WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
October Edition
Robin Lehner has played 27 games this season. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The flu bug going around the Sabres dressing room has hit goalie Robin Lehner, so the Swede will miss tonight’s tilt against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Backup Anders Nilsson will sub, his third start in four games. Expect a goalie, most likely Linus Ullmark, to be recalled. Sabres coach Dan Bylsma wouldn’t confirm Ullmark was coming up, however.
Update: Ullmark has officially been recalled.
Bylsma said no other players are sick.
With ... Read the full article
Tyler Ennis has missed 27 games. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Before Tyler Ennis can return from a groin injury that has sidelined him 27 games, the Sabres must put the shifty winger through difficult practices featuring rough battle drills and bumping from heavy bodies.
Ennis, who underwent surgery Nov. 10, responded well to the arduous session today inside KeyBank Center. So, could the Sabres’ longest-tenured player be close to returning?
“We’re getting close, just need a few more sessions like that,” Ennis said.... Read the full article
Brian Gionta (12) celebrates his go-ahead goal Saturday afternoon. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – If the last-place Sabres go on a three-month tear, roar up the standings and do the unthinkable – that’s secure a playoff spot – remember their offensive outburst late in Saturday afternoon’s thrilling 4-3 come-from-behind win.
Down 3-1 against the Winnipeg Jets and trudging toward their eighth loss in 10 games, the Sabres suddenly exploded for three goals in just 4:42, sending the capacity crowd of 19,070 fans into a frenzy.
The wild ... Read the full article
Rasmus Ristolainen (55) stops a puck Thursday. ©2016, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Ten minutes after Thursday’s demoralizing 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins, the anger and shock that accompanies blowing a two-goal lead hadn’t worn off. As some stunned Sabres spoke quietly, cursing from a restricted area behind the dressing room occasionally erupted.
It was that kind of loss for the Sabres, a team already fighting for its playoff life.
The Sabres, slow starters all season, pounced on the Bruins, playing perhaps their best hockey ... Read the full article
Tyler Ennis had surgery Nov. 10. ©2016, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Without his explosiveness and the ability to juke opponents, speedy Sabres winger Tyler Ennis believes he’s “pretty useless out there.”
“I have to be able to use my agility, my speed, my quickness to create space,” Ennis said Thursday morning after skating with his teammates inside KeyBank Center.
Ennis, 27, couldn’t do any of that earlier this season. The longest-tenured Sabre said he felt something “gradually getting worse” in his groin. An examination ... Read the full article
Marcus Foligno (right) fights St. Louis’ Robert Bortuzzo on Nov. 23, 2015. ©2016, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – In the last four games, Sabres winger Marcus Foligno has fought three times, as many scraps as the young veteran had in his previous 58 outings.
Why has Foligno, 25, been fighting so much recently?
“There’s games where I feel like we haven’t played our best, so you need a spark … you might show a little bit of frustration out there,” Foligno said Wednesday inside KeyBank Center.
Frustration and payback. In ... Read the full article
Marcus Foligno has been utilizing his big frame. ©2016, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Sabres winger Marcus Foligno has a simple explanation why he fixed his hair at a bizarre time – during a heavyweight scrap against Shawn Thornton, the NHL’s dean of fighters – in Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers.
“Just try to get readjusted and get ready for round two,” a smiling Foligno said Thursday prior to the Sabres’ 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes inside KeyBank Center.
The bout was a ... Read the full article
Marcus Foligno had an odd fight Tuesday. ©2016, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Sabres winger Marcus Foligno has a simple explanation why he fixed his hair at a bizarre time – during a heavyweight scrap against Shawn Thornton, the NHL’s dean of fighters – in Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers.
“Just try to get readjusted and get ready for round two of the first fight,” a smiling Foligno said this morning inside KeyBank Center.
The bout was a fight lover’s dream, the 6-foot-3, ... Read the full article
Dan Bylsma’s Sabres have been starting game slowly. ©2016, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – For the past few weeks, the Sabres have rarely broken a disturbing trend of starting slowly and falling behind.
Some nights, they’ve roared back to win. Other nights, however, their penchant for stumbling out of the gate bites them.
In Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout loss in Florida, the Sabres trailed 2-0 before zooming back to take a late 3-2 lead.
What must the Sabres change early tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes?
“We need to ... Read the full article
Brian Gionta is on a 21-goal pace. ©2016, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Sabres coach Dan Bylsma can’t tell you how old Brian Gionta is, which illustrates how much he cares about his captain’s age.
“I don’t even know,” Bylsma said Thursday after the Sabres prepared for tonight’s tilt against the New York Islanders at KeyBank Center.
Gionta, for the record, is 37 years old, an advanced age when most NHL players are long retired, or, at best, reduced to a bit role.
Occasionally, winger Marcus ... Read the full article