Minnesota Wild - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Trade could be coming for hapless Sabres following ugly loss to Wild

BUFFALO – A week before Thanksgiving, the same team that started the season 8-1-1 has already fallen apart. Right now, having lost eight of their last nine games, the Sabres are reeling.

The Sabres can deny it all they want, but it feels eerily similar to last season, when they won 10 straight games in November before imploding and missing the playoffs.

“Listen, we’re not talking about last year,” captain Jack Eichel said following the ... Read the full article

Sabres GM Jason Botterill wants to add forward to struggling team

BUFFALO – General manager Jason Botterill said before tonight’s game he’s “actively looking” to find a forward to help the injury-depleted Sabres.

“But we also are very happy with how our players have come up from Rochester and played so far,” said Botterill, whose team played without five forwards against the Minnesota Wild.

The Sabres had lost a forward to injury in five straight games entering Tuesday. The organization is so depleted – three Rochester ... Read the full article

Sabres to use John Gilmour up front, scratch Marco Scandella

BUFFALO – In the end, instead of recalling a forward or trading for one, the Sabres will simply utilize defenseman John Gilmour as a winger.

So for the first time since he was 15 or 16, Gilmour will skate up front tonight against the Minnesota Wild. He could also move back to the blue line, Sabres coach Ralph Krueger said.

Krueger, who has five injured forwards, said Monday the Sabres could dress seven defensemen and ... Read the full article

Reeling, injury-plagued Sabres need to replenish lineup

BUFFALO – Having lost five forwards in the last five games, a stunning run of injuries, the reeling Sabres have two options for tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild.

The Sabres can either dress seven defensemen and only 11 forwards, coach Ralph Krueger said, or they can recall a forward from the Rochester Americans.

They stayed remarkably healthy over the first month of the season, utilizing the same lineup most games. But the injuries have ... Read the full article

Goalie Linus Ullmark helps Sabres secure shootout win over Wild

BUFFALO – Amid all the chaos that materialized around him, Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark calmly moved around his crease, making save after save in Tuesday’s thrilling 5-4 shootout victory.

Right now, having allowed 39 goals over the last nine contests, the Sabres are a mess defensively. So Ullmark can be forgiven for allowing four goals.

Ullmark still stopped 41 shots and all three shootout attempts against the Minnesota Wild, securing just the Sabres’ third win ... Read the full article

Sabres notes: Marcus Foligno enjoying tenure with Wild

BUFFALO – This trip was more relaxing. A year ago, Marcus Foligno said he experienced “a lot of nerves” visiting here as an opponent.

“Now it’s just another road game,” said the Buffalo-born Foligno, who’s in his second season with the Minnesota Wild after spending six years with the Sabres.

He added: “It’s always special to come back to Buffalo. You get a little bit excited.”

Foligno, 27, has settled in nicely with the Wild, ... Read the full article

Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark could keep earning more starts

BUFFALO – In the last month or so, Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark has regularly earned starts over Carter Hutton.

Instead of simply playing the second game of a back-to-back set, Sabres coach Phil Housley has utilized Ullmark eight times in the last 11 contests.

Two of those appearances, including the final 20 minutes of Friday’s ugly 7-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, came in relief of the struggling Hutton.

Ullmark, 25, will start again ... Read the full article

Sabres reward C.J. Smith with promotion from Amerks

BUFFALO – Following a recent four-game look with the Sabres, winger C.J. Smith returned to the AHL and promptly went on a tear, scoring a hat trick in his first outing.

Smith, 24, performed splendidly, recording five goals and 12 points in eight games after the Sabres sent him to the Rochester Americans.

“He got the right message,” coach Phil Housley said Monday after the Sabres recalled Smith again.

Smith, who has compiled 18 goals ... Read the full article

Reeling Sabres lacking accountability among players

BUFFALO – Jordan Nolan grew up in a winning culture. The Sabres winger won two Stanley Cups in his first three seasons with the Los Angeles Kings.

To Nolan, the Kings’ accountability helped buoy their success. If you made a mistake or needed a push, someone would tell you.

“If I made a mistake in my fifth year, a higher guy was telling me, ‘You need to work harder, you need to get that puck ... Read the full article

Former Sabres Tyler Ennis, Marcus Foligno happy with Wild

BUFFALO – In Minnesota, the standard is much different, nothing like popular former Sabres wingers Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno experienced here.

“You’re coming to a team that’s goal is to win the Stanley Cup, and Buffalo’s still in a rebuild,” Ennis said Wednesday prior to scoring his first goal in 10 games early in his return to KeyBank Center.

The reeling Sabres rank last in the Eastern Conference, losers of seven straight games after ... Read the full article