Greenway - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres lose again, need more compete: ‘We have to find another gear’

BUFFALO – If you believe time hasn’t run out for the 14th-place Sabres, then the clock is certainly ticking loudly. Two losses last week likely extinguished their faint hopes of entering the playoff chase.

With their season essentially on the line, the Sabres scored just two total goals. In Saturday afternoon’s 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues before 16,726 fans in KeyBank Center, they created offense again but refused to pay a price to ... Read the full article

Hockey smarts help Sabres rookie Zach Benson solidify top line

BUFFALO – Early in Monday afternoon’s 3-0 win, Sabres coach Don Granato shuffled his lines to give them more directness.

Most notably, he shifted Casey Mittelstadt from left wing on the top line, where he had been subbing for Jeff Skinner, to center, his natural position, between Jordan Greenway and captain Kyle Okposo.

To replace Mittelstadt alongside center Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch, he promoted 18-year-old rookie Zach Benson, who began the game playing with ... Read the full article

Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stars in shutout, emerging as Sabres’ starter

BUFFALO – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s run as the Sabres’ starting goalie this season lasted about a week.

Shortly after he grabbed the No. 1 job, he got sick and missed about 10 days. When he returned, rookie Devon Levi had re-established himself following a brief trip to the minors, and the netminders mostly alternated starts about the next month.

But since Dec. 30, Luukkonen, who posted a 28-save shutout in Monday afternoon’s 3-0 win over the ... Read the full article

Injured Sabres center Tage Thompson ‘possibility’ to play against Canucks

BUFFALO – In the past, coach Don Granato said, the Sabres have experienced similar situations in which they wondered if center Tage Thompson would be able to play.

“You don’t know and, boom, he’s ready to go,” Granato said of other injuries Thompson has endured. “So he’s ultra-competitive. He’s played lots of games not at 100 percent and below.”

Granato there’s a “possibility” Thompson, 26, can play in this afternoon’s game against the Vancouver Canucks ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Jeff Skinner week to week with injury; Buffalo makes lineup change

BUFFALO – In a best-case scenario, the Sabres will be without winger Jeff Skinner, their leading goal scorer, for about three or four games.

Skinner, 31, is week to week after suffering an upper-body injury in Tuesday’s 5-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken. Coach Don Granato said the veteran will be re-evaluated in a week.

So perhaps Skinner, who has rarely been injured during his six seasons in Buffalo, will be back soon.

Still, the ... Read the full article

Ten months after trade, Sabres’ Jordan Greenway playing big minutes

BUFFALO – In his seven-year career, Sabres winger Jordan Greenway has never earned this much ice time.

In each of the last two games entering Tuesday’s 5-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken, Greenway, a third-liner and top penalty killer, led the team’s forwards in ice time.

In Saturday’s 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, he skated 20 minutes, 19 seconds, marking the second time in his last 11 games he has eclipsed the 20-minute mark. ... Read the full article

Sabres captain Kyle Okposo returns to practice, could play soon

BUFFALO – At first, Kyle Okposo did not know he had suffered a lower-body injury. Then the Sabres captain had to take faceoff his next shift.

“(I) was feeling it then,” he said of the injury he suffered Dec. 31 in a 5-1 road loss to the Ottawa Senators. “And progressively your adrenaline takes over and you just finish the game, which is fine, and I knew I was going to be sore the next ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Jordan Greenway, Alex Tuch to play against Penguins; UPL to start

PITTSBURGH – Buffalo Sabres wingers Jordan Greenway and Alex Tuch, both of whom missed Friday’s practice because of illness, will play tonight against the Penguins.

Both players participated in this morning’s optional skate in PPG Paints Arena. Greenway played 18 minutes, 39 seconds in Thursday’s 6-1 road win over the Montreal Canadiens, the most among Buffalo’s forwards.

In other lineup news, goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will start tonight, his 19th appearance this season.... Read the full article

Sabres’ Victor Olofsson evolving in new role: ‘He’s become a better player’

PITTSBURGH – When you think of Buffalo Sabres winger Victor Olofsson scoring a goal, coach Don Granato said, you have a certain picture.

For much of the past five years, Olofsson has utilized his ultra-quick release and lethal shot, often from the circle area.

“You think of a certain spot on the ice where he opens up and it’s a one-timer,” Granato said following Wednesday’s practice in KeyBank Center. “It’s a shift slightly into the ... Read the full article

Sabres showcase emphatic response, annihilate Maple Leafs: ‘We took last game really personally’

BUFFALO – In the aftermath of the ugliest defeat of Don Granato’s tenure as Sabres coach, his players defended him more vigorously than they had their opponent that night.

But until they displayed more passion on the ice, showcased the pace and tenacity Granato demands, their words would carry some hollowness.

“We wanted to do more than just say we have his back, we wanted to go out there and prove it, and I think ... Read the full article