Flynn - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Surging Sabres have quickly turned around season

BUFFALO – Forget about last place. How far can the surging Sabres climb up the NHL standings?

The once-hapless club has quickly morphed from an also-ran destined to become one of the NHL’s worst teams ever into a formidable outfit, winning five of the last six games.

Following a weekend sweep of the Montreal Canadiens, the Sabres are enjoying perhaps their best stretch in years entering tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning inside the ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Torrey Mitchell enjoying best stretch in years

BUFFALO – After watching Torrey Mitchell score the winning goal on a sore foot late in Saturday’s 2-1 win in Washington, Sabres coach Ted Nolan jokingly asked the center if he had heard of Toronto Maple Leafs legend Bobby Baun.

Mitchell’s outing, of course, wasn’t as gutsy or memorable as the time Baun scored an overtime winner in the Stanley Cup final on a broken leg 50 years ago.

Still, given the way Mitchell had ... Read the full article

Brian Gionta’s first goals lead Sabres past Sharks

BUFFALO – Outside the First Niagara Center, temperatures dipped into the low 20s and winds gusted up to 30 mph Tuesday. It was bone-chilling cold.

But there was very little snow on the ground downtown. The area immediately around the arena remained navigable all day. So did Buffalo’s Northtowns.

Just miles away, however, an early-season storm was annihilating the Southtowns.

Five feet fell in some areas. There was chaos everywhere. No one could budge.

Still, ... Read the full article

Sabres throttle Leafs, send Toronto fans home unhappy

BUFFALO – For one night at least, the First Niagara Center felt like the old days. A raucous capacity crowd of 19,070 fans roared from start to finish Saturday. The Sabres buzzed up and down the ice all night against the hated Toronto Maple Leafs, scoring goals and creating chance after chance.

The Sabres’ rollicking 6-2 win, just their second regulation triumph this season and first at home, was wildly entertaining, high-octane hockey.

Up in ... Read the full article

Ted Nolan searching for right Sabres line combinations

BUFFALO – Drew Stafford figured what the heck, he had nothing to lose by offering his services at center. The Sabres winger had played the position in high school.

So Stafford recently told coach Ted Nolan he would move if the reeling Sabres wanted to experiment.

“I wanted to let him know I’m comfortable with whatever he throws at myself or whoever I end up with,” Stafford said Friday inside the First Niagara Center. “I ... Read the full article

Young Sabres Rasmus Ristolainen, Nikita Zadorov impressing as tandem

BUFFALO – When you’re struggling and searching for anything to ignite the team, you experiment. So with nothing to lose, Sabres coach Ted Nolan paired Rasmus Ristolainen, 20, and rookie Nikita Zadorov, 19, together last game.

The defensemen became the Sabres’ top tandem in Saturday’s ugly 6-1 loss to Pittsburgh, each skating more than 20 minutes, more than Tyler Myers. Zadorov wasn’t on the ice for any goals against.

“If you look at both ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Tyler Ennis switched to wing; Patrick Kaleta has ‘green light’ to return

BUFFALO – Tyler Ennis is often the Sabres’ only offensive threat. So why did coach Ted Nolan switch the speedster from center to right wing beside Zemgus Girgensons and Matt Moulson today?

You try everything when you only have three wins and 18 goals in 16 games. Ennis has a team-high four goals.

“When you run into obstacles, you don’t stop and quit, and you got to find a way to get over around it ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Brian Flynn finally playing again: ‘I had to try to be patient’

BUFFALO – In his first two seasons, the Sabres only scratched Brian Flynn three times. But the 26-year-old forward became a spare part in October, sitting out nine games, including five straight to close the month.

Now, Flynn’s making it difficult for Sabres coach Ted Nolan to take him out of the lineup. He opened the scoring in Sunday’s 3-2 shootout win against Detroit, his first goal in 25 games.

Nolan likes Flynn’s calm demeanor ... Read the full article

Sabres hang tough against Red Wings for shootout win

BUFFALO – Slowly, Sabres coach Ted Nolan believes, his message is sinking in. Following Sunday’s unlikely 3-2 shootout win against the Detroit Red Wings, he pointed out his Sabres are 2-2-1 in their last five games.

Of course, the Sabres lost those two contests by a combined score of 9-0.

Still, the 3-9-1 Sabres, arguably the NHL’s worst club, measure progress differently than most teams.

Against one of the league’s better teams, the Sabres hung ... Read the full article

Penguins’ Christian Ehrhoff happy with fresh start, sorry Sabres struggling

PITTSBURGH – Penguins defenseman Christian Ehrhoff figured since the Buffalo Sabres asked him to submit a no-trade list last season, the rebuilding team would deal him during the summer.

“That was kind of my expectation,” Ehrhoff said Saturday prior to the Penguins’ 5-0 win inside the Consol Energy Center, “but it didn’t end up that way.”

On June 29, the Sabres used their second compliance buyout to eat the final seven seasons of Ehrhoff’s 10-year ... Read the full article