Luukkonen - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres’ Tage Thompson, UPL thrilled to be selected to Olympics

COLUMBUS – In the NHL, Tage Thompson is the Buffalo Sabres’ No. 1 center and most dynamic offensive threat, having scored 178 goals since the start of the 2021-22 season.

But on Team USA’s Olympic entry at the upcoming Milano Cortina Games, which Thompson, 28, was named to on Friday, what kind of role could he be cast in? Third-line winger? Fourth-line grinder?

Thompson, whose surging Sabres carry a 10-game win streak into this afternoon’s ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Tage Thompson named to Team USA’s Olympic roster

When Team USA left Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson off its roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago, the snub fueled him.

Over the final 36 games of the season, he scored an NHL-high 25 goals. He carried that dynamic scoring prowess into the World Championship in Europe, where his overtime goal clinched the Americans’ first gold medal at the tournament in 92 years.

Thompson, 28, seemed like a sure bet to represent ... Read the full article

Sabres send injured Alex Lyon back to Buffalo: ‘Going to be a bit of time’

Goalie Alex Lyon has returned to Buffalo to be examined by the Sabres’ doctors after suffering a lower-body injury late in Monday’s 4-2 road win over the St. Louis Blues, coach Lindy Ruff told reporters in Dallas.

“Right now, it’s going to be a bit of time,” Ruff said prior to tonight’s game against the Stars.

Ruff said rookie goalie Colten Ellis, who suffered a concussion Dec. 9 in Edmonton, will be activated from injured ... Read the full article

Sabres goalie Alex Lyon misses practice with lower-body injury

Buffalo Sabres goalie Alex Lyon sat out Tuesday’s practice after suffering a lower-body injury late in Monday’s 4-2 road win over the St. Louis Blues, coach Lindy Ruff told reporters in Dallas.

“Really late in the game, which is unfortunate,” Ruff, whose Sabres carry a nine-game win streak into Wednesday’s game against the Stars, told reporters in Dallas.

Ruff said Lyon, 33, was being evaluated and the team would know more Wednesday.... Read the full article

With Rasmus Dahlin out against Bruins, Mattias Samuelsson steps up as Sabres extend win streak to eight games

BUFFALO – Early in the second period of the Sabres’ eighth consecutive win, Mattias Samuelsson, once the object of derision from a frustrated fan base, illustrated in a matter of seconds why he has quietly developed into one of the NHL’s top defensemen.

With the Sabres trailing the Boston Bruins 1-0 on Saturday, sniper Morgan Geekie carried the puck behind Buffalo’s net looking to make a play. But Samuelsson drove Geekie into the end boards, ... Read the full article

Sabres star Rasmus Dahlin won’t play versus Bruins; Buffalo makes recall

BUFFALO – Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin returned to Sweden over the Christmas break to be with his fiancée, Carolina Matovac, and will miss tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins, coach Lindy Ruff said.

“He’s just attending to his fiancée in Sweden, should be back shortly,” Ruff said this morning in KeyBank Center.

Dahlin missed three games in November to visit Matovac, who has been rehabbing after experiencing major heart failure and undergoing a heart transplant ... Read the full article

Once given up for dead, win streak has vaulted Sabres into thick of playoff race

OTTAWA – Two weeks ago, having just lost to the feeble Calgary Flames for the second time in three weeks, the Buffalo Sabres appeared to be barreling toward another postseason DNQ.

Their third consecutive defeat as they began a six-game road trip kept them mired in last place in the Eastern Conference, eight points out of the second wild card spot.

At that point, the Sabres had just two road wins all season, including zero ... Read the full article

Alex Lyon, hot Sabres beat Islanders to extend season-long win streak

BUFFALO – If Colten Ellis hadn’t suffered a concussion and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made a few more saves, then Sabres goalie Alex Lyon might still be waiting for his next opportunity.

But Ellis took a hit in the crease and Luukkonen struggled, so the Sabres turned to Lyon again last week, a move that has ignited their season.

Contributions up and down the lineup have buoyed the Sabres throughout to a five-game win streak, none bigger ... Read the full article

Alex Lyon winning games, emerging as Sabres’ No. 1 goalie

BUFFALO – When Sabres goalie Alex Lyon left Yale University following his junior season to sign with the Philadelphia Flyers as an undrafted free agent, he thought riches and enshrinement in hockey’s hallowed hall would be in his future.

“When I first came out of college, I thought I was going to make tens of millions of dollars,” he said following Friday’s practice in KeyBank Center. “I was going to be a Hockey Hall of ... Read the full article

After trade, injuries, Michael Kesselring ready to make impact for Sabres

BUFFALO – After hurrying back from a knee injury, Sabres defenseman Michael Kesselring said the ankle sprain he suffered just nine games into his season offered him a chance to “reset a little.”

Not that Kesselring, the Sabres’ biggest offseason acquisition, wanted to miss more time. But when he went down again Nov. 15, he said he was still battling his first injury a bit and “putting a lot of pressure” on himself.

“I didn’t ... Read the full article