Carrick - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres’ Lindy Ruff confident Josh Doan will start scoring: ‘All the faith’

BUFFALO – For the final 15 minutes of Tuesday’s thrilling 3-2 overtime win, Sabres winger Josh Doan, who began the night skating on the top line, watched from the bench.

Following the game, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff acknowledged the obvious, that Doan, who went pointless in the first three contests, is “struggling right now.”

So when Ruff shortened his bench and revamped his lines late against the Minnesota Wild, Doan, 24, was one of ... Read the full article

Peyton Krebs, the Sabres’ ‘Swiss Army knife,’ has grown under Lindy Ruff: ‘He’s trusted me’

BUFFALO – As a first-line winger, a role he assumed for the Sabres late in Tuesday’s come-from-behind win, the versatile Peyton Krebs transforms his mentality.

Alongside center Tage Thompson and another scoring threat, Krebs knows he must forecheck, meaning he will have the puck less than he does skating on the third or fourth line.

“Kind of just contribute to those guys making sure they’re getting the puck,” Krebs told the Times Herald during training ... Read the full article

Undersized Sabres D Zach Metsa earns respect for fight with Mathieu Olivier: ‘Extremely courageous’

BUFFALO – No one expected it. After all, Sabres defenseman Zach Metsa doesn’t fight much. As a pro, he said he had only scrapped once before taking on heavyweight Mathieu Olivier in Thursday’s season opener in Columbus.

As a rookie with the Rochester Americans, the 5-foot-9, 201-pound Metsa said he fought a member of the Syracuse Crunch whose name he doesn’t remember.

“I think he was No. 18,” Metsa said Saturday in KeyBank Center.

In ... Read the full article

Injured Sabres Alex Lyon, Jason Zucker skate with teammates; Buffalo likely to make lineup change

BUFFALO – In the coming days or weeks, the Sabres could be faced with a good problem: they might have too many players.

Goalie Alex Lyon (left shoulder) and winger Jason Zucker (offseason sports hernia surgery) both joined their teammates for this morning’s optional pregame skate as the they prepared for tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild.

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said there’s no timetable for Lyon’s return to the lineup, while Zucker could still ... Read the full article

Mattias Samuelsson might be ready for opener; Sabres make roster move

BUFFALO – Injured Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson could play in Thursday’s season opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Samuelsson, who suffered a lower-body injury blocking a shot in the second preseason game, skated on his own Tuesday and could practice with the Sabres on Wednesday, coach Lindy Ruff said.

If the Sabres’ top shutdown defender can’t play in Columbus, Ruff expects him to return in the near future.... Read the full article

Sabres preseason: Buffalo to dress full NHL lineup versus Columbus; Jiri Kulich to keep playing

BUFFALO – With the exception of one goalie, the lineup the Sabres will dress for tonight’s preseason game against the Blue Jackets is likely the one they field for their season opener Oct. 1 in Columbus.

With only four preseason games and veterans who have played 100 NHL games now limited to just two appearances, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff figured he would put his main group together tonight against the Blue Jackets’ B team.

Among ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Jiri Kulich thrilled to participate in scrimmage after battling blot clot: ‘It’s pretty special’

BUFFALO – Jiri Kulich couldn’t stop smiling. Who cares if it was just an intrasquad scrimmage a few days into training camp? For the first time in since Nov. 1 – 322 days, to be exact – the Czech forward played alongside his Sabres teammates.

“It’s unreal,” an excited Kulich, who was sidelined by a blood clot last season, said following Saturday’s Blue and Gold scrimmage in KeyBank Center. “I can’t even describe the feeling. ... Read the full article

End-of-season injury updates on Owen Power, Tage Thompson, Sam Carrick, Justin Danforth and other Sabres

BUFFALO – When Owen Power crashed feet first into the boards last Thursday, it appeared the Sabres might lose the stud defenseman for the rest of their second-round series against the Montreal Canadiens.

Power briefly left Game 5 before returning to the bench and testing the injury during breaks. Late in the contest, he played two shifts.

He kept gutting out the injury in the Sabres’ final two games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In Monday’s ... Read the full article

After trade, long stretch sitting out as scratch, Luke Schenn adds to Sabres’ playoff run: ‘Just steady Eddie’

BUFFALO – In the press box recently, Sabres defenseman Luke Schenn said he was viewing his son Kingston’s hockey game in Kelowna, British, Columbia, on an app, when rookie Konsta Helenius asked who he was watching.

When Schenn, 36, told him his son, Helenius, 20, asked his age.

“I said, ‘9.’ He goes, ‘Well, I have a 10-year-old brother who I help out with hockey,’” Schenn said on Thursday prior to Game 5 of the ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Konsta Helenius earns trust in playoff debut, generates offense: ‘Heck of a game’

BUFFALO – In the waning minutes of Tuesday’s 3-2 win in Montreal, with the Sabres clinging to a one-goal lead against the Canadiens, coach Lindy Ruff kept utilizing center Konsta Helenius at critical moments on hockey’s grandest stage.

Normally a rookie playing just his 10th NHL game and first in the Stanley Cup Playoffs would be nailed to the bench at that late juncture.

But Helenius, who turned 20 on Monday, quickly earned Ruff’s trust ... Read the full article