Things appeared to be looking up for the Buffalo Sabres on the strength of a recent 5-0-1 winning streak that seemingly saw them primed to make a strong playoff push.  Maybe owner Terry Pegula was right when he blamed the disappointing 2011-12 campaign to this point almost exclusively on injuries. Well, two games and zero earned point later, Buffalo appears headed right back to where they came from.

Near the bottom.

Head coach Lindy Ruff returned behind the bench with a flak jacket to protect his injured ribs and surely didn’t like what he saw from his club.  The Sabres loss at home to the New Jersey Devils Tuesday evening, 4-1 to further damage their playoff chances.

Sabres Going Wrong Way Again – continue reading…

It doesn’t take a math genius to figure things out.  The Buffalo Sabres have 27 games remaining on the regular season and if they with to even entertain a chance  at being a participant in the postseason, they need to win the vast majority of them.

Of those 27 games left to skate, 10  come against teams  tied or above them in the standings ranging from 12th to 7th place in the Eastern Conference. The best chance they have to make up serious ground on a team ahead them is the Montreal Canadiens, in 11th place but just one ahead of the Sabres.  Buffalo plays them three more times and all are at the First Niagara Center.

Buffalo also has two potentially crucial match ups with Toronto, one on each team’s home ice.  As things stand today the Leafs are in 8th place in the conference and eight points ahead of the Sabres.

Here is a schedule of the games remaining against teams the Sabres are trying to surpass.

New York Islanders (1): February 21.
Tampa Bay (1): away on March 19.
Montreal (3): February 17, March 12, March 21.
Winnipeg (1): away on  March 5.
Washington (1): away on March 27.
Toronto (2): away on March 31, April 3.
Ottawa (1): away on March 10.

While the Buffalo Sabres have been quite hot of late, going undefeated in regulation their last six games heading into a Saturday evening showdown with Tampa Bay, the offense has mostly remained stagnant.  That finally caught up to them on their home ice as the Lightning skated away with a 2-1 victory.

As will be the point for the remainder of the regular season or at least as long as Buffalo is still alive in the playoff race, it was a costly defeat.  The Sabres dropped to a three-way tie for 12th place in the Eastern Conference following the loss and with only 27 games remaining to play, the hole they have dug themselves only grows bigger each time they don’t pick up a pair of points.

Neither team generated offense in the first period and the Sabres were flat-out lousy in the second; allowing goals by Steve Downie and Steven Stamkos to put themselves in a two goal hole.  The team played much better in the final frame as they threw 14 shots at Mathieu Garon and got Jason Pominville’s 20th goal of the season with just under 13 minutes to play, but couldn’t get the equalizer.

“The second period we were terrible,” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters after the game.

Buffalo remains home to face New Jersey on Tuesday before traveling to Philadelphia for a skate on Thursday.  As will be the case for at least the new few weeks, both are almost must-win games.

The Buffalo Sabres have called up forward Zack Kassian from Rochester and sent down center Luke Adam.  Adam was a healthy scratch last night in the Sabres 3-2 shootout win over the Dallas Stars.

Adam has struggled since getting off to a hot start. He’s had just six goals and three assists since November 2 and hasn’t registered a point since December 17 and his ice time had greatly diminished.

Beginning the season centering the top scoring line with Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville, Adam picked up nine points (three goals, six assists) in the team’s first 10 games.

Kassian has three goals and six points in 19 games with the Sabres this season.

An tremendously clutch goal by a key player who has been anything but that this season helped keep the momentum going for the Buffalo Sabres.  Down a goal in the final minute, Derek Roy scored with just 39 seconds to play to cap a two goal comeback in the third and the Sabres went on to defeat the Dallas Stars in a shootout Friday night, 3-2 at the First Niagara Center.

Thomas Vanek also scored for Buffalo, his 20th of the season in his first game following an upper body injury after Dallas took a 2-0 lead 4:17 into the period.

In the shootout, Nathan Gerbe scored in the fifth round and Ryan Miller turned away Micahel Ryder to preserve the win and an important two wins.

