervous. After yesterday's practice he told the gathered media that he's "just going to go out there and try to stay loose and hopefully capitalize on this opportunity."

This wouldn't be the first time that Nelson bounced back from a rough start. He had a rough go of it his first season at Minnesota State and spent plenty of time out of the lineup early in his freshman year. But according to his coach, Mike Hastings, instead of pooh, poohing, Nelson "immersed himself" in preparation and by the end of his junior year was one of the most sought after college free agents.

Nelson came to the pros as an offensive, puck-moving defenseman but has spent the last season-and-a-half working on his defensive game. When asked if he felt the improvement in his game, he said, "absolutely, especially on defense.

"I don't have a lot of chances on the powerplay this year, which is fine, because my game has totally changed on the backend," he continued. "I just feel more comfortable out there."


*****

Yesterday we brought up a potential trade destination for Buffalo goalie Robin Lehner--the NY Islanders--were the Sabres interested in trading him. However, with word out that Corey Crawford may be done for the season in Chicago, it would seem as if the Blackhawks may also be a possible landing spot.

Reporter Paul Skrbina of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "with the trade deadline looming Feb. 26 and the playoff race thick, finding a trading partner could be dicey for the Hawks." Skrbina then offered up a few goalies "who will be free agents after this season, should the Hawks find a willing trade partner, most likely a team that isn’t in playoff contention"--Lehner, Petr Mrazek (DET,) and Annti Raanta (ARI.)

The Hawks are three points out of the second wild card spot in the Western Conference, but are also right up against the cap-ceiling. However, they could get some relief if they put Crawford on long-term injured reserve.

It might be something to keep an eye on.

Buffalo's bye week is a good time to talk about the future

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-17-2018


Sure, the Buffalo Sabres entered their bye week with a 3-1 win over a very good Columbus Blue Jackets team. As a refresher, the Sabres pumped 15 shots on net in the first period against the Jackets and headed into intermission with a 1-0 lead. Columbus gathered their druthers and began to right the ship peppering goalie Linus Ullmark with 34 shots on goal over the final two periods. Ullmark, an AHL All-Star who'd been called up the game before but didn't play, withstood the barrage allowing only one goal and left the ice with the win and the game's first star. Benoit Pouliot, Kyle Okposo and Jack Eichel (empty net) scored for the Sabres for their first win in 2018 (1-4-1.)

That performance coupled with the work he's been doing since coming to North America since 2015, has the 24 yr. old Ullmark looking like a big part of the future for the Sabres. As does rookie defenseman Brendan Guhle.

Guhle made his first Sabres appearance of the season and once again, did not look out of place. The Sabres have him on a development curve that should see him as a full-time fixture on the back-end beginning next season. As he's shown at every level, the 20 yr. old is an exceptional skater with great on-ice vision, a nose for open areas and the ability to finish. He's also pretty good in his own end while using his closing-speed, smarts and stickwork as well as his 6'3" 196 lb. frame (which still has plenty of room for growth.)

In 16:10 of ice-time against the Jackets, Guhle had an assist, his first-ever NHL point, and was a plus-2.

Buffalo is off until Thursday when they head to Madison Square Gardens to face off against the NY Rangers who are coming off of a pretty impressive 5-1 home win vs. the Philadelphia Flyers. During the last five days of their mandated bye week, the Sabres front office has had some time to look back on what's transpired this season as well as look forward to the February 26 trade deadline and beyond to the 2018 NHL Draft. They've had 44 games to evaluate the roster to see who will fit in moving forward and how GM Jason Botterill and company approach the future begins now.

Here are some of the things they've had plenty of time to discuss:


Where should Guhle play coming out of the bye?

Buffalo's defense-corps has been suspect at best but seemed to settle in a bit when Zach Bogosian came off of injury and was back in the lineup. However, Bogosian is once again injured and will be  out another month or so.

Guhle has all the tools to successfully play in the NHL and might be the best defenseman on the team other than Rasmus Ristolainen. There's an easy case for Guhle to be sent back to Rochester, which includes (unfortunately) helping the Sabres secure a low finish and increasing their odds of landing a top-three pick in the draft.

Then again, as part of his development a lengthy exposure to the NHL game, especially with teams upping the intensity in a playoff run, could really set him up for success next season. I don't buy that being exposed to this team will kill his development. He's got too much going for him to be dragged down by any pettiness and anger that might infect the locker room through the remaining 37 games.


Speaking of Bogosian

When former GM Tim Murray traded for Bogosian as part of the Evander Kane deal, there was reason for optimism. The fleet-footed bruiser of a d-man with a cannon for a shot and a willingness to stand up for his teammates added an edge to a team in desperate need of one. Bogosian had a good start to his career in Buffalo, but a multitude of injuries and inconsistent play have left many to believe he should be moved. However, the problem with trading him is his contract which has two years remaining after this season at a $5.14 million cap-hit.

As has been proven in the past, anything can be done and there may be an out from Buckeye country.

Recent reports have Jackets' defenseman Jack Johnson wanting out. The 31 yr. old isn't getting enough playing time heading into free agency this off season. Johnson was reportedly looking to cash-in this summer after most of his earnings up to this point were frittered away by his parents who made a number of highly questionable moves with his finances.

Although Buffalo isn't the ideal place for him and his $4.34 million cap-hit, there's no reason the left-handed defenseman couldn't be placed on the top-pairing for the Sabres for the rest of the season to prove what he's got. With a Columbus having such a young team and the cap-ceiling not much of a worry this season, taking on an extra $1 million in salary and eventually placing Bogosian on the third-pairing could very well work.

Other things might need to be added on one side or the other, but it's a situation where both teams could benefit from those two as the primary pieces in what could basically be a hockey trade.


The NY Islanders and Robin Lehner

Sabres goalie Robin Lehner will be a restricted free agent at season's end and he probably won't be back in Buffalo. Botterill gave him a one-year deal in the summer and Lehner has given him an uneven season up until this point.

