Archives for February 3, 2017

‘Though the outcome was essentially decided by special teams – New York opened the scoring on the power play and added the winner just seconds after a Buffalo penalty expired – it was further proof the Sabres are just good enough to lose.’

‘The Sabres have obvious holes that Murray knows. The defense is too thin and the bottom-six forwards aren’t good enough, a work in progress as evidenced by Thursday’s decision to put Cal O’Reilly on waivers and try former AHL defenseman Nic Deslauriers at center. Murray said he’d be interested in “a really soft deal on a legitmate fourth-line center,” a reference to the salary cap and his desire to not give up a major asset.’

‘There was no post-game update on Bogosian and head coach Dan Bylsma did not know if a hit on Bogosian by Rangers’ forward Jimmy Vesey was the cause of the injury. But he was pretty pleased with the way his five healthy defensemen – Dmitry Kulikov, Rasmus Ristolainen, Cody Franson, Justin Falk and Taylor Fedun – finished the game.’

‘After Evander Kane hit the post in overtime, the Rangers’ Michael Grabner raced to the Sabres’ net and forced Taylor Fedun into a slashing penalty with 3:08 left. The Rangers ended the game just as Fedun was exiting the box.’