The Sabres are red hot; going 5-0-1 in their last six games and have been solid at home over their last 10 with a 6-0-4 mark.  Don’t look now but Buffalo has crept within eight points of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and have games in hand over most of the teams they’re trying to catch.

Buffalo is right back at it tonight with another home game against Tampa Bay.  For Time Warner subscribers who’ve been getting games blacked out by MSG, the contest will be televised on WGRZ-TV this evening.

Some things are debatable in sports.  One thing that isn’t is the Buffalo Sabres far and away enjoyed their best night of the NHL season Wednesday evening and it came in front of a fired up crowd at the first Niagara Center.  Even better was it being at the expense of the hated Boston Bruins.

The Sabres played a near perfect game in just about every fathomable away on their home ice and were rewarded with a dominating 6-0 thumping of Boston that often had the Bruins looking frustrated, cheap shot happy and most impressively for Sabres fans.. Completely amateurish.

Jason Pominville scored twice while Christian Ehrhoff, Tyler Ennis, Patrick Kaleta and Drew Stafford also tallied for Buffalo.  Kaleta was particularly effective, getting into the heads and fists of Boston all night to the point the Bruins looked more concerned with pummeling his face than winning a hockey game.

Sabres Stay Hot In Destroying Bruins – continue reading…

Tonight when the Buffalo Sabres take on the Boston Bruins at First Niagara Center, they should be focused on one thing; two points. Even though these teams have played once since “The Incident” aka Milan Lucic nearly taking Ryan Miller’s head off, the Sabres surely are still angry about what happened back in November.

However, in the current predicament the conference cellar dwellars are in, there’s no time to worry about revenge or retribution. The Sabres, playing only their 5^th game on home ice since the New Year started, are beginning to play much better.

By no coincidence that goes alongside the squad reassembling a healthy squad (sans the Head Coach) and have been far more stingy defensively during this four- game point streak; giving up a grand total of just five goals during that span.

Sabres Try To Keep Point Streak Going Versus Bruins – continue reading…

The Buffalo Sabres have taken player injuries to a whole new level already in 2011-12. Now it appears their horrible misfortunes have spilled over to their head coach.

According to a report by Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, Lindy Ruff was injured and taken from the First Niagara Center today following a collision with defensemen Jordan Leopold.

Harrington writes that Leopold was working on a one-one-one drill with forward Ville Leino when he lost his balance and went sliding into Ruff from behind.   Harrington said “Ruff went airbone and landed hard on the ice, letting out a scream as his body crumpled that echoed through the empty arena.”

Goaltender Ryan Miller told reporters that he’s worried about Ruff and hopes that coach being a former hockey player helped him in the fall.

“To see him in that much pain, he probably has something going on there,” Miller said. “Hopefully we get that sorted out and he’s all right. We need him behind the bench yelling and calling the lines. Lindy being a former player, he knew how to take the fall. He took it into his body instead of letting his head whip back or else it could have been really devastating.”

We’ll update Ruff’s status as more information becomes available.

**UPDATE** Ruff suffered three broken ribs in the fall. Although he’ll be in severe pain, he’s expected back with the team for practice on Tuesday.

MSG Networks and the Buffalo Sabres announced today that they will make the February 11 Sabres-Lightning game available to fans who have been shutout of watching their favorite team after Time Warner Cable dropped MSG and MSG+ from its channel lineup on January 1. MSG’s coverage of the game will now be telecast on WGRZ-TV (Channel 2) in Buffalo and WHEC-TV (channel 10) in Rochester, along with a full postgame show.

“We are pleased that we have been able to work with WGRZ-TV, WHEC-TV and the Sabres to deliver this game to Sabres fans, who are among the most loyal and passionate in the NHL,” said Dan Ronayne, executive vice president and general manager, MSG Networks. “It is extremely unfortunate that the fans have been caught in the middle of this dispute and we continue to urge them to switch TV providers so they don’t miss any additional games.”

“We are glad that MSG has found a way to offer this Sabres game to our fans on local television,” said Ted Black, president, Buffalo Sabres. “We realize that fans have been in a tough spot since January 1 and we are hopeful that Time Warner Cable will engage in meaningful negotiations with MSG so that a deal can be reached to bring MSG’s networks and our games back to Time Warner Cable customers.”

