Bill Hoppe - Buffalo Hockey Beat

NHL suspends Sabres’ Jack Eichel two games for illegal check to head

BUFFALO – The NHL has suspended Sabres captain Jack Eichel two games for an illegal check to Avalanche forward Carl Soderberg’s head in Saturday afternoon’s 3-0 loss in Colorado.

Eichel, the Sabres’ leading scorer with 72 points in 65 appearances, will miss two home games: Tuesday’s against the Dallas Stars and Thursday’s versus the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In announcing the suspension Sunday night, the NHL Department of Player Safety said Eichel could’ve avoided head contact with ... Read the full article

Sabres recall prospect Alexander Nylander from Amerks

A four-game goal streak has helped Buffalo Sabres prospect Alexander Nylander earn his first trip to the NHL this season.

The Sabres recalled the Swede, the eighth overall pick in 2016, from the Rochester Americans today.

They need an extra forward because the NHL suspended captain Jack Eichel two games today for an illegal check to the head.

Nylander, 21, has been scorching his month. Following a 15-game stretch in which he produced just one ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Jack Eichel to have hearing with NHL following hit

Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety today for his illegal check to forward Carl Soderberg’s head Saturday afternoon.

Update: Eichel has been suspended two games.

Eichel, 22, was penalized two minutes for the hit 14:48 into the second period of the Sabres’ 3-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

The NHL All-Star has no history of suspensions.... Read the full article

Players say Phil Housley has changed Sabres for better

BUFFALO – Barely two years ago, Phil Housley was the NHL’s hottest assistant before the Sabres hired him as the 18th head coach in franchise history following the Nashville Predators’ run to the Stanley Cup final.

The move was almost universally lauded. Housley, a Hall of Fame defenseman and one of the greatest Sabres ever, was returning to a team and city close to his heart.

Housley’s defense corps in Nashville showcased the fast, aggressive ... Read the full article

Sabres have been awful on road for three months

BUFFALO – Since their 10-game winning streak ended Nov. 29 in Tampa Bay, the Sabres have been downright awful on the road, compiling the NHL’s worst record, a wretched 3-14-3 mark.

Road games, of course, can be tougher. For example, the visitor has the last change. The environment can be unsettling.

Still, every other team has won at least six road contests over that stretch and earned at least 13 points.... Read the full article

Sabres’ Rasmus Ristolainen frustrated by struggles

BUFFALO – The statistic has dogged Rasmus Ristolainen throughout his six-year NHL career. It has never improved, even after the Finn morphed into the Sabres’ top workhorse and a 40-point defenseman.

Since Oct. 3, 2013, the start of Ristolainen’s rookie season, he has compiled the league’s worst plus-minus rating, an awful minus-135 over 412 games.

How ugly is that number? Arizona Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson has accumulated the second-worst rating over that stretch, a minus-93 ... Read the full article

Second-period outburst helps Oilers down Sabres

BUFFALO – Late in the second period Monday, barely two minutes after Zack Kassian’s goal ignited the Edmonton Oilers, Sabres winger Jason Pominville committed a rare defensive-zone gaffe.

Pominville sensed a battle coming along the left boards, so he zeroed in on the puck. As he followed the play, he lost track of his man, allowing Darnell Nurse to slip past him from the point into the left circle.

A second later, the Oilers defenseman ... Read the full article

Sabres notes: Casey Nelson returns after three-month absence

BUFFALO – Three months ago Monday, Casey Nelson suffered an upper-body injury in the Sabres’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The defenseman spent about seven weeks recovering and rehabbing before waiting another six weeks for an opportunity to play NHL games.

Nelson, who dressed for 22 of the Sabres’ first 29 contests, began practicing again in late January and completed a five-game AHL conditioning assignment with the Rochester Americans on Feb. 17.... Read the full article

Sabres’ Casey Nelson quietly waiting for opportunity to play

BUFFALO – Three months ago today, Casey Nelson suffered an upper-body injury in the Sabres’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The defenseman hasn’t played an NHL game since then.

Nelson, who dressed for 22 of the Sabres’ first 29 contests, is healthy again. The Sabres just haven’t used him. He began practicing again in late January and completed a five-game AHL conditioning assignment with the Rochester Americans on Feb. 17.

For the ... Read the full article

Connor McDavid on Ted Lindsay: ‘He was not afraid to stand up to anyone’

BUFFALO – Having won the award named after Ted Lindsay twice, Connor McDavid said he “had the honor” of meeting one of hockey’s all-time legendary figures, who passed away today at age 93.

“Nobody’s done … what he’s done for the players in the game,” the Edmonton Oilers captain said of the former Detroit Red Wings star. “It’s amazing. You can’t say enough good things about him.”

On the ice, Lindsay, nicknamed “Terrible Ted,” was ... Read the full article