That said, when Lehner's on, he's outstanding.

The NY Islanders have a huge problem on their hands when it comes to franchise center John Tavares who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. They've been building around him for years and only recently have they become playoff contenders.

The Isles have been an offensive juggernaut this season (3.39 goals/game) second only to the Tampa Bay Lightning (3.61) who have lit the league on fire. Tavares leads the charge with Josh Bailey and rookie Matthew Barzal lighting things up as well. But the problem with the team has been defense and goaltending as they're dead-last in the league with a 3.36 team goals-against average with the worst goaltending tandem in the league.

Jaroslav Halak is their starter and is only 13-13-2 on the second-highest scoring team in the league with a 3.22 goals against average and .906 save percentage. Back-up Thomas Greiss is even worse with a 3.89 GAA and .886 Sv%.

Lehner, who backstops the lowest scoring team in the league (2.25) has a 2.94 GAA and .910 Sv% that was only brought down recently.

Most people think there's a fit there and with the Islanders holding two first round picks and two second round picks in the upcoming draft, perhaps a second-rounder to Buffalo for Lehner is a small price to pay in helping convince Tavares they want him on the team moving forward.


Are they really going to get that much for Evander Kane.

Evander Kane is a pending UFA and word on the street is that the Sabres are looking for four pieces in a potential deal.

I'd be thrilled with a first-rounder and a mid-upper level prospect. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake. Perhaps the added pieces are an added pick or prospect to take on a dead-weight contract.


A decision needs to be made on Victor Oloffson

Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com opened up his weekly sabres.com Prospects Report with Victor Oloffson, a seventh-round pick of Buffalo's (181st) in 2014. The 22 yr. old winger leads the Sweden's top professional hockey league with 21 goals and is 10th in the SHL with 32 points.

Baker called him a "mainstay on the Swedish scoresheets" while also pointing out that Oloffson's "lightning quick release" has him scoring his 21 goals on only 103 shots (20.3%.)

The Sabres need to make a decision on him this year or lose his rights. Methinks there should be a place for him in the organization next season.

Quick notes plus, reports of blowups at today's practice

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-10-2018


The Sabres announced today that they'll be wearing the Winter Classic-style jerseys three more times this season:

--Thursday, Feb. 8 against the New York Islanders
--Monday, Feb. 19 against the Washington Capitals
--Wednesday, April 4 against the Ottawa Senators (Fan Appreciation Night)

Sabres PR also noted that on they'll be giving away a Winter Classic themed jersey towel at the Feb. 19 game and on Fan Appreciation Night, select fans will receive the Winter Classic-style jerseys worn by the players that night in their annual "Jersey Off My Back" promotion.


*****

Last night's 7-4 blowout loss to the Winnipeg Jets offered up some interesting stats.

Jack Eichel (2g, 1a,)  Ryan O'Reilly (1+2) and Kyle Okposo (3 assists) all had three points and paced the forwards in time on ice at 20:57, 20:04 and 20:05, respectively.

Eichel and O'Reilly lead the team with six shots on goal each while Okposo had three.

All three were on the ice when former Sabre Joel Armia scored an empty net goal in Buffalo's 7-4 loss placing a minus-1 in each plus/minus rating.

Eichel was on the ice for seven of the game's 11 goals:  three of Buffalo's four (with one on the powerplay) and four of Winnipeg's seven (three at even strength and the Armia empty-netter.)

Okposo was on the ice for six total goals:  three Sabres goals-for (two even-strength, one on the powerplay) and was on the ice for two even-strength goals against and the Armia goal.)

O'Reilly was on the ice for four goals total:  two even strength goals by Buffalo and one on the Sabres powerplay plus the empty-netter against.

At the end of the night Eichel was a minus-2, Okposo a minus-1 and O'Reilly was one of three Sabres players in the plus column at plus-1.

The others at plus-1 were Jake McCabe (18:49 TOI,) Jason Pominville (17:51) and Rasmus Ristolainen with a game-high 27:07 minutes played.

Buffalo's worst plus/minus last night belonged to the defense-pairing of Zach Bogosian and Nathan Beaulieu at minus-3 each. Bogosian skated a total of 18:05 was on the ice with Beaulieu for three goals against and was also on the ice for both Winnipeg powerplay goals.


*****

Defenseman Brendan Guhle started off his first Sabres game of the season by taking a penalty on his second shift of the game which lead to goal by Winnipeg which opened the scoring. However, once he got acclimated, he was flying up and down the ice in a way that did not go unnoticed.

Sabres bench boss Phil Housley was on WGR550 Radio this morning talking with the hosts and you could tell in his voice that he was really excited about what the 20 yr. old Guhle brought to the table. "It was great the way he stepped out from behind our own net and just attacked the game, beating the forechecker, carrying the puck up ice with just his speed. When he was getting involved in the offensive zone his reads were real good.

"I liked the way he jumped in, got down low and had guys covering for him, but even when he got caught down low he could use his speed to get back and recover. That's a great aspect of his game.

Guhle skated 17:45 last night and put up zeros across the board (including plus/minus,) with the one penalty and had three shots on goal.


*****

Housley ripped into his entire team after last night's loss and called his team out for lackadaisical play geared towards individual numbers. Here's how he put it to the gathered media last night:

"The thing for me – and it's very evident and I continue to talk about it – is our lack of respect and urgency playing defense. That's not only in the defensive zone. That starts in the offensive zone, sensing possession that's going to be in question, have a total urgency to get back. And we sit and wait at times. We're hoping that somebody's going to make a play.

"We don't get back, and then their D are ahead of us. That's where it starts, and then it gets back into our defensive zone. There's going to be times where you're going to have to sustain some defensive-zone pressure from other teams, but it's just having that urgency to kill a play, to suck it up and play solid defense."

Which is somewhat ironic considering that Housley, an offensive-minded defenseman who made it to the Hockey Hall of Fame because of his individual numbers, was never known for his defense either. In fact, during his first couple of seasons, Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman used him on the wing because his defense was so terrible.


