Girgensons - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Ted Nolan changes Sabres’ lines; Brayden McNabb to return Tuesday

BUFFALO – Ted Nolan wanted to give his lines a long look. The interim Sabres coach figured he couldn’t ask his players for consistency if he kept shuffling the trios.

But after a string of losses and more meager offensive production, Nolan switched the lines up today.

“Our top line is having a little bit of trouble, maybe the chemistry wasn’t quite right,” Nolan said this afternoon following practice inside the First Niagara Center. ... Read the full article

Sabres rookie Zemgus Girgensons ends goal drought, knows he must score

MONTREAL – It was here, Sept. 15 inside the Bell Centre, that Buffalo Sabres rookie Zemgus Girgensons first sent notice he wouldn’t be leaving the NHL.

The ferocious Latvian winger scored twice in the Sabres’ first exhibition game, a 5-4 shootout win against the Canadiens. Of course, preseason openers are often filled with junior and AHL players with little or no chance of making the big club.

Still, Girgensons’ performance impressed the Sabres.

“That ... Read the full article

Sabres outplay Canadiens most of night, still lose tight game

MONTREAL – Finding silver linings in defeats can be difficult, Ted Nolan said. But the interim Buffalo Sabres coach is beginning to see progress in his rebuilding club.

Mistakes, of course, are still part of the team’s game.

“But not as frequent as they were,” Nolan said Saturday following the Sabres’ 3-2 loss to the Canadiens before 21,273 fans inside the Bell Centre.

The hapless Sabres, losers of eight of their last nine games, outplayed ... Read the full article

Sabres rookie Zemgus Girgensons on scoring struggles: ‘It’ll come’

MONTREAL – It was here, Sept. 15 inside the Bell Centre, that Buffalo Sabres rookie Zemgus Girgensons first sent notice he wouldn’t be leaving the NHL.

The Latvian winger scored twice in the Sabres’ first exhibition game, a 5-4 shootout win against the Canadiens. Of course, preseason openers are often filled with junior and AHL players with little or no chance of making the big club.

Still, Girgensons’ performance impressed the Sabres.

“That was a ... Read the full article

Struggling Tyler Ennis refreshed by Sabres’ new regime

BUFFALO – Ted Nolan noticed a difference immediately after talking to Tyler Ennis. It looked like a huge weight had been lifted off the slick speedster, the interim Sabres coach said.

Nolan told the center to stop playing so robotically and start utilizing his natural instincts. The 24-year-old’s game possessed too much hesitancy when he replaced Ron Rolston on Nov. 13.

Ennis knows he’s at his best freewheeling around the ice.

“I think ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Luke Adam on first goal this season: ‘It’s a release’

BUFFALO – Winger Luke Adam believes he should’ve scored “a couple more” goals in the Sabres’ 3-2 overtime triumph Friday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“But I won’t complain with one,” Adam said after scoring his first goal in his fourth NHL game this season.

Adam, who had three or four strong scoring chances near the net Wednesday, finally converted against the Leafs, burying Zemgus Girgensons’ big rebound in the right circle 18:50 into the ... Read the full article

Sabres beat Leafs in overtime, send legions of Toronto fans home unhappy

BUFFALO – It wasn’t a normal postgame NHL salute. Then again, the Sabres’ exciting 3-2 overtime triumph against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday wasn’t a normal game.

Leafs fans, who normally comprise at least half the raucous crowd when Toronto visits the First Niagara Center, outnumbered Sabres fans perhaps three to one in the capacity crowd of 19,070.

They ruled the building, chanting loudly all night.

So when the Sabres skated to center ice ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Mikhail Grigorenko and Brayden McNabb should return tonight after healthy scratches

BUFFALO – These aren’t regular healthy scratches. Interim coach Ted Nolan, who’s been charged with evaluating and developing the Sabres’ young lineup, wants some of his prospects to sit occasionally.

So he scratched center Mikhail Grigorenko and defenseman Brayden McNabb for Friday’s 3-2 overtime win against Toronto Maple Leafs inside the First Niagara Center.

Both should return tonight in New Jersey against the Devils, however.

“I’m not unhappy,” Nolan said Friday morning about Grigorenko’s play. ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Ted Nolan impressed with Mikhail Grigorenko’s two games

BUFFALO – Anybody will notice 19-year-old center Mikhail Grigorenko’s skill set, interim Sabres coach Ted Nolan said.

“He sees the ice very well,” Nolan said this afternoon following practice inside the First Niagara Center. “He’s a big man. He has a tremendous shot.”

But Nolan also sees “a young kid” within all that talent.

“A young kid that’s finding his way,” he noted.

That’s why Nolan’s exercising patience with the rookie, who’s pointless in two ... Read the full article

Ted Nolan’s strong words mean Sabres will start making more moves

Bet on it. In the next week or so, the hapless Buffalo Sabres will trade or waive at least one underachieving veteran.

Ted Nolan has seen enough just four games into his tenure.

“The gloves are officially off,” the interim coach told reporters Thursday in Philadelphia following the Sabres’ weak 4-1 loss, their third straight setback. “Now we got to do certain things in order to play. If you don’t, you’re not.”

The youth excuse ... Read the full article