Buffalo News

‘Five of the new games are makeup dates of postponed contests, and two have been moved back from their original dates in April.’

‘”There’s reason good reason to put trust in him,” Sabres coach Don Granato said after the game. “He was good. You see the size, the strength and athleticism. He’s an intelligent player makes good reads. He makes the game look simple.”‘

‘”I kind of just wanted to play a little bit more patient,” Houser said. “I just figured he would try to just get a shot off any any way he could just because the puck was rolling. It wasn’t really a good scoring chance any more.”‘

‘“This is a young team. We’re going to have to learn to play with a lead and capitalize and playing with a lead,” lamented Sabres winger Alex Tuch, who missed the net on a breakaway with three minutes remaining in the third. “We weren’t able to do that tonight. We let our goalie down.”’

‘”I’m just getting my stride up here and starting to feel good. I want to keep the things rolling and showing what I got,” he said. “So, yeah, it was definitely tough. You just try not to think about it too much. My goal tomorrow is to go out there and have some fun. I missed making passes, making plays, skating hard.”‘

‘Coach Don Granato didn’t discount the possibility of Dell also playing Tuesday in Ottawa because of the longer-than-normal gap between games, with Monday being a matinee and Tuesday being a night game. Granato said he will evaluate Dell’s workload before deciding to go back to him in Ottawa or switching to Michael Houser. The Sabres have four games this week, also hosting Dallas on Thursday and Philadelphia on Saturday.’

‘“That was a bad one all the way around,” a frustrated Kyle Okposo said afterward.’

‘Dell was the beneficiary of unquestionably the Sabres’ finest defensive performance in nearly a month, as all but one rebound was cleared from in front. Still, he played a significant role in Buffalo killing three of its four penalties and looked far more comfortable than he did during his previous stint with the Sabres this season.’

‘”Big team win,” exclaimed Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. “We competed hard today. It gives us confidence that we can beat Nashville, who is a really good team.”‘

‘The plethora of talented forwards in the Atlantic Division, and Dahlin’s rapid ascent over the past five weeks, helped him emerge as the Sabre most likely to be selected.’