*****

WGR Sabres beat reporter Paul Hamilton said last night post-game that what Housley described was the same thing we've been seeing often over the course of the last five years or so.

Sorry, Paul. You're wrong.

It goes back farther than that, to Darcy Regier's core post Drury/Briere. It's something that happened quite often at home even with a tough coach like Lindy Ruff in charge. More often than not that group of talented individual players were more interested in fancy plays to put on a show for the home crowd and more often than not, they ended up losing, sometimes in a very ugly fashion like we saw last night.


*****

The goalie during that time was Ryan Miller, a former Vezina Trophy winner who was booed and/or given a Bronx cheer on more than one occasion during the last stages of his Buffalo career. Miller was often left hung out to dry by the skaters in front of him and there were many times in-game where he'd come up big. But there were also times where he'd let in a softie or three.

Robin Lehner is similar in that respect as he's come up with some big saves only to let in some stoppable goals.

Last night was an awful game for him as he allowed three goals--two egregious softies and one that  real good goalie should have had--on 17 shots against. Fortunately for him (and unfortunately for the team,) the KeyBank Center crowd is so accustomed to performances like this (a 5-11-3 Sabres home record) that remained without emotionless while Chad Johnson relieved Lehner.

Housley, who's tried to act like nurturing mother through this dismal season, didn't mince words when it came to Lehner's performance. The first thing out of is mouth at last night's post-game presser was delivered with a furrowed brow and a deep sigh before saying, "Well, first of all, we're gonna need some saves, you know, early on in the game."

Ouch.


*****

The Sabres scored on the powerplay. Yay!

Buffalo went into the game with the league's second worst powerplay at 12.4% then proceeded to go 1-3 on the night with the man advantage moving them to 12.9% on the year. The only team worse is the Columbus Blue Jackets (12.2%) who are presently second in the Metropolitan Division. Buffalo is second-last in the league.


*****

The losses are starting to take their toll.

Word from today's practice via Paul Hamilton had Evander Kane and Justin Falk in an on-ice altercation before the coaches pulled Falk away. Also from the practice this morning, WKBW's Matthew Bove reports that Bogosian slammed hard into the boards and was helped off the ice favoring his left leg. Apparently he got tangled along the wall with Kane.

Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times reported that Falk "yelled at Kane, called him selfish and shoved him."

Housley's reaction thanks to those on the scene, "It's good to see some emotion. It was a battle practice and tempers flared up. It was more the heat of the battle."

And, from the Falk, via Hamilton, "To be quite honest I think it's healthy. We're pushing each other, we're honest with each other, we're up front with each other, there's no B.S. behind anything and that's just the way you have to have it."

Sabres finish off three-game homestand tonight before yeilding to 2018 WJC

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-22-2017


The Buffalo Sabres will close out a three-game homestand tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers, a team they faced off against just over a week ago. In that game, Buffalo was looking to extend their points-streak to five games for the first time since 2012 but were throttled 2-1 in that game. Ryan O'Reilly scored just 1:29 into the game, but Flyers goalie Brian Elliott shut the door on them the rest of the way.

This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and the Flyers this year and the conclusion of the series will take place on January 7 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The Sabres are 4-5-1 in their last 10 versus the Flyers, an identical 4-5-1 in their last 10 meetings in Buffalo. Last year the Sabres went 1-1-1 vs the Flyers losing the first meeting in the shootout after blowing a three-goal third period lead (all on the powerplay,) winning the next one 4-1 (at home,) then getting blown out 6-3 at home to conclude the season series.

The Sabres come into this game on a three-game losing streak that began with that 2-1 loss at Philly. They lost 5-4 in overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes the following night, then got shut out 3-0 by the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. Head coach Phil Housley changed his lines after the 'Canes game, even though his team scored four goals, and they came up empty in the shutout loss vs. the Bruins. And he's at it again.

According to reports from the morning skate, Housley moved Sam Reinhart and Zemgus Girgensons, both of whom were on the fourth line against Boston, up to the top line with Jack Eichel. Evander Kane moved from the Eichel line to the O'Reilly line meaning Benoit Pouliot is back in the bottom six. Rookie Evan Rodrigues gets the night in the press box in favor of Scott Wilson.

These were the lines at the skate:

Kane - O'Reilly - Okposo
Girgensons - Eichel - Reinhart
Pouliot - Josefson - Pominville
Nolan - Larsson - Wilson

Housley also juggled his defense a bit by sitting Victor Antipin who'd been getting his groove on as of late, in favor of Josh Gorges. These were the defense pairings this morning:

Scandella-Ristolainen
McCabe-Bogosian
Georges-Beaulieu

Robin Lehner looks to get the nod in net tonight.

Speaking of Lehner, he's been a veritable wall as of late. In his last six games he's faced 217 shots and allowed only 13 goals (.940 save percentage.) He's given up three goals twice in that span--vs. Chicago and St. Louis consecutively--and faced 96 shots in those two games for a .937 Sv%. The Sabres forwards haven't given him a lot of love during that stretch as they managed to score only 12 goals, which is right about where their lowly 2.12 goals/game average is at right now, and Lehner left the crease with a 2-2-2 record.

After tonight the Sabres hit the road for the next seven games although one of them, the Winter Classic, is treated as a home game despite the fact that they player the NY Rangers at City Field in...New York City.

Go figure.


*****

While the Sabres are on the road, the city of Buffalo will be hosting the World Junior Championship for the first time since 2011. Housley was an assistant coach for the Bronze Medal winning USA team that year and he would coach Team USA to the gold medal two years later in Ufa, Russia.

