Noah Östlund injury

[Flashsabre]

It’s Red X Palooza!!!!😂

[shrader]

3 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

It’s Red X Palooza!!!!😂

And it wasn’t even thorny this time. 

[#freejame]

8 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

It’s Red X Palooza!!!!😂

The red x has always looked like a floatation device to me. When I see it my mind thinks “Help! This guy is drowning in bad takes.” 

Or that Thorny is exasperated. 

[eball]

On 5/2/2026 at 5:43 PM, BullBuchanan said:

We have grossly overachieved at this point

Balderdash. Did you not hear McDonough and Ferraro right after the win Friday night? “Hard to find any holes on this Sabres team.” “If the goaltending holds up they are as good as anyone.”

You’re stuck in the drought, not accepting or acknowledging that this now 5-month run is not a fluke.

The Sabres are a legitimate Cup contender.

 

[Doohickie]

On 5/2/2026 at 10:19 PM, BuffRaleigh said:

After watching tonight’s Carolina dismantling of the Flyers, I don’t believe we will have home ice if we get to the conference final.

It's Game One.  I wouldn't make that call just yet.

[BullBuchanan]

1 hour ago, eball said:

Balderdash. Did you not hear McDonough and Ferraro right after the win Friday night? “Hard to find any holes on this Sabres team.” “If the goaltending holds up they are as good as anyone.”

You’re stuck in the drought, not accepting or acknowledging that this now 5-month run is not a fluke.

The Sabres are a legitimate Cup contender.

 

Never said it was a fluke and I absolutely agree they are a cup contender. Should they win it all, it will be the greatest North American team sport over-achievement in my lifetime.

[eball]

1 hour ago, BullBuchanan said:

Never said it was a fluke and I absolutely agree they are a cup contender. Should they win it all, it will be the greatest North American team sport over-achievement in my lifetime.

“Over-achievement” implies a team not worthy playing beyond their capabilities. That’s a disservice to this team. 
 

[BullBuchanan]

6 minutes ago, eball said:

“Over-achievement” implies a team not worthy playing beyond their capabilities. That’s a disservice to this team. 
 

No, it doesn't. It means a team playing beyond their expectations. I think that's the hangup here. Too many people view it as a dig, when it's just reality.

The core of this squad has been together for several years now (Thompson, Tuch, Krebs, Dahlin, Power, Byram, UPL, etc) and that has led us hovering above the league basement most years. If any sane person were told that's where they'd finish again this year, they wouldn't be surprised, and halfway through through the season, that's exactly where we were. 

Then a switch flipped. Same coach, same GM, same players, different result. They won't be overachievers next season, because now we expect them to be good, but no one did when this all started.

[GoPuckYourself]

From what I'm reading neither Östlund nor Carrick will be available for this series which sucks but this must be the deepest Sabres roster i can remember and I really would like to see someone like Helnius up here rather than Kozak to be honest but I don't know how the AHL works or even if that's possible so I'm sure that won't happen.

[DarthEbriate]

3 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

It’s Red X Palooza!!!!😂

Red 10, standing by.

9 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

From what I'm reading neither Östlund nor Carrick will be available for this series which sucks but this must be the deepest Sabres roster i can remember and I really would like to see someone like Helnius up here rather than Kozak to be honest but I don't know how the AHL works or even if that's possible so I'm sure that won't happen.

Kozak hasn't been a liability yet. He, Greenway, and Malenstyn were good enough vs. Boston. (They were particularly good in Boston.) But, if the Sabres are able to advance, getting their best FO and a seasoned veteran PK guy back as well as their top playmaker would be a very welcome sight.

[dudacek]

Kozak to me is the definition of a place saver.

Hes got enough speed smarts and tenacity that he wont hurt you.

But he brings absolutely zero offence. We saw what happened when Östlund went down.

He can’t play above the 4th line.

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

Kozak to me is the definition of a place saver.

Hes got enough speed smarts and tenacity that he wont hurt you.

But he brings absolutely zero offence. We saw what happened when Östlund went down.

He can’t play above the 4th line.

He can't.  But, except for a shift or 2 per game (not per period) in response to somebody higher in the lineup being out and everybody else that might step in there being too gassed to go, he shouldn't be in that situation.

Still not sure why Ruff handled the Östlund injury the way he did.  Fully expect should a similar situation arise, it'll get handled differently.

[dudacek]

People forget that the Sabres have played nearly the entire season without two guys expected to be every day players: Kulich and Danforth.

With Östlund and Carrick out, that means Pearson, Dunne and Helenius are the 17-19th forwards.

Thats some remarkable depth knowing you’ve got guys that far down the depth chart who can hold their own.

[jahnyc]

Wonder if Östlund is progressing.  Have not seen any updates.

[Porous Five Hole]

12 minutes ago, jahnyc said:

Wonder if Östlund is progressing.  Have not seen any updates.

The speculation is a high ankle sprain.  Those are typically six weeks minimum, so I don’t expect we see him again. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

31 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

so I don’t expect we see him again. 

This season.