WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Offseason Edition
Nick Deslauriers has a two-game point streak. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – When Sabres coach Dan Bylsma charged Nick Deslauriers with creating some energy, the gritty winger’s first instinct, of course, was to fight.
But these days, those opportunities are scarce. Deslauriers has only fought four times this season. He certainly wasn’t going to find one enjoying a rare shift on the first line with the listless Sabres down three goals Saturday.
“I would’ve loved to get a fight there, but I don’t think ... Read the full article
Evander Kane (9) tries to stuff the puck past Columbus goalie Joonas Korpisalo on Saturday. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – As if the season-killing streak the Sabres have recently endured wasn’t bad enough, it looked like they might hit rock bottom again Saturday.
Early on, the upstart Columbus Blue Jackets simply outclassed the Sabres, opening a 3-0 first-period lead.
Sabres goalie Anders Nilsson, so good at home this season, performed terribly for 20 minutes. Defenseman Jake McCabe, one of the steadiest Sabres all season, struggled through perhaps the worst period of ... Read the full article
Justin Bailey has played 19 straight games. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Right now, thanks to his torrid goal-scoring run in the AHL and some injuries with the big club, Sabres winger Justin Bailey has the best opportunity of his young career to stick in the NHL for good.
For the last five weeks, the speedy Bailey, 21, has enjoyed regular duty, playing 19 straight games. Some contests the Williamsville native has skated on a top line.
“It’s a really big one,” Sabres coach Dan ... Read the full article
Anders Nilsson has played 22 games this season. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Some quick updates from KeyBank Center, where the Sabres close a back-to-back set tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets:
– Sabres goalie Anders Nilsson will start, just his third nod in the last 16 games. The Swede is 9-9-4 with a 2.75 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage in 22 games this season.
Starting goalie Robin Lehner, who made 35 saves in Friday’s 4-3 loss in Columbus, has been slumping. Since ... Read the full article
Marcus Foligno (82) contends for the puck with Tampa Bay’s Vladislav Namestnikov on Saturday. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Technically, the Sabres are still alive in the playoff chase. Thanks to seven losses in eight games, it only seems like they’ve been eliminated.
But realistically, the seventh-place Sabres are finished. They must climb four teams and make up at least seven points to reach the final wild card spot.
The odds of that happening? Try 0.2 percent, according to sportclubstats.com.
Fifteen games are left, starting with tonight’s road tilt against the ... Read the full article
Jack Eichel had two goals and three points Tuesday. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said he implores slick center Jack Eichel to have five turnovers a game.
Wait, what? Bylsma really wants the second-year star to give away the puck?
“If he’s not having a turnover, then he’s not trying to do the right thing,” Bylsma explained this afternoon inside HarborCenter. “There’s a time and a place and a situation for those attempts.”
Turnovers, of course, are common. Bylsma said he expects ... Read the full article
Cal O’Reilly signed a two-year, $1.4 million contract with the Sabres in 2015. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
Apparently, the Rochester Americans’ struggles became too much for Cal O’Reilly.
The Amerks today loaned O’Reilly, their captain and second-leading scorer, to the Toronto Marlies, the Maple Leafs’ AHL affiliate.
O’Reilly, 30, signed a two-year, one-way contract worth $1.4 million with the Buffalo Sabres in 2015. Giving a huge salary to an AHL player supposedly illustrated how badly the Sabres wanted to win in Rochester. But the Amerks missed the playoffs last season and ... Read the full article
Shayne Gostisbehere grew up in Florida. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Shayne Gostisbehere was just a kid, so how was he supposed to know his hockey coach, the man helping develop his career, was a former NHL star, one of 91 men to hit the prestigious 50-goal mark?
For four years growing up outside Fort Lauderdale in Margate, Fla., Gostisbehere, a high-scoring defenseman with the Philadelphia Flyers, was coached by Ray Sheppard, who scored 38 of his 357 goals with the Sabres as a ... Read the full article
Jack Eichel (center), Jake McCabe and Evander Kane didn’t celebrate much after Eichel’s second goal. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – It’s happening. Less than two years into his career, center Jack Eichel, the ultra-talented youngster the Sabres gave up an entire season to draft, is morphing into an offensive superstar.
Eichel, 20, is on fire. Since Feb. 1, Eichel leads the NHL with 24 points. With two goals and three more points Tuesday, he extended his career-long point streak to 11 games. The youngster now has 101 NHL points in just 127 ... Read the full article
Ryan O’Reilly’s ice time hasn’t dipped much. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Ideally, the Sabres won’t have to keep utilizing versatile center Ryan O’Reilly for more than 25 minutes a game like they did in Sunday’s 4-3 loss in Pittsburgh.
O’Reilly, Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said, has a “sweet spot” for his ice time. While he didn’t give a specific number, it’s probably in the 21- or 22-minute range.
Bylsma said during training camp he wanted to give O’Reilly, who led all NHL forwards in ... Read the full article