The Sabres look to have five prospects participating in the 2018 WJC:

USA--C, Casey Mittelstadt, (2017, 8th-overall)
SWE--LW, Alexander Nylander (2016, 8th)
SWE--C, Marcus Davidsson (2017, 37th)
FIN--G, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (2017, 54th)
CZE--D, Vojtech Budik (2016, 130th)

Mittelstadt is in his freshman year at the University of Minnesota and has 17 points (5+12) in 19 games for the 10th-ranked Golden Gophers. Davidsson is playing in the top league in Sweden and the 19 yr. old has nine points (2+7) in 23 games. The 18 yr. old Luukkonen has spent most of his season on loan to LeKi in Mestis, Finland's second highest league. Budick skates with the Prince Albert Raiders of the CHL's Western Hockey League where the defenseman has 11 points (2+9) and a plus-1 rating in 32 games.

The Sabres announced earlier this week that they're loaning Nylander to Team Sweden. Buffalo's 2016 first-round pick has been struggling in the AHL and was injured this summer. The loan is good for Sweden and they added a strong piece to a team that's a favorite to medal and it should be good for him. With those struggles in Rochester with the Americans, confidence could be waning and putting him in a tournament that he's very familiar with while playing against his peers, could help him get back on track.

The WJC is always a big thing for hockey fans as these are the stars of the future all in one tournament. Plus there's a continued rivalry between the US and Canada which will be heightened a bit this season as they take their preliminary round matchup outdoors. On December 29, the two teams will hook up at New Era Field in Orchard Park, NY, home of the NFL's Buffalo Bills.

The World Junior Championships run from December 26-January 5 with the other games being held at KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, and the adjacent HarborCenter.

Sabres in Columbus on NBCSN tonight

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-25-2017


The Buffalo Sabres jumped on a plane right after their 1-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings at KeyBank Center last night and headed to Buckeye Country for a game tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Last night’s win wasn’t without flaws, as they caught the Wings on a four-game winless streak (0-3-1,) but Buffalo had to gut this one out with a desperate Detroit team. The Wings came out strong on the heels of a tongue-lashing by head coach Jeff Blashill who called them out after a 4-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on home ice Sunday. “Brutal effort,” Blashill said to the gathered media as he began his press conference after the 'Nucks game. “I thought it was an embarrassing effort. Not even close to the level of competitiveness that you have to have. We should be embarrassed of ourselves. For me at the top all the way on down. We got outcompeted, outworked, out-detailed.” 

 

That wasn't about to happen last night at Buffalo as Blashill's Wings played a strong game with only one blemish on the night. Buffalo's Benoit Pouliot scored the only goal of the game as jumped on a loose puck behind the net then raced around to stuff it past Wings goalie Jimmy Howard. Unfortunately for the Wings, none of their 32 shots on goal got past Buffalo netminder Robin Lehner. Howard also faced 32 shots and lost for the first time ever in his career against the Sabres. He came into the game with an 8-0-1 record and a 1.46 GAA in 10 games vs. Buffalo.

 

As for the Sabres, they're continuing to improve, especially on the back end where the duo of Rasmus Ristolainen (29:55 TOI) and Marco Scandella (27:30) anchored a progressing defense-corps. That time on ice also included both playing the final 2:33 with Buffalo up by one goal. The whole team played really sound defense as Buffalo continues to simplify their game. "I think we played a good game," said Lehner to the gathered media afterward, "I think we played the right way. We followed the game plan."

 

Lehner did point out that through the first ten minutes of the game the Sabres reverted back to their early-season form, "forcing pucks up the middle [with the Wings] turning it back around." He also used last Saturday's come from behind win at Boston as an example of what this team can do when they play the right way. "The game in Boston wasn't like a wake-up call," he said, "but I think it really showed [that] when we play our game, we're successful and when we force pucks, teams are good and they're going to make you pay."

 

The Sabres are still learning as a team, still getting comfortable with linemates and d-partners, still trying to find their niche in coach Phil Housley's system. Housley himself is still getting acclimated to his new surroundings as first-time head coach and although the team has won two in a row, you are what your record says you are and right now Buffalo's 3-5-2 record says they’re in the bottom-half of the league. However, their 3-1-1 record over their last five games says that their a team that’s beginning to make a push to get out of the lower portion of the league.

 

Regardless of consecutive losses at the beginning of their four-game home stand, the Blue Jackets are still a dangerous team and tonight represents a "big" game, according to Columbus forward Matt Calvert. "We've lost two in a row on our home ice, and our fans have been great for us, cheering loud for us, "said Calvert to the local media. "It's something we really prided ourselves on last year, something we worked on throughout the year, and we became a hard team to play at home."

 

Last year the Blue Jackets finished third in a tough Metropolitan Division with 108 points and went 28-12-1 at home. This year, however, Columbus is an even 2-2-0 at Nationwide Arena.

 

Buffalo will need to be prepared for an early onslaught from the Blue Jackets, and with all due respect to the Wings, some of the early mistakes the Sabres made against Detroit may end up in the back of their net against Columbus. The Jackets boasted 12 double-digit goal scorers last season which placed them fifth in the conference for goals-scored and although they lost their No. 3 goal scorer from last year in Brandon Saad, 21 yr. old rookie Sonny Milano looks to be heir apparent as he leads the team in goals with five on the season.

 

Without a morning skate, one would think that Housley sticks with the lineup he had in last night's win, barring an return by forward Zemgus Girgensons or defenseman Justin Falk. Both skated with the team yesterday, but did not play, and both are listed as day-to-day. Here's what Housley rolled with last night:

Kane-Eichel-Okposo

Pouliot-O'Reilly-Pominville

Nolan-Reinhart-Bailey

Moulson-Larsson-Griffith

 

Scandella-Ristolainen

Tennyson-McCabe

Antipin-Fedun

 

With Lehner playing last night, it wouldn't be surprising to see backup Chad Johnson in net for Buffalo.

 

Game-time is 8:00 pm as tonight's Buffalo/Columbus matchup is on NBCSN marking not only one of 16 scheduled back-to-back games for the Sabres, but also a back-to-back on national TV.