MSG, Sabres To Televise Lightning Game On WGRZ-TV – continue reading…

The Buffalo Sabres have played much better of late, though it hasn’t really helped them move up in the standings.  Following their seven-game losing streak the Sabres have earned five of a possible six points over their last three games.

They’ll try to make it seven out of eight points this evening as they venture down to New York and face the Islanders.  Buffalo currently trails eighth-place Toronto by 10 points in the Eastern Conference standings.

Ryan Miller is expected to get the start in net for Buffalo, as he should because he’s been sensational in net lately.  Miller’s suffered through perhaps the worst season of his career but has been nearly unbeatable over his last three outings; surrendering just two goals over the last 198 minutes of action and has turned away 83 or 85 pucks in his last three.

Sabres Try To Get Back To Winning vs. Isles – continue reading…

The bad news is the Buffalo Sabres winning streak ended at a modest two games after losing in a shootout to the New York Rangers, 1-0 at the First Niagara Center.

The good news is if the Sabres are to make any kind of late season playoff push, they desperately need Ryan Miller to take matters into his own hands… and pads.

Without question, Miller is back to doing exactly that.

Ryan Callahan scored in the fifth round of a shootout to win it for the Rangers after Ville Leino couldn’t score for Buffalo.  It was the only goal of the night that counted.  Marian Gaborik scored on New York’s first chance before Miller turned away the next three to keep his team in it.

Miller Spectacular But Sabres Fall in Shootout – continue reading…

Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier today announced that forward Zack Kassian has been recalled from the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League and will be in the lineup when the Sabres host the New York Rangers at the First Niagara Center.

Kassian has played in 28 games for the Americans this season, tallying 22 points (11+11) and appearing in the 2012 AHL All-Star Game.

The need to recall Kassian arose after forward Thomas Vanek was injured in last night’s victory at Montreal.  Vanek is expected to miss at least a week.

Kassian has also appeared in 18 games for Buffalo this season, recording six points (3+3) and 13 penalty minutes.

The road back to the Eastern Conference playoff race will be long and hard but hey, the Buffalo Sabres have to start somewhere, no?

Returning from the All-Star break after a full week off, the Sabres did something they hadn’t previously done since November 11—won consecutive games.   Buffalo played a good game in Montreal for nearly 60 minutes and were rewarded for it, defeating the Canadiens 3-1 after giving up the game’s first goal.

Their recent 12-game road losing streak is slowly, very slowly starting to appear in the rearview mirror.  We’ll see how real this team is Wednesday night when they return home to host the New York Rangers.

Ville Leino and Paul Gaustad scored for Buffalo at Montreal while Pat Kaleta added an empty netter.  Ryan Miller made 27 saves in net for the Sabres.

We’ll have much more on this game tomorrow.

If the Buffalo Sabres are going to make any kind of second half of the season push, particularly on the road,  there’s probably no better place to start than Montreal.  To say the Sabres have stunk on the road may be an understatement, but that hasn’t been the case when they visit the Canadiens.  In fact, Buffalo returns from the All-Star break tonight in search of their fifth consecutive victory in Montreal.

Unfortunately the slumping Sabres haven’t had the same success against the rest of the league.  Buffalo endured a 12-game road losing streak that saw them get outscored 51-18 before finally earning two points in New Jersey via a shootout in their last game before the break.

The slide has caused Buffalo to fall all the way to a tie for last in the Eastern Conference with Carolina and the New York Islanders with just 45 points.

However, nothing cures a losing feeling like a hot streak.  As bad as the Sabres been, they are only 10 points out of eighth place in the conference and a playoff spot. A long road, sure–but not insurmountable.

Of course, the way this team has played they’ll be smart to not look past Montreal since Buffalo hasn’t been on a winning streak since November.  The team gets closer to full health tonight with the return of Tyler Ennis, who’s been out since mid-December with an ankle injury. Only Paul Gaustad and Brayden McNabb, who started the season in Rochester remain out of the lineup.

