Bill Hoppe - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres trade prospect Filip Cederqvist to Canadiens

The Buffalo Sabres on Thursday traded wing prospect Filip Cederqvist to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for future considerations.

The 6-foot-3, 203-pound Cederqvist, 23, compiled one goal and four points in 19 games with the Rochester Americans this season.

In a corresponding move, the Amerks traded Chris Jandric to the Laval Rocket, Montreal’s affiliate, in exchange for Noah Laaouan, a swap of defensemen playing on AHL contracts.

After spending parts of three seasons in the ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Alex Tuch earning respect as leader, starting to heat up offensively

BUFFALO – Coach Don Granato said the Sabres had discussed temporarily awarding winger Alex Tuch a letter before he gutted out more than 16 minutes of ice time and registered two assists battling illness.

The affable Tuch, a heart-and-soul player who’s also a top scorer, checks so many of the boxes the Sabres desire in a leader.

“There are lots of guys in the locker room that look up to Alex and that was probably ... Read the full article

Jeff Skinner suffers injury; Sabres could make change on defense

BUFFALO – Winger Jeff Skinner, the Sabres’ leading goal scorer, suffered an upper-body injury in Tuesday’s 5-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken and could miss tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators at KeyBank Center.

The Sabres are awaiting results of the imaging Skinner, 31, underwent Wednesday morning to determine how long he could be sidelined.

“It doesn’t look like it’s going to be long,” Sabres coach Don Granato following Wednesday’s practice.... Read the full article

Defensive lapses doom Sabres in loss to Kraken: ‘It was the mistakes we made’

BUFFALO – The Seattle Kraken grabbed a commanding three-goal lead in the second period, and frustration immediately overwhelmed Sabres star Rasmus Dahlin.

Dahlin smashed his stick over the top of the net, looking more like a lumberjack than a defenseman, breaking it into two pieces.

The Sabres, having won two straight games for just the second time this season, began Tuesday feeling pretty good about themselves. As they started a six-game home stand, they had ... Read the full article

Ten months after trade, Sabres’ Jordan Greenway playing big minutes

BUFFALO – In his seven-year career, Sabres winger Jordan Greenway has never earned this much ice time.

In each of the last two games entering Tuesday’s 5-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken, Greenway, a third-liner and top penalty killer, led the team’s forwards in ice time.

In Saturday’s 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, he skated 20 minutes, 19 seconds, marking the second time in his last 11 games he has eclipsed the 20-minute mark. ... Read the full article

Sabres’ long home stand could decide playoff fate: ‘The time is now’

BUFFALO – Don Granato kept going, talking for two minutes on perhaps his least favorite topic, the Sabres’ dreary home record.

Discussing his team’s struggles at KeyBank Center clearly struck a nerve with the coach. Any explanation, he reasoned, could be taken as an excuse.

“I don’t even like talking about it,” Granato said after the Sabres prepared for Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Kraken, the start of a season-long six-game home stand.

Still, Granato ... Read the full article

Sabres captain Kyle Okposo returns to practice, could play soon

BUFFALO – At first, Kyle Okposo did not know he had suffered a lower-body injury. Then the Sabres captain had to take faceoff his next shift.

“(I) was feeling it then,” he said of the injury he suffered Dec. 31 in a 5-1 road loss to the Ottawa Senators. “And progressively your adrenaline takes over and you just finish the game, which is fine, and I knew I was going to be sore the next ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stars in win over Penguins: ‘Stood on his head’

PITTSBURGH – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen calmly faced each breakaway, patiently waiting in position in his crease as Penguins roared toward him. Each time, the Buffalo Sabres goalie stymied his opponent, barely moving and making the stops look easy.

In Saturday’s first period, shortly after Sabres winger Alex Tuch scored 2:53 into the game, superstar Sidney Crosby became Luukkonen’s first victim. In the second period, the Finn thwarted Rickard Rackell’s attempt. Later in the second, he stoned ... Read the full article

After slow start, Connor Clifton quietly generating offense for Sabres

PITTSBURGH – Pop quiz, Buffalo Sabres fans. Since Dec. 7, which player is tied with winger Alex Tuch for the team lead with eight assists?

Is it one of the Sabres’ top centers, Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens or Casey Mittelstadt? Or how about one of their high-scoring wingers, JJ Peterka or Jeff Skinner? What about their defenseman who piles up points like a first-line forward, Rasmus Dahlin?

If you guessed any of the above, you’re ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Jordan Greenway, Alex Tuch to play against Penguins; UPL to start

PITTSBURGH – Buffalo Sabres wingers Jordan Greenway and Alex Tuch, both of whom missed Friday’s practice because of illness, will play tonight against the Penguins.

Both players participated in this morning’s optional skate in PPG Paints Arena. Greenway played 18 minutes, 39 seconds in Thursday’s 6-1 road win over the Montreal Canadiens, the most among Buffalo’s forwards.

In other lineup news, goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will start tonight, his 19th appearance this season.... Read the full article