 

 

 

 

Building the 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres roster--G, Robin Lehner

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-4-2017


It all began at the 2015 NHL Draft when the Buffalo Sabres sent the 21st overall pick to the Ottawa Senators for goalie Robin Lehner (and F, David Legwand.) Then GM Tim Murray made the trade in the hopes that the 23 yr. old Lehner would be the team's No. 1 goalie for years to come.

The trade was a gamble in that it's a rarity to trade a first-rounder for a goalie but it wasn't without precedent. In 2011 the Washington Capitals goalie Semyon Varlamov was traded to the Colorado Avalanche for a 2012 first round pick (and also a second rounder.) In 2013 the New Jersey Devils trade the ninth-overall pick to the Vancouver Canucks for goalie Cory Schneider. And at the same 2015 draft that saw Lehner moved, the San Jose' Sharks sent a 2016 first-rounder to Boston for goalie Martin Jones.

But it was also a gamble for the Sabres in that Lehner was still an unknown quantity who was coming off of a season shortened by a concussion. Although Murray knew Lehner when both were with the Ottawa Senators organization the 6'4" 239 lb. Swede, who backstopped Binghamton to the 2011 Calder Cup, was in a three-way battle for the starter's role in Ottawa. Prior to his concussion in February, 2015, Lehner had played in only 86 NHL games over the course of five seasons with the Senators.

With the deal done, Lehner entered the 2015-16 season as the undisputed No. 1 goalie in Buffalo. However, in the second period of his first Sabres game, ironically against the Senators, Lehner suffered a high-ankle sprain that would keep him out of the lineup until January, 2016. He would appear in 20 games for Buffalo through January but he was shut down in late March after lingering issues with the ankle caused him to opt for surgery.

One first round pick and one full year later, the Sabres still didn't know if they had a starter in Lehner.

Lehner started 59 games last year for Buffalo and compiled a 23-26-8 record with a 2.68 GAA and .920 Sv%, thus proving he could handle the workload of a No. 1 goalie. He came into training camp last September looking tight after doing MMA training over the summer and was determined to take the reigns of the starting goalie. Mission accomplished.

And he's back in Buffalo now, after following the same training regimen.

WGR550 Radio's Paul Hamilton said that Lehner "is in top physical condition" and that he's very confident heading into camp. “I've got nothing to prove to you," Lehner told Hamilton at a recent workout in Buffalo. "Since I came here there have been some ups and downs. I've been injured, but I've been a steady over 92 percent (Sv%) and its something I want to keep improving on and hopefully we can just tighten it up as a team this year and get some more team success.”

Lehner has been all that, all while facing the third most shots in the league last year (1,910) but last season didn't come without trouble areas. He looked shaky in odd-man situations and did let in more than his fair share of softies Yet he also showed some remarkable work like this in Montreal:



(Thank you, Sportsnet.CA.)

In that game he outdueled Canadians goalie Carey Price who, by the way, was just re-signed by Montreal at an AAV of $10.5 million.

His Achilles heel, however, seems to be the shootout. Lehner did not stop a single opponent in eight opportunities. In addition, none of the shooters he faced mishandled the puck or shot wide every goal against him in the shootout went in, like this one from Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov (via NHL.com):



And so 65 minutes of work against the Lightning featuring 31 saves on 32 shots all went for naught as Lehner will be remembered more for the shootout session then his work getting the Sabres to that point.

It's another hurdle for Lehner but it should also be noted that in his the two seasons with Ottawa prior to becoming a Sabres, he had some very good shootout numbers--44 attempts, 30 saves (.681%)--and in his initial, injury-shortened first Sabres season he managed to stop two of six shots against.

We're not sure what happened but we do know a couple of things. First off, he was asked by management to tone down his intensity and second, he may not have had the utmost confidence in the coaching staff last season. Although not directly related to his shootout woes, Lehner did tell Hamilton that he was excited about the "new direction" the team was headed in and how he thinks it will affect the defense in front of him.

“I had no problems with the defensemen, but the problem was we really didn't know how to play," he said. "It's not just the defensemen, that's a common misconception, it's how we play as a team.

“If you watched the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year all the good teams like Pittsburgh, everyone defends, everyone comes back and everyone plays as a five-man unit and its fast forward and fast back to the defensive zone and I think that's what Phil wants. He doesn't want us to play slow, he wants to play fast and everyone attacks and everyone defends and we didn't do that last year.”

There are still question marks surrounding Lehner as well as the team but he did answer the question as to whether or not he could shoulder the load as a starting goalie. He'll still need to get over that shootout hurdle and he'll also need to cut down on the softies and perhaps that's why he was only signed to a one-year extension.

The next question he'll need to answer is whether or not he can help guide this team to the playoffs and there will be other questions as the season, and his career progresses.

However there's still one question that will dog him for a while, was he worth a first round pick?



Building the 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres roster:


LW, Evander Kane / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart


D, Marco Scandella / D, Rasmus Ristolainen


G, Robin Lehner

Another Sabre with an indictment of former coach Dan Bylsma's "system"

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-29-2017


The Buffalo Sabres defense was a mess last season, plain and simple, but the reasons for that mess still aren't fully known and probably never will be. Injuries played a role, as did lack of depth and talent. Coaching shouldn't be dismissed either.

Former bench boss Dan Bylsma never could get the team on the same page last season, to the point where the face of the franchise, Jack Eichel, showed his dismay in-season and was rumored to be avoiding contract-extension talks if Bylsma was retained. The disconnect between Bylsma and his players was so pronounced that it eventually lead to his firing and as Sabres' players slowly begin to gather in Buffalo for workouts, things are beginning to trickle out on just what transpired last season.

Two players who are in Buffalo already doing workouts are goalie Robin Lehner and defenseman Zach Bogosian.

Lehner was the first to talk with the media at the HarborCenter workouts. Last season he established himself as a bona fide starting goalie with some strong numbers in spite of a defense-corps in front of him that was described as as one of the worst in the league. However, Lehner didn't look at it that way.

