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Archives for January 2017

Sabres Notebook: Refreshed and ready for final regular-season push

‘”Guys are able to get away from the rink, get your mind off of it and you get a little excited to come back and start playing again,” said Jack Eichel who went home to Boston. “You look forward to it. You miss these guys. You miss being in the room, even just being away for a few days. You’re here every day for so long that it feels a little bit weird. It’s just nice to be back in the locker room and seeing all these faces every day and playing hockey. Back on the ice. You can’t complain. You know we’re in Montreal with a big game.”‘

Sabres emerge from break focused on playoffs

‘Still, with 49 points through 48 games, the Sabres, who have three contests in hand, trail the third-place Boston Bruins by seven points for the division’s final playoff spot. Meanwhile, with one game in hand, the Sabres trail the Philadelphia Flyers by seven points for the last wild card spot.’

Sabres’ Ennis still working to get to full speed

‘Even though the Sabres have been averaging 2.93 goals per game over their last 27 games and are 7-4-1 in 2017, many fans feel Bylsma has no idea how to construct lines. The lines have actually stayed pretty much the same in January which works out to 3.33 goals per game. Bylsma said, “We have had the three lines really being consistent over the last stretch of games and I think you’ve seen the response from those guys in terms of how they’ve played and we’ve gotten contributions from all three lines and Ryan and Kyle have really been a force for us the last three or four games.”‘

The Sabres are back from the All-Star break

‘The team is still trying to get past a bunch of teams to get into the playoffs. In the east, Buffalo must still get by three of four teams, Toronto, Florida, Boston or Ottawa to get in. In the conference it’s those teams along with Philadelphia and the Islanders. Brian Gionta said, “I haven’t looked at it since Dallas, but if you look at it at four points or five points, it’s not that much to make up, but when you’re fighting with six teams, it’s a lot harder to do.”‘

Make or break time for the Sabres

‘When you add the teams from the Metropolitan division into the mix things get really messy. Basically, every team in the Eastern Conference has a chance at a playoff spot — so the Sabres best opportunity will come within the division.’

Sabres look to carry momentum out of break

‘”I think that the consistency in our game is starting to come back but in terms of showing up every night and playing a full 60, I mean, I thought we still played a good game in Dallas and we still ended up with zero points,” Eichel said from the dressing room at Bell Centre on Monday. “You can make that argument that we had a couple goals that were called back and this and that but the thing is we did have a 2-0 lead and weren’t able to put them away and we end up losing a game.”‘

Mike Harrington: Olympic decision hovers over All-Stars

‘Players are virtually unanimous in their belief they should go to the Olympics. Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, in fact, has said he’s going whether the league goes or not. NHL owners are sick of the whole situation, especially since it shuts the league down for three weeks in February and compresses the rest of the season.’

All-Star Notebook: Okposo forges final memories on nostalgic weekend

‘”I didn’t really know what to expect,” Okposo said. “I knew last year the pace was really high. It was about what I expected, and you go out try to make some plays and have some fun. A lot of open ice, had a lot of fun skating. It was a blast out there.”‘