WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Happy Halloween
Rasmus Dahlin created Tuesday’s winning power-play goal. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In the early days of the season, the Sabres’ potent power play carried them, accounting for a whopping 50% of their goals over the first 17 games.
But since that scorching start – the Sabres scored 19 times and converted an NHL-best 36.4% of their chances – they’ve been downright awful, mustering just two power-play goals in 38 tries in the last 21 outings.
That’s just 5.3%, the league’s worst number over that ... Read the full article
Rasmus Dahlin has started looking like his old self. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
Over the last week, Rasmus Dahlin has morphed into a dynamic defenseman again, shaking off three dreadful months to help ignite the Buffalo Sabres.
Dahlin, 20, enjoyed his best night this trying season in Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils inside Prudential Center. After tying the game in the second period, he corralled a bouncing puck inside the blue line and deftly created center Casey Mittelstadt’s game-winning power-play goal 10:20 into the third.... Read the full article
Taylor Hall could be traded soon. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
Buffalo Sabres winger Taylor Hall, who will likely be traded before Monday’s deadline, will be held out of tonight’s road game against the New Jersey Devils, interim coach Don Granato said.
The move makes sense. Why risk an asset to injury?
Hall, 29, can become an unrestricted free agent following the season. He has a no-movement clause in the one-year, $8 million contract he signed with the Sabres.... Read the full article
Jacob Bryson has quickly established himself as a trusted defenseman. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – On the left side of the Sabres’ top defense tandem, there’s the diminutive Jacob Bryson, a speedy rookie who has quickly entrenched himself in the lineup.
On the right, there’s 6-foot-4, 221-pound Rasmus Ristolainen, a hulking, physical veteran who’s six inches taller and 32 pounds heavier than his partner.
In Wednesday’s 6-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, Bryson and Ristolainen enjoyed their best night together, each recording two assists and a plus-4 ... Read the full article
Casey Mittelstadt has moved up the depth chart this season. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Shifting Casey Mittelstadt to center wasn’t simply a result of the hapless Sabres trading Eric Staal or Jack Eichel suffering a lower-body injury.
Yes, injuries and Staal’s departure have decimated the Sabres at center. The four who practiced Tuesday inside KeyBank Center – Mittelstadt, Cody Eakin, Curtis Lazar and Riley Sheahan – have combined to score 10 goals and 25 points this season.
Interim coach Don Granato, whose Sabres host the Philadelphia ... Read the full article
Eric Staal spent less than one season in Buffalo. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
Eric Staal was hardly interested in revisiting his rough 32-game tenure in Buffalo and explaining the hapless Sabres’ struggles.
Staal, 36, left the NHL’s laughingstock on Friday in the midst of a stunning 17-game winless skid and a personal 23-game goal drought.
So can you blame the veteran center, one of the league’s most decorated players, for wanting to forget about a tumultuous two months and concentrate on his new opportunity with the Montreal Canadiens?... Read the full article
Taylor Hall signed a one-year, $8 million contract with Buffalo. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
Nothing at this point, 32 games into perhaps the most miserable season in the franchise’s 51-year history, would surprise the Buffalo Sabres.
So when they learned interim coach Don Granato and assistant Matt Ellis had entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol just hours before Thursday’s game, it wasn’t a big deal.
“In a season of unfortunate and terrible events, we’re just ready for it,” winger Taylor Hall said on a Zoom call following the Sabres’ 4-0 ... Read the full article
Don Granato has coached the Sabres three games. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
Ninety minutes before his NHL head coaching debut, Kevyn Adams was more focused on stepping behind the bench than trying to process the chaos that has transpired in his first season as Buffalo Sabres general manager.
“I can’t even really get into all that,” Adams said on a Zoom call prior to the Sabres’ 16th consecutive loss, a 4-0 setback to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Can you blame Adams? The season from hell refuses to let ... Read the full article
Dylan Cozens has quickly become Buffalo’s No. 1 center. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
For now, rookie Dylan Cozens is the Buffalo Sabres’ No. 1 center. With captain Jack Eichel injured and veteran Eric Staal mired in a 22-game goal drought, the hapless team sorely needs a productive presence in the middle.
The Sabres shifted Cozens, 20, to right wing earlier this season so he could be eased into the NHL. But before he played 20 games, they moved him back to his natural position.
Cozens, the seventh ... Read the full article
Dan Girardi played 11 seasons for the New York Rangers. ©2021, Dan Hickling
BUFFALO – Dan Girardi retired less than two years ago, so the ex-NHL defenseman was a contemporary to many of the Sabres.
If they knew Girardi as a player – despite going undrafted, he enjoyed a stellar 13-year career – they can likely relate to him as an assistant coach.
When the hapless Sabres fired coach Ralph Krueger on Wednesday, they also let go assistant coach Steve Smith. General manager Kevyn Adams wanted a fresh ... Read the full article