“The problem was we really didn’t know how to play,” he told the gathered media after a workout session last week. “The defensemen, it’s a common misconception (it was a problem). It’s how we play as a team. I was sitting watching the whole Stanley Cup playoffs last year. If you watch the good teams, look at Pittsburgh, everyone defends, everyone comes back and everyone plays as a five-man unit, and it’s fast forward and fast back in the defensive zone.

“I think that’s what [new coach] Phil [Housley] wants. He doesn’t want us to play slow. He wants us to play fast, and everyone attacks and everyone defends. That’s what we need to do. We didn’t do that last year. We were playing as three forwards and two defensemen.”

For many of the players, this was their second season under Bylsma's system and to have Lehner say that "we really didn't know how to play, furthers the conclusion that there was a serious disconnect between Bylsma and his players. His system was a "end-all, be-all," so rigid in it's X's and O's that it never fully took into account an individuals strength's and weaknesses.

Case in point, Bogosian.

Although he never lived up to his third-overall pick status, Bogosian still has the same traits now as he did when he was drafted in 2008. He's always had an NHL frame, and a rather large one at 6'3", 215 lbs., but he's also always been an excellent skater which allowed him to skate the puck out of the zone. Although his passing is good (and decision-making, meh, at times,) getting him some open ice to move the puck out has always been ideal for him.

But that's not what happened last season, or the year before either. “I think the last two years for me has been frustrating and disappointing," Bogosian told WGR550's Paul Hamilton yesterday. "Skating is definitely my strong point. Last year and the year before I felt like I was handcuffed back there. I don't think I got a chance to play my game in the way I know I can play and I'm just looking forward to a new start and play my game which is jumping up into the play.”

Handcuffed by X's and O's, as were others on both offense and defense.

That's not to give individual players a free ride either. Bogosian has his limitations as does Josh Gorges and both may see diminished roles on the team this season under Housley. Plus new GM Jason Botterill revamped the defense with trades for Nathan Beaulieu and Marco Scandella while also signing free agent KHL d-man Victor Antipin.

Regardless of who comes in and who goes out, it comes down to coaching and the best coaches fit their system to the players given them, not the other way around.

One-year deal for Robin Lehner and the Sabres good for both sides.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 7-25-2017


Salary arbitration is never a good thing. On one side you have the player and his agent touting his virtues while on the on the other side the team exposes every blemish, all in the name of dollars. Perhaps that's why nearly all of the cases scheduled for arbitration are settled before hand leaving the process there for what it is, an absolute last resort.

The Sabres have only one arbitration case on the books as it was announced this morning that starting goalie Robin Lehner signed a one-year, $4 million dollar deal. Lehner joined forward Johan Larsson as players avoiding arbitration with Buffalo by signing before their scheduled arbitration date. The lone player left is defenseman Nathan Beaulieu whose case is scheduled for August 4.

Sabres GM Jason Botterill (and more than likely Buffalo's vice president of hockey administration, Mark Jakubowski) did some nice work with this one. As a new GM with a new head coach in Phil Housley, the new Sabres front office and coaching staff will get the opportunity to see Lehner up close for a full season and evaluate how (or if) he fits into their plans. The $4 million deal is a definitive increase in year-over-year salary of $3.15 million last season with Lehner's cap-hit rising from $2.25 million. Buffalo has two more roster players to sign in Beaulieu and forward Zemgus Girgensons and are presently just about $11 million under the NHL salary cap ceiling.

For Lehner it's another "show me" season which is how his career has been defined thus far. Lehner, who just celebrated his 26th birthday yesterday, was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the second round (46th-overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. After leading their AHL affiliate in Binghamton to the Calder Cup in 2011 he graduated to Ottawa and eventually found himself in a three-way battle for starting minutes. Former Sabres GM Tim Murray scouted Lehner when he was AGM in Ottawa and then traded for him at the 2015 NHL Draft to be his starter in Buffalo.

Lehner entered the 2015-16 season as the Sabres No. 1 goalie but suffered a high-ankle sprain in the very first game of the season, ironically vs. the Senators, and was out until January, 2016. After a strong start he faltered and was eventually shut down and had surgery to repair his ankle. It was the second season in a row Lehner was forced out of the lineup. Late in the 2014-15 campaign with Ottawa he collided with team mate Clarke MacArthur (a former Sabre) on February 16 and was sidelined the rest of the season.

We finally had the opportunity to see what Lehner was able to do in a full season as last year he played in 59 games for the Sabres. His 58 starts ranked 13th in the league while his 23 wins placed him 22nd. He had a 2.68 GAA placing him 17th amongst goalies appearing in 50 or more games and his .920 Sv% ranked him sixth amongst that group. Lehner also had two shutouts.

His Achilles heel, however, was the shootout. He was one of only two goalies who failed to stop a shootout attempt last year as all eight shots fired at him found the back of the net. The only other goalie not to stop a shootout attempt was Nashville Predators back up, Juuse Saros (2.)

It's about as good a situation as it gets for both sides. Even though Lehner will need to prove once again that he's worthy of the starters role, he did get himself a good bump in salary and dependent upon how things work out, he could be due for a longer contract with a higher salary when all's said and done. Botterill and his new staff will get to see Lehner up close for another season and will still have him as an RFA (with arbitration rights) at the end of next season.

That they could get it done before arbitration is another good sign as they avoided what could have been an ugly situation.

A look at Buffalo's three arbitration cases

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 7-6-2017


A total of 30 NHL players elected for arbitration yesterday. If a contract can't be finalized before their scheduled hearings, both sides sit down and plead their cases to an arbitrator who makes a binding decision on salary. Hearings are scheduled between July 20 and August 4 this year and most are settled beforehand. In many cases player selected arbitration is a way to ensure a contract negotiations don't drag on all summer.

