Toronto Maple Leafs - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres’ Tyler Ennis ready to play; Rasmus Ristolainen sick

BUFFALO – Sometimes, Sabres winger Tyler Ennis said, he has to realize he’s only 5-foot-5 and not a 6-foot-3 behemoth. Trying to thump a larger opponent usually isn’t the best idea.

Ennis, who’s listed at 5-foot-9, went after someone bigger Thursday and paid the price, suffering an upper-body injury. The Sabres’ top offensive threat missed two games but will return tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Maybe I got to tone down the hits,” Ennis ... Read the full article

Sabres could still finish 29th, lose guarantee of elite prospect

BUFFALO – Just like that, 29^th place – a precarious spot that wouldn’t guarantee the Sabres either Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel, the mega-draft prospects they covet – is back in play.

Sorry, fans, the race isn’t over yet. The Sabres’ 4-1 victory Monday in Arizona moved them to within four points of the Coyotes, who looked awful throughout the night.

The 30^th-place Sabres also have a game in hand, so ... Read the full article

Sabres blow late lead, fall to Leafs in shootout

TORONTO – Let’s start with some positives from the Buffalo Sabres’ 4-3 defeat to the Maple Leafs on Wednesday, a game in which they frittered away a late lead and lost in the shootout.

– For one of the few times all season, their No. 1 line performed like, well, a top trio. Center Johan Larsson and wingers Matt Moulson and Tyler Ennis all scored three points, the first time three Sabres have compiled three ... Read the full article

Johan Larsson impressing as Sabres’ No. 1 center

TORONTO – Johan Larsson’s new assignment really hit him when he lined up for a faceoff Saturday against Washington Capitals star Nicklas Backstrom, the NHL’s best playmaker and a fellow Swede.

Larsson, the Buffalo Sabres’ new No. 1 center, has only three goals and 11 points in 53 NHL games. After scoring a goal and two assists in Wednesday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Maple Leafs – his first-ever three-point outing – the 22-year-old has ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Phil Varone excited for Toronto debut; Goalie Anders Lindback to start

TORONTO – Buffalo Sabres center Phil Varone didn’t want to leave the Air Canada Centre ice this afternoon. The native of nearby Vaughn, Ontario, a town about 30 minutes north of here, wanted to soak everything in prior to his first game against the Maple Leafs.

“I was just saying I think this is one rink that you come into and you’re like, ‘I’m in the NHL,’” Varone said after leaving the ice after most ... Read the full article

Jerry D’Amigo grateful for fresh opportunity with Sabres

TORONTO – Jerry D’Amigo understands an opportunity like the one he’s enjoying with the Buffalo Sabres doesn’t materialize very often.

Injuries and trades have opened up a regular spot on the fourth line for the 24-year-old, a hardworking winger with 25 games of NHL experience. The rebuilding Sabres are the Binghamton native’s third organization since July.

The final 16 games could be D’Amigo’s best – and last – chance to prove he deserves regular NHL ... Read the full article

Sabres throttle Leafs, send Toronto fans home unhappy

BUFFALO – For one night at least, the First Niagara Center felt like the old days. A raucous capacity crowd of 19,070 fans roared from start to finish Saturday. The Sabres buzzed up and down the ice all night against the hated Toronto Maple Leafs, scoring goals and creating chance after chance.

The Sabres’ rollicking 6-2 win, just their second regulation triumph this season and first at home, was wildly entertaining, high-octane hockey.

Up in ... Read the full article

Sabres notes: Tyler Ennis’ memories of NHL debut strong 5 years later

BUFFALO – Tyler Ennis still remembers every little detail of Nov. 14, 2009, the day the slick Sabres winger made his NHL debut.

When Portland Pirates coach Kevin Dineen told Ennis the Sabres could recall him for a game in Philadelphia that night, the youngster left the rink – “It was like a 30-minute drive,” he said – and went home.

He needed to eat, so he “picked up a quick Subway sandwich.”

Ennis then ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Patrick Kaleta to sit against Leafs; Josh Gorges out ‘a little bit’

BUFFALO – Patrick Kaleta’s home season debut will have to wait. Sabres coach Ted Nolan will scratch the winger for tonight’s tilt against the Toronto Maple Leafs inside the First Niagara Center.

The Angola native played his first NHL game since Oct. 10, 2013 on Thursday, a 6-3 loss in Minnesota.

Kaleta tore his ACL almost a year ago in the AHL and took a puck to the face Sept. 28. Nolan thinks after playing ... Read the full article

Ted Nolan searching for right Sabres line combinations

BUFFALO – Drew Stafford figured what the heck, he had nothing to lose by offering his services at center. The Sabres winger had played the position in high school.

So Stafford recently told coach Ted Nolan he would move if the reeling Sabres wanted to experiment.

“I wanted to let him know I’m comfortable with whatever he throws at myself or whoever I end up with,” Stafford said Friday inside the First Niagara Center. “I ... Read the full article