Enroth - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Check out Sabres goalie Jhonas Enroth’s Swedish Olympic mask

At first glance, it almost looks like a Buffalo Sabres mask. There’s the blue and gold. There’s the usual brick wall “mohawk.”

But goalie Jhonas Enroth’s Olympic mask for the upcoming Sochi Games is “100 percent Sweden” its artist, David Gunnarsson, believes.

Read Gunnarsson’s blog entry on how he and Enroth created the mask here.

Check out Gunnarsson’s Facebook page here.

Follow him on Twitter here.

Check out images of the mask ... Read the full article

Sabres can’t stop Alex Ovechkin, fall to Capitals in OT

BUFFALO – Sooner or later, Alex Ovechkin had to break loose, right? Over two recent games, the Washington Capitals superstar pumped a whopping 18 shots on goal against the Sabres.

Thanks to Ryan Miller’s elite goaltending, the Sabres held the NHL’s most-lethal threat scoreless while winning two 2-1 shootouts.

Facing backup goalie Jhonas Enroth, Ovechkin caught fire early Tuesday, scoring at 3:39 and 4:42 inside the First Niagara Center.

The Sabres still hadn’t ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Jamie McBain to sit against Capitals, Alexander Sulzer back in

BUFFALO – As expected, Sabres defenseman Jamie McBain will be a healthy scratch tonight against the Washington Capitals.

Alexander Sulzer, a scratch five of the last six games, will replace him.

The 25-year-old McBain endured a rough night in Monday’s 3-0 loss in Pittsburgh, losing the puck on the Penguins’ first goal.

“I just want to see better,” Nolan, whose team has lost six of the last seven, said this morning inside the First ... Read the full article

Goalie Ryan Miller plays well against Penguins, Sabres still lose

PITTSBURGH – Despite one win in 15 starts this trying season, it appeared Buffalo Sabres goalie Jhonas Enroth would get Monday’s nod inside the Consol Energy Center.

The backup possesses strong career numbers against the mighty Penguins, who give franchise netminder Ryan Miller fits like no other team.

Besides, the Washington Capitals, a team Miller has dominated lately, are visiting the First Niagara Center tonight.

But Ted Nolan doesn’t care about Miller’s awful numbers against ... Read the full article

Sabres goalie Ryan Miller to start against Penguins

PITTSBURGH – The numbers are terrible. In 23 career games against the Penguins, Buffalo Sabres franchise goalie Ryan Miller is 7-11-3 with a ghastly 3.26 goals-against average and .888 save percentage.

The powerhouse Penguins own Miller like no other team.

So why start Miller tonight when the Sabres play Washington, a team he has dominated recently, Tuesday at home?

Interim Sabres coach Ted Nolan doesn’t care about Miller’s numbers.

“I just know how good he ... Read the full article

Phil Varone, family emotional over NHL debut; Sabres fall to Hurricanes

BUFFALO – The voice on the other end of the phone was excited. For a moment, Tony Varone thought his son, Sabres center Phil Varone, had been in a car accident.

“I said, ‘Is everything OK?’” the elder Varone recalled a day later inside the First Niagara Center.

Phil Varone, who nearly shunned the Sabres to play hockey for the University of New Brunswick in 2011, was calling with good news, though.

“He ... Read the full article

Sabres rookie Phil Varone set for NHL debut, emotional over first recall

BUFFALO – Phil Varone had no clue why Chadd Cassidy pulled him off the ice Wednesday. The center thought perhaps he had been traded or the Rochester coach just wanted to discuss this weekend’s games.

Nope. Cassidy informed the 23-year-old the Sabres had recalled him.

“When he told me the news, it brought some tears to my eyes,” Varone said this morning inside the First Niagara Center. “I called my parents right away. It’s ... Read the full article

Sabres blow late lead in front of goalie Jhonas Enroth, fall to Flyers

BUFFALO – The dressing room door swung open and sitting in the first stall, his pads and much of his equipment still attached to his sweat-drenched body, was Sabres goalie Jhonas Enroth, the hard-luck loser again, staring straight ahead.

Finally, it appeared the Sabres might win a game for the backup, who earned his only victory this season Oct. 25.

The Sabres took an early 2-1 third-period lead against the Philadelphia Flyers on ... Read the full article

Sabres want to get goalie Jhonas Enroth win tonight against Flyers

BUFFALO – Maybe, just maybe, this will be Jhonas Enroth’s night.

The Sabres have points in eight straight home games (6-0-2) entering tonight’s tilt against the Philadelphia Flyers. The backup goalie, a hard-luck loser all season, has been playing tremendously, posting a 1.97 goals-against average and .916 save percentage in his last four starts.

Overall, Enroth has a 2.46 goals-against average and .916 save percentage, but a terrible 1-8-4 mark.

The Sabres have scored just ... Read the full article

Goalie Ryan Miller still waiting to discuss future with Sabres’ new regime

BUFFALO – Ryan Miller appreciates Pat LaFontaine’s kind words. The hockey icon lauded his franchise goalie last week, telling reporters the Sabres would do their best to accommodate the former Vezina Trophy winner if he wants to stay here.

“It’s nice of him,” Miller, an unrestricted free agent following the season, said Saturday inside the Riverside Ice Rink. “I still need to kind of see what’s going on in the bigger picture.”

Miller said ... Read the full article