Murray - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres start fast, still can’t score in loss to Bruins

BUFFALO – Six games looks like a large enough sample size to judge the 2014-15 Sabres. The current edition is terrible, perhaps every bit as bad as last year’s hapless squad that finished dead last in the NHL.

Saturday’s ugly 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins before 18,685 fans inside the First Niagara Center dropped them to 1-5 this season.

The feeble Florida Panthers beat the Sabres 1-0 on Friday, so they finished a ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Patrick Kaleta back practicing after scary injury

BUFFALO – Patrick Kaleta’s face was mangled.

“Broke a bunch of things in there,” the oft-injured Sabres winger said this afternoon following practice inside the First Niagara Center.

Kaleta said doctors inserted three plates and 14 screws after a shot hit him in the face during a Sept. 28 preseason game in Toronto. The 28-year-old has experienced blurred vision and migraines.

Still, less than three weeks after the scary incident, the Angola native is on ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Cody Hodgson feeling comfortable at left wing

BUFFALO – A year ago, the thought of Cody Hodgson playing anywhere but center would have seemed absurd.

The Sabres had few viable options down the middle. Tyler Ennis was still bouncing between two forward spots. Zemgus Girgensons was just beginning his NHL career as a winger.

Besides, Hodgson had just signed a six-year, $25.5 million contract extension to be the No. 1 pivot.

But late in the season, following an evaluation period, the team’s ... Read the full article

Top Sabres prospect Sam Reinhart has roster spot, but for how long?

BUFFALO – This could just be a brief, low-risk experiment. The Sabres have nine regular-season games to evaluate top prospect Sam Reinhart before the slick center’s entry-level contract kicks in.

Might as well use the trial, right?

Right now, Reinhart, the No. 2 pick in June, has a roster spot. The 18-year-old will make his NHL debut in Thursday’s season opener, Sabres coach Ted Nolan said.

The Sabres also have 19-year-old defenseman Nikita Zadorov on ... Read the full article

Ted Nolan on Sabres prospect Mikhail Grigorenko: ‘He’s knocking on the door’

BUFFALO – Following an impressive training camp, 20-year-old Mikhail Grigorenko’s “real, real close” to making the NHL, Sabres coach Ted Nolan said.

“He’s knocking on the door,” Nolan said today after the Sabres sent the center to the AHL. “Right now, he needs just a little bit more seasoning.”

That seasoning will come in Rochester, where the Russian played 14 games late last season.

Grigorenko, who matured rapidly over the summer, made Nolan ... Read the full article

Sam Reinhart’s first goal closes Sabres’ preseason blowout win against Capitals

BUFFALO – Seven minutes, 10 seconds into the third period Wednesday, with the Sabres up four goals against the Washington Capitals, top prospect Sam Reinhart finally found some open ice.

Reinhart, by his own admission, had been pressing this preseason. The savvy 18-year-old couldn’t score or even create opportunities, and it gnawed at him. The hockey IQ fans have heard about so much rarely materialized.

But as Wednesday’s contest dragged on, the center got open ... Read the full article

Prospect Sam Reinhart running out of time to impress Sabres, knows he must score

BUFFALO – A goal or even a little more assertiveness tonight would greatly boost top prospect Sam Reinhart’s chances of making the Sabres right out of junior hockey.

Time could be running out for the 18-year-old, the No. 2 pick in June. Only two exhibition games are left.

Through three appearances, Reinhart has zero points, just two shots on goal and a minus-1 rating while averaging 16 minutes, 16 seconds of ice time. Incredibly, ... Read the full article

Andrej Meszaros enjoying fresh start with Sabres

TORONTO – Coach Ted Nolan noticed a little smirk on Andrej Meszaros’ face following the defenseman’s recent Buffalo Sabres debut.

Meszaros had just skated a whopping 29 minutes, 39 seconds in Tuesday’s 2-0 win against Carolina. The minutes felt like a warm welcome.

“It felt pretty good,” Meszaros said last week.

Meszaros, 28, hadn’t played that much in a 60-minute game since May 6, 2011. Back then, the Slovak had just been named Philadelphia’s top ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Andre Benoit paid dues to earn regular NHL gig

BUFFALO – Andre Benoit never stayed on a straight path to the NHL. The Sabres defenseman zigzagged, even backtracked, all across the globe before earning an opportunity.

After two seasons in Montreal’s organization, Benoit bolted for Europe out of frustration over his playing time. When he returned and briefly cracked the NHL with Ottawa, he jetted to Russia to earn more money.

All the while, Benoit, an undersized 5-foot-11, kept posting big offensive numbers. But ... Read the full article

Sabres could still get prized prospect in 2015 after draft lottery changes

The draft lottery changes the NHL unveiled today might not hurt the Buffalo Sabres, owners of three 2015 first-round picks, next year. The league’s worst team can’t fall below the second pick.

The odds of nabbing that No. 1 pick, however, have fallen from 25 percent to 20, according to the league.

Still, the Sabres, a team many have pegged to finish last, will get Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel, the consensus top two prospects, ... Read the full article