Kaleta - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres’ Marcus Foligno out ‘a while’ with apparent hand injury; 10 players injured or sick

The Buffalo Sabres are down 10 players to injuries and illness after losing center Marcus Foligno and captain Brian Gionta in Sunday’s 4-3 overtime loss in Boston.

Foligno apparently hurt his hand fighting the Bruins’ Matt Bartkowski after the defenseman leveled Gionta high during the first period. An upper-body injury will sideline Foligno for “a while,” Sabres coach Ted Nolan told reporters in Boston.

“One of those freak accidents that happen when you play,” Nolan ... Read the full article

Sabres recall Mark Pysyk and Tim Schaller from Amerks

BUFFALO – With injuries and illnesses ravaging the Sabres, the team has recalled defenseman Mark Pysyk and center Tim Schaller from Rochester for tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins.

Defenseman Tyler Myers is questionable after suffering a lower-body injury in Saturday’s 5-1 loss to Colorado. Meanwhile, wingers Patrick Kaleta and Matt Moulson are both sick. Kaleta will definitely miss tonight’s game, Sabres coach Ted Nolan said.

Pysyk has one goal and 10 points in 27 ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Marcus Foligno scoring goals, feels career surging

BUFFALO – After scoring a goal in three consecutive wins recently, his hottest stretch since he burst into the NHL almost three years ago, Sabres center Marcus Foligno believes he has finally turned a corner in what has often been an enigmatic career.

“Yeah, I do,” Foligno said Thursday following practice inside HarborCenter. “I feel a lot better in myself and the way I’ve been playing, the way I’ve been seeing the ice, and just ... Read the full article

Strong, balanced offense has buoyed Sabres during hot streak

BUFFALO – Yes, 30 games into the season, the Sabres still possess the NHL’s worst offense. At their current pace, they would score 142 goals, eight fewer than last year, when they set the NHL’s all-time low mark for a full campaign.

But the Sabres’ offense is no longer feeble. At times, it can even be downright dangerous.

Thirty of the Sabres’ 52 goals have come in the last 12 games, a stretch in which ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Patrick Kaleta won’t wear ‘RoboCop’ visor in game

BUFFALO – Sabres winger Patrick Kaleta spent weeks experimenting with different forms of facial protection after essentially breaking his face Sept. 28.

The agitator finally settled on a standard-looking tinted visor to help his vision problems.

Today, however, Kaleta practiced looking like RoboCop, wearing a shiny, mirrored visor.

Relax, he has no plans to wear it in a game.

“Oakley made it up,” Kaleta said this afternoon inside the First Niagara Center. “I was just ... Read the full article

Sabres notes: Chris Stewart doesn’t want to discuss benching

BUFFALO – Instead of walking into the dressing room following a long skate Tuesday morning, struggling Sabres winger Chris Stewart veered off and undressed somewhere else.

A few minutes later, a staff member wheeled in Stewart’s equipment on a shopping cart and placed it in his locker.

Clearly, Stewart, a healthy scratch for the Sabres’ 1-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings, wasn’t in the mood to discuss his benching.

“All players have to play ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Chris Stewart to be scratched against Kings

BUFFALO – Less than two weeks ago, Chris Stewart appeared to turn a corner. The 6-foot-2, 231-pound Sabres winger scored two nifty breakaway goals during a three-game stretch, just his second and third goals this season.

But Stewart has done little since then, so Sabres coach Ted Nolan will make the 27-year-old a healthy scratch for tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Kings inside the First Niagara Center.

“All players have to play to the ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Patrick Kaleta returning to normal following facial injury

BUFFALO – Five games into his return from a broken face, little has changed for Sabres agitator Patrick Kaleta.

“It seems like I keep getting hit in the face,” joked Kaleta, who was rammed face-first into the boards by Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry eight days ago.

Kaleta escaped that scary hit with just a few cuts. The winger was wearing a jaw guard then, something he shed Tuesday because it kept cutting him. He ... Read the full article

With Cody McCormick still sidelined, Sabres recall Tim Schaller

BUFFALO – Tim Schaller had just eaten lunch and gotten comfortable on the couch Tuesday afternoon in Rochester when Americans coach Chadd Cassidy phoned the center.

“Get yourself to Buffalo tonight,” Cassidy told Schaller, who had been sent down following his NHL debut Saturday.

Schaller hopped in his car and arrived at the First Niagara Center around 4 p.m.

The Sabres summoned Schaller for their 2-1 shootout win against the Tampa Bay Lightning because forward ... Read the full article

Sabres’ defense slowly improving, still mistake-prone

BUFFALO – Twenty-two games into the season, the Sabres’ weak and often sloppy defense corps has combined for two goals, 20 points and a minus-41 rating entering tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens.

As evidenced by the Sabres’ recent three-game winning streak, a stretch in which they allowed only four goals, the defense has looked much better – sturdier, you might say – during some contests this month.

Still, it’s a mistake-prone group. And with ... Read the full article