Buffalo News

'The Sabres went 29-43-11 in calendar year 2019, finishing last season 12-26-4 and opening this one 17-17-7. That's a 68-point pace for an 82-game season. That's lottery land. Most of these players aren't good enough. That's GM Jason Botterill's issue to try to fix. Again. How many more chances does he get?' … [Read more...] about Sabres say good riddance to a lousy decade with one final bizarre night

'Eichel entered the Sabres' game Tuesday against Tampa Bay ranked third in the NHL with 24 goals and seventh with 52 points. With his 50th point of the season on Dec. 17 at Toronto, he became the first Sabre to reach 50 points in 35 or fewer games since Pat LaFontaine and Mogilny in 1992-93. Eichel also joined Martin as the second player in franchise history to record at least … [Read more...] about Sabres’ Jack Eichel calls third All-Star nod a ‘huge honor’

'Yet Tampa Bay roared back from a three-goal deficit to defeat Buffalo, 6-4, on Tuesday night. The Sabres (17-17-7) were 14-0 when leading after two periods, and they have lost seven of their last eight games. Tampa Bay (21-13-4), meanwhile, improved to 14-2 against Atlantic Division opponents and has won seven straight against Buffalo.' … [Read more...] about The Wraparound: Lightning 6, Sabres 4

'He is the seventh player in Sabres history to be named to at least three All-Star games, joining Rick Martin (7), Gilbert Perreault (6), Dominik Hasek (5), Mike Ramsey (4), Phil Housley (3) and Alexander Mogilny (3).' … [Read more...] about Sabres’ Jack Eichel named to third straight All-Star Game

'"I love the physical game, getting under guys’ skin and finishing my checks and sticking up for teammates when it’s needed," Smith said. "It's something I’ve always kind of done being the oldest of five, the big brother mentality."' … [Read more...] about Sabres sign Amerks tough guy Dalton Smith to two-way contract

'Smith gave a coy "no comment" after practice Monday when asked about the recent history with the Lightning. But he darn well knows. And if he didn't, he was briefed: Cernak wears No. 81, Kucherov wears No. 86 and those are your targets to send messages.' … [Read more...] about It’s time for Sabres to demand some respect from Lightning

'The Panthers are coming to Buffalo from Ottawa and have a game Sunday in Pittsburgh at 5 p.m., so the switch will actually benefit them on the second day of back-to-back games.' … [Read more...] about Sabres move Saturday’s game against Florida to 1 p.m.

'The latest dose of frustration was Sunday's 3-2 loss to the Boston Bruins in TD Garden. The Sabres outshot Boston, 26-22, and yielded just two to the defending Eastern Conference champions in the first period -- but once again made just enough mistakes to get burned.' … [Read more...] about Try as they might, Sabres just aren’t getting the job done

'“We are very happy for Chris to have earned this opportunity,” Amerks GM/Sabres assistant GM Randy Sexton said in a statement. "His tireless commitment to our players and staff, and passion for player development, have rightfully generated recognition as one of the very brightest young coaches in our game.”' … [Read more...] about Amerks’ Chris Taylor named North Division coach for AHL All-Star Game

'The loss dropped Buffalo (17-16-7) to 1-5-1 in its last seven games. The Bruins are 3-0 against the Sabres this season and swept the home-and-home series to improve to 24-7-9.' … [Read more...] about The Wraparound: Boston Bruins 3, Buffalo Sabres 2

'The thinking behind potentially splitting up Eichel, Olofsson and Reinhart is to try to get at least two lines creating offense. Secondary scoring has plagued the Sabres during a season in which Eichel has emerged as an early Hart Trophy candidate, and losing Skinner forced Krueger to consider a different approach.' … [Read more...] about Ralph Krueger overhauls Sabres’ lineup with Jeff Skinner out 3-to-4 weeks

'The Sabres (17-15-7) are winless in five of their last six games and have lost each of their first two games against the Bruins (23-7-9) this season. Now, coach Ralph Krueger will await word on Skinner's availability. The absence of a 40-goal scorer could have a significant impact on an offense that has scored only five goals in its past four games.' … [Read more...] about Sabres lose Jeff Skinner to upper-body injury in shutout loss to Boston

'It's hard to believe one game can promote such a sense of hopelessness.' … [Read more...] about At this point, it’s hard to have any faith in the Sabres

'"We’re working on putting together a schedule in the second half of the season to target some games in Rochester, as long as he continues to play well, as long as he continues to work hard and as long as he stays healthy," Sexton said of Luukkonen. "We’re working through that now. We’ll have something that we’ll talk about with our coaches and with UPL in the coming weeks. … [Read more...] about Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen to receive ‘some games’ in Rochester during season’s second half

'The Sabres had momentum until late in the period, and the Bruins scored the game's opening goal at with 22 seconds remaining on a set play off a faceoff win by Bergeron. Pastrnak faked a shot following a faceoff win and passed over to Bergeron, whose one-timer went into the open net for a 1-0 lead.' … [Read more...] about The Wraparound: Bruins 3, Sabres 0