WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Post-Deadline Edition
Anders Nilsson has been sporting a Pride Flag on the back of his mask. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – When the Edmonton Oilers held their annual skills competition last season, goalie Anders Nilsson and his teammates wrapped their stick blades with a new rainbow-colored tape.
Using Pride Tape, which promotes inclusiveness in sports, got Nilsson, now the Sabres’ backup netminder, thinking.
“They said we were the first team in North America to do that,” Nilsson said Sunday. “That’s when … I thought, ‘Why not be the first goalie to put it on ... Read the full article
Derek Grant (27) battles Winnipeg’s Ben Chiarot on Jan. 7. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The Sabres reclaimed center Derek Grant off waivers from the Nashville Predators today and sent him to the Rochester Americans.
Grant started the season with the Sabres, playing 35 games. But Nashville grabbed the 26-year-old on waivers Jan. 11, and he played six games with the Predators, who waived him Sunday.
Grant offers the Sabres, who struggled to replace him, a fourth-line center. They have been using winger Nick Deslauriers for