The Buffalo Sabres today announced that the next installment of the 2011-12 Power Play Luncheon series will take place on Friday, Feb. 10 in the 100 level Harbour Club at First Niagara Center. Sabres Hall of Famer Dave Andreychuk will serve as the event’s guest speaker.

The Power Play Luncheon series offers corporations and individuals an exclusive first-hand look at the Sabres’ organization and the NHL, with a portion of the proceeds from the event benefiting the Buffalo Sabres Foundation.

The luncheon begins at 12 p.m. and attendees will be asked to adhere to a business casual dress code.  Free parking will be available in the ramp adjacent to the arena.

Dave Andreychuck To Speak At Power Play Luncheon – continue reading…

Don’t worry Buffalo Sabres fans– it only seems like the first victory this year.

The final games before the NHL All-Star break took place Tuesday evening and the Sabres can finally feel good about themselves for a few days after defeating the New Jersey Devils in a shootout, 2-1 to snap a 12-game road losing streak as defensemen Robyn Regehr and Christian Ehrhoff returned to the lineup.

Jordan Leopold scored Buffalo’s lone regulation goal in the first period, which stood up in large part because Ryan Miller was excellent in net with 27 saves.  Jason Pominville and Nathan Gerbe went on to score in the shootout as the Sabres got two points on the road for the first time since defeating the Nashville Predators, 3-2 on December 3.

Sabres Finally End Road Losing Skid In New Jersey – continue reading…

The Buffalo Sabres are dead last in the entire Eastern Conference this morning after waking up to a Carolina victory over Winnipeg Monday evening, leaving the Sabres with a conference low 43 points. Buffalo will try to add a point or two to their unimpressive total tonight when they face off with the Devils in New Jersey.

Of course, a single point would be better than anything they’ve gotten over their last 12 road contests.  The team has also lost their last five overall and is just 2-7-1 in their last 10 as a once promising season has almost completely went down the tubes.  As of this morning the Sabres were a full 10 points behind Washington for the final playoff spot in the East.

Perhaps more disturbing than the losing is the consistent lackluster manner in which it’s happening.  The Sabres offense has been abysmal, scoring just seven times over their last five games.

Ehrhoff, Regehr Could Return For Sabres Tonight – continue reading…

Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier announced today that defenseman TJ Brennan has been recalled from the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League.

Brennan joins the Sabres for his fourth recall of the season. The first-year defenseman has recorded one point (1+0) and four penalty minutes in five NHL games this season, averaging 14:55 of ice time per game.

In his third AHL season, Brennan has 17 points (7+10) and 13 penalty minutes in 29 games with the Americans, leading all Amerks defensemen in goals and points. In 2010-11, he ranked second among Portland Pirates (AHL) defensemen with 39 points (15+24) in 72 games.

Sabres Recall TJ Brennan – continue reading…

The Buffalo Sabres have won two games in a row before.  Right now, it only seems like that’s never happened in franchise history.  November 11 remains the last time the Sabres pulled off consecutive victories after the team dropped a 4-2 affair Saturday night in Long Island to the New York Islanders.

Patrick Kaleta and Derek Roy scored for Buffalo as they twice erased deficits, but Michael Graber scored the game-winner for New York with just 3:03 remaining.  Thomas Vanek had a chance to tie the game for Buffalo on a penalty shot but rang one off the goal post after beating Evgeni Nabokov in the final moments.  Graber then scored again into an empty net to secure the victory.

Jhonas Enroth got the start in net for Buffalo and played extremely well, particularly early to keep his team in the game as the Islanders dominated early.  Enroth finished with 36 saves.

Sabres Drop Another On Road To Isles – continue reading…

Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier today announced that defenseman Joe Finley has been recalled from the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League.

Finley (6’8”, 260 lbs., 6/29/87) joins the Sabres for his third recall this season after making his NHL debut in early December. In his two previous recalls, he appeared in three games for the Sabres.

In his third professional season, Finley has three points (1+2) in 30 AHL games with the Americans and leads the team with 78 penalty minutes.

Sabres Recall Finley From Rochester – continue reading…