If the two sides do end up at the arbitrator's table things can get contentious as players and their agents espouse their virtues while teams highlight the players' shortcomings. CSN Mid-Atlantic's Chuck Gormley reminded us recently that in 2002, after the Brendan Morrison hearing, then Vancouver Canucks GM Brian Burke had this to say about the process, “After inviting us into the alley, you can't complain if you get kicked in the groin.”

Oh the pugnacity.

Some other examples of rough negotiations pointed out by Gormley, 2015 piece:

--in 1997 then NY Islanders GM Mike Milbury reportedly drove goaltender Tommy Salo to tears by telling his agent he was one of the poorest conditioned athletes he’d ever seen.
--in 2003, the Phoenix Coyotes called Mike Johnson the “worst forward in the NHL”
--during the Canucks/Morrison hearing metnioned to above, at one point during their briefing the Canucks likened Morrison to a mouse who was carried across a river by two elephants, linemates Todd Bertuzzi and Markus Naslund.

In player elected arbitration the team can walk away from the deal if they get a result that's not to their liking. Since 1995 when the system was set up only a handful of players were left at the altar. The first was in 1999 when Boston said no to a $2.8 million award to Dmitri Khristich. Goalie Anti Niemi's case was a big one in 2010 as the cap-crunched Chicago Blackhawks walked away from that $2.75 million decision. Neimi's was one of three cases that year where teams balked as the Atlanta Thrashers said no to former Buffalo Sabre Clarke MacArthur's award and the Sabres themselves walked away from an award to Tim Kennedy.

That was the second time Buffalo had scoffed at a decision. The first time was in 2006 when they said no to JP Dumont's $2.9 million award. Just prior to that then GM Darcy Regier accepted the $5 million an arbitrator awarded forward Daniel Briere which put the Sabres in a bit of a cap-crunch of their own.

The Sabres have some flexibility under the cap for the 2017-18 season, but not too much. As outlined yesterday, if salaries for their roster free agents remain on the conservative side they'll be $8.5 million under the NHL's cap ceiling this year. However, they also need to take into consideration the possibility that $5.5 million could be paid out in performance bonuses to Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart which could reduce it to about $3 million.

Buffalo has five arbitration-eligible restricted free agents with two of them--Zemgus Girgensons and Evan Rodrigues--not headed to arbitration. Girgensons' eventual salary will affect the Sabres cap situation while Rodrigues is probably headed to Rochester for another year of seasoning. That leaves us with the three who are headed to arbitration.

F, Johan Larsson

Why he chose this route is a head-scratcher, unless he simply wants to get this over with so he can enjoy the rest of his summer. Larsson is a good forward and a real good bottom-six center when he's on his game. On a contender he'd be a pesky fourth-line center and he may end up there for Buffalo this year dependent upon how the roster pans out. It's really not a good time for him to be headed to arbitration as he hasn't played since suffering multiple upper-body injuries sustained when he crashed into the boards on December 31 in Boston. Larsson's statistical highs came the prior season as he had 17 points on a career-high 10 goals in 74 games.

Speculation:  Larsson was qualified for just under $1 million by the Sabres to retain his rights. Call it an even $1 million and be done with it.


D, Nathan Beaulieu

In the first trade of his GM career, Jason Botterill acquired the Montreal defenseman for a third round er. The 24 yr. old Beaulieu is a former first round pick (17th-overall) who spent five years with the Canadiens working his way up the ladder. Last season he was placed on the top-pairing with Shea Weber but was eventually dropped to the third pair. Beaulieu is an all situations defenseman who was fifth in overall time on ice for the Habs defensemen last season, sixth in even strength ATOI, although his 28 points (4+24) tied him for third in scoring amongst Montreal's defensemen.

Speculation:  Beaulieu made $1 million last season. It's a new team and a new system where he may be able to really ramp up his production but we're not sure how this will all play out. A $1.5 million deal gives Beaulieu a nice 50% increase and keeps Buffalo happy during this feeling out period.


G, Robin Lehner

This is the big one for Buffalo. The Sabres picked up goalie Chad Johnson to be Lehner's backup, but the good thing about Johnson is that he can play the role of a team's No. 1. It's not ideal, but he can make it work. Lehner is coming off of an escalating three-year deal that averaged $2.25 million/season but paid him $3.150 million last year and that will be their jumping off point as he proved to be a legit NHL starter. In 59 games for the Sabres last season Lehner posted a 2.68 GAA and .920 Sv% while facing the third most shots in the league (1,910.) Montreal's Carey Price set the new bar for goalies as his new deal pays him $10.5 million AAV and others above Lehner in save percentage have cap-hits in and around the $4.2M (Craig Anderson, OTT) to $5.3M (Jimmy Howard, DET) range

Speculation:  One can see Lehner and his agent expecting to land in that range while the Sabres probably want to max out at $4 million or so. Perhaps $4.25 million will be the number they settle at, but it will be interesting to see what Botterill does if an arbitrator puts the number at $5M.

Would you take a 2nd round pick for Robin Lehner

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 6-8-2017


By now we should all be well versed in the trade for goalie Robin Lehner. Former GM Tim Murray was looking for a young-vet to put in net for Buffalo and on Draft Day 2015 he sent a first round pick (21st overall) to the Ottawa Senators for Lehner and aged forward David Legwand.

A quick note on Legwand before we move on:  Legwand was the first-ever pick of the Nashville Predators in 1998 (2nd) but never really lived up to that status.  Towards the tail end of his career he was a fourth-liner with solid defensive acumen. He played his last NHL season with the Sabres in 2015-16 and helped anchor Buffalo's penalty-kill which went from 30th the prior season to ninth that year. Last season the Sabres PK finished 25th-overall after spending most of the season at or near the bottom of the league.

At the 2015 NHL Draft the Senators used the 21st-overall pick to select center Colin White who appeared for Ottawa in the playoffs this year. White is a two-way center man with great hockey sense who could end up being in the top-six.

