Offseason Edition
BUFFALO – The crowd kept roaring. For more than a minute late in Thursday’s 5-2 win, the fans saluted one of their favorites, winger Jason Pominville, after he capped off an emotional day by scoring perhaps his last goal for the Sabres.
The noise wouldn’t stop after Pominville, 36, was announced as the scorer, so after receiving a signal from his teammates, one of the greatest players in franchise history skated to center ice ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – Late in the winter, in the midst of perhaps his worst season ever, Sabres winger Kyle Okposo and coach Phil Housley had what the veteran called a “good conversation” about his play.
Okposo, of course, didn’t want to share details of his chat with Housley, someone he has known since he was a teenager.
But during their talk, Okposo said Housley, who wasn’t made available to the media Wednesday, “challenged me.”
“I just ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – A seething Phil Housley said it over and over – four times in three minutes, to be exact – following Tuesday’s 3-2 loss, the Sabres’ eight straight setback.
“It’s frustrating because we got screwed,” the Sabres coach said.
To Housley, the Sabres “got screwed” against the Nashville Predators because 2:40 into the second period, winger Conor Sheary scored on a delayed penalty, appearing to tie the game at 2.
The Predators never gained ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – By the middle of the winter, Linus Ullmark was beginning to steal games from Carter Hutton and supplant him as the Sabres’ starting goalie.
Ullmark, 25, began this season splendidly, compiling a sterling 9-1-3 record in his first 14 outings. He didn’t suffer a regulation loss until Dec. 8.
After Hutton and the Sabres started slumping, Ullmark remained a reliable presence most nights. It looked like he would become the undisputed No. 1 ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – When Sabres winger Kyle Okposo played on Long Island, the New York Islanders had a saying about their antiquated home rink in Uniondale, Nassau Coliseum.
“It’s an old barn,” a smiling Okposo said. “We’d always say, ‘It was a dump, but it was our dump and we loved it.’ It was home.”
Well, it was the Islanders’ regular home until 2015, when they left for the sparkling, ultra-modern Barclays Center 24 miles away ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – Rookie Victor Olofsson heard Jack Eichel calling for the puck, so he quickly spun around along the right boards and adroitly fed the Sabres captain as a zoomed down the slot.
A second later, an uncovered Eichel beat Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, tying the game 15:42 into the third period Thursday.
“I was just trying to get it in there in the middle,” Olofsson said following his NHL debut, a 5-4 ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – Sabres winger Kyle Okposo heard the crowd roaring and wanted in on the action.
For a 27-second stretch late in the third period of Sunday afternoon’s entertaining 4-3 shootout win, the Sabres started thumping every opponent in sight.
The normally docile fans inside KeyBank Center grew louder and louder with each hit.
So Okposo wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to hit St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester.... Read the full article
BUFFALO – Having completed his two-game suspension, leading scorer Jack Eichel will return for tonight’s road contest against the Carolina Hurricanes. So maybe, just maybe, the hapless Sabres can end their embarrassing goal drought.
Forget about the Sabres’ six-game losing streak. At this point, simply scoring a goal – they’ve been shut out three straight games – would be a huge moral victory.
Incredibly, the Sabres haven’t scored in 197:40, a shocking stretch of futility ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – Late in the second period of Thursday’s ugly 5-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, a disgruntled fan had enough of the Sabres’ awful performance and gave Jason Botterill his unvarnished thoughts.
“Botterill, this is garbage!” the fan yelled to the general manager, who was sitting in a nearby box, as the Sabres trudged to their third consecutive shutout loss, one of the lowest points in franchise history.
Right now, few would argue that ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – Right now, it feels like the Sabres might not win another game this season.
Sure, they made progress in Tuesday’s 2-0 loss, pumping 35 shots on goal and attempting 61 overall. Five-on-five, they probably outplayed the Dallas Stars.
Of course, any effort would’ve looked better than their last one, Saturday afternoon’s miserable 3-0 loss in Colorado. In a downright terrible offensive display, the Sabres produced only nine shots in the opening 50 minutes ... Read the full article
