‘”It’s interesting how somebody with that much skill and personality is able to adjust in such a short period of time,” said coach Ralph Krueger. “He started camp a little tentative and hesitant, and the last few days we noticed it already in practice that he was opening up a little bit and just playing his game. Tonight, we saw a confirmation of that and what his ability is. The speed and some of the situations were exciting for us to watch.”‘
The Sabres Report - September 21, 2019
John Gilmour trying to show Sabres he can make an impact without the puck ★
‘”It’s nice with the puck but we need to first of all get a strong defensive foundation here, which we could then explode out of hopefully,” Krueger continued. “John shows that potential, so we’re excited to work with him here and seeing him in action again today.”‘
‘Full-time job’ eating helped Sabres’ Tage Thompson pack on muscle ★
‘“I was probably eating five square meals a day with snacks in between,” Thompson said in Buffalo before the Sabres traveled to Scotiabank Arena.’
Conor Sheary knows consistency must improve to help Sabres ★
‘“I take away that just because I had a down year I don’t think I lost my game in this league and I don’t think I’m as effective anymore,” Sheary said after the Sabres prepared for their preseason game against the Maple Leafs. “I’ve proved that over … the course of my career.’
Coach Krueger aims for Sabres' stability ★
‘“The scores are really secondary,” Krueger said after Friday’s 3-0 shutout at Scotiabank Arena. “I’m very, very pleased with the willingness to conform to what we’re doing. We have a whole new coaching staff, we have all kinds of new principles and concepts going in. We’re going up against teams very comfortable in their skin and have had successful seasons in the past (Buffalo did beat a watered-down Pittsburgh lineup 5-4 in OT). We’re playing catch-up against them.”’
Saturday's Toronto Coverage ★
Nylander shows plenty of jump in Maple Leafs’ pre-season victory against Sabres (Toronto Sun)
Coach Krueger aims for Sabres’ stability (Toronto Sun)
Maple Leafs break the ice with first pre-season win on a big night for the Matthews line (Toronto Star)
Rasmus Sandin is the coolest kid and just might graduate to the Maple Leafs’ defence at 19 (Toronto Star)
Shanahan’s Maple Leafs master plan remains a rough draft (Toronto Star)
Maple Leafs teenager Rasmus Sandin on cusp of big-league breakthrough (Sportsnet)
Nylander, Matthews dominate as Leafs down Sabres 3-0 for first pre-season win ★
‘Toronto was second-best for most of the game’s first 10 minutes, but grabbed a 1-0 lead at 9:48 of the opening period on the power play. Matthews saw his initial shot blocked before Kenny Agostino whipped a quick backhand from the side of the net that went under Ullmark and right to Johnsson.’
Sabres' Cozens shines in Toronto ★
‘The one negative is faceoffs. He won just one-of-11 draws. Cozens really has a long ways to go when it comes to that.’
Borgen relishing his opportunity with the Sabres ★
‘Ralph Krueger likes what he’s seen so far from the youngster, “I’ve talked about the aggressive defense that we’d like to play and it doesn’t mean always running over everybody wildly without any type of plan. It’s structured kind of pressure on the other team and players like Will are really helpful to bring that into fruition here and I think we’re way, way further ahead than I expected after two games in the commitment to play that game without the puck and you’ve picked a good example who gets that aggressive gap that we’re looking for.”’
Sabres blanked in 3-0 preseason loss to Leafs ★
‘Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens continued to have strong preseason showings, but it wasn’t enough Friday night in a 3-0 loss to the Maple Leafs.’