The general consensus is that you usually don't trade a first round pick for a goaltender although every couple of years a team does so. Cory Scnheider was traded by the Vancouver Canucks to the New Jersey Devils in 2013 for the ninth-overall pick (Bo Horvat) and Martin Jones was traded by the Boston Bruins to the San Jose Sharks on Draft Day 2015. The Bruins received the 29th-overall pick (Trent Frederic) and prospect Sean Kuraly. Prior to that the Washington Capitals traded the rights to Semyon Varlamov to Colorado for a first and second round pick.

Murray walked into the 2015 NHL Draft with two first round picks at his disposal along with two second-rounders and by the end of the day he selected Jack Eichel second-overall and defenseman Brendan Guhle 51st. He used the one first rounder on Lehner and a second rounder (31st) was sent to Colorado in the Ryan O'Reilly trade.

Lehner won the starting job in 2015 training camp and in his very first game as a Buffalo Sabre was felled by a high-ankle sprain that kept him out for months. He returned to the Sabres January 15, 2016 and had mixed results until he was shut down for he season in mid-March. This past season was all about seeing whether or not Lehner could/would/should be a starting goalie. He finished the season with some pretty solid numbers--2.76 GAA and .918 Sv%--but maybe more importantly, Lehner played in a career-high 59 games for the Sabres.

Along the way Lehner has been maturing as he plays more and looks as if he'll be a good No. 1 goaltender. But the season wasn't without question marks as he still looked shaky in some pressure situations, was known for giving up a weak goal more often than a goalie should, and was absolutely terrible in the shootout. Those weaknesses won't preclude him from being a bona fide starter, but it cold keep him from taking his team much farther than the first round if they make the playoffs.

The scoop with Lehner is that he was once completely secure in his starters role with Murray as GM, but now that Jason Botterill has taken over, there are question s arising as to how he fits in. Here's what Botterill told Sportsnet concerning Lehner, "“I have no problem starting next season with him in goal. There are more pressing needs. I liked what I saw from him when he won the Calder Cup.”

It's a statement that was far short of a ringing endorsement and it leaves plenty grey area for speculation. When Botterill said "starting next season in goal," it may be seen as Lehner might not be No. 1 after that. "I have no problem" may be looked at as "I'm cool no matter what happens with him." And Botterill didn't have anything to say about Lehner's NHL work as had to reach all the way back to the 2010-11 AHL season to give Lehner a compliment.

With that in mind, let the speculation begin.

If there's a team that needs a starting goalie, it would seem as if Botterill's answering the phone on Lehner. With all that's transpired since the Sabres traded for him, a first round pick might be asking too much in return. But, Sabres fans, would you take a second round pick in a trade of Lehner?

I wouldn't be opposed to that.

Ya gotta hand it to Robin Lehner...

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-5-2017


Win or lose, for the most part Sabres goalie Robin Lehner will be in the locker room post-game taking questions. In a win he'll direct praise towards his team mates while in a loss he'll direct the blame mostly towards himself. In fact there's only one time recently were he exploded in a loss and directed most of his ire towards his team mates. The team responded with a three-game winning streak but typically followed that up with a four-game winless streak.

Lehner is the clear-cut No. 1 goalie in Buffalo. With him in net the team always has a chance to win the game. That is, until we get past regulation and the 3-on-3 overtime session for the shootout. The Sabres have been avoiding the shootout since a December 20 loss to the Florida Panthers. In between Buffalo has gone to overtime seven times and come away with a 4-0-3 record. With the loss last night they're now 1-6 in the skills competition.

The shootout stats are just mind-boggling for Lehner and they're not much better for Buffalo's shooters either. In fact Buffalo's shooters have the third worst shooting percentage in the league (17.6%) scoring only three goals on 17 attempts. Last night Sam Reinhart got confused and couldn't even get a shot off while Jack Eichel came up with an average at best attempt. Reinhart was one of only two Sabres players to score in the shootout this year, the other being Cal O'Reilly who's in Rochester. All the rest, which includes Eichel (2 attempts,) Kyle Okposo (5,) Ryan O'Reilly (2,) and Brian Gionta (1) have come up empty.

Perhaps the shooters are feeling extra pressure because the Sabres netminders have the worst save percentage in the league at .250. Buffalo backup Anders Nilsson, who has the team's only shootout win this year, has stopped four of eight shootout attempts while Lehner hasn't stopped any shot in eight attempts.

And that's the crazy part of it. Eight goals-against on eight shots with not one player either mishandling the puck, shooting wide or ever so slightly missing his spot. Every shot against Lehner goes where it's intended to go.

Last night Lehner was the victim of a brilliant shot by Tampa's Brayden Point on the first shootout attempt as the rookie, who came into the game scoring on four of six attempts, went low glove-side for the goal. After Eichel was stymied at the other end, the Lightning's Nikita Kucherov pulled off some wizardry as he got the puck moving towards the net and faked as if he was going backhand. The puck, moving like a curling stone, continued on it's slow trajectory towards the net and with Lehner following Kucherov looking for a backhand, it went five hole as Lehner looked to the sky in disbelief.

Check it out via Samboke on YouTube:



That's a filthy goal and it's tough being on the wrong end of it.

It will end sometime as the odds will eventually catch up, but until then it's frustrating and probably embarrassing for Lehner. You can tell he hates that portion of the game, "It's not hockey you're watching," he told the gathered media post-game, "they've got all the time in the world to go fast or slow down. On breakaways they come at one speed. Maybe I have problems adjusting to the speed changes.

"It is what is."

Lehner can take this to heart, once the team eventually makes it into the playoffs, there will be no shootout and no need to worry about it. Unfortunately, in order to get to the post season a team must win in the regular season and shootouts, as we know, are a big part of that.


*****

The Sabres are in Pittsburgh tonight to take on the Penguins at 5 p.m. on an NHL Network televised game. No word on who will be in goal for Buffalo but perhaps Nilsson gets the start this evening.

In their only meeting of the season, Nilsson stopped 46 shots in regulation and overtime then stymied Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang in the shootout to help the Sabres get out from under the weight of a three-game losing streak.

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.