Archives for January 2021

‘Though the roster is unquestionably more talented than a year ago, Krueger is still discovering how to build a lineup that will produce consistently at 5-on-5. The challenge increased in difficulty with the absence of Sam Reinhart, a four-time 20-goal scorer whose 246-game iron-man streak ended because of an upper-body injury.’

‘For one thing, it’s pretty easy to ask where did the team go that was playing well and piling up shot totals against Washington and Philadelphia? Because that group hasn’t been around this week for most of the last three games against New York and New Jersey, two teams on a decidedly lower level who are plus-23 in shots on the Sabres over these trio of matchups.’

‘Olofsson’s power-play goal from the right circle with 9:04 remaining gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead after Eichel left for the dressing room, and the Devils tied the score again when Janne Kuokkanen capitalized on a bouncing puck near Buffalo’s net. Eichel missed almost 13 minutes after taking a puck to the face.’

‘”I had an inkling we’d be playing teams pretty close to us,” Hall said, referring to the NHL’s 2021 realignment. “The prospect of not having to travel all that much is always nice. Our travel in New Jersey was so awesome. We took a bus to three different teams (New York, Long Island and Philadelphia) and it really allowed us to recover and make the season a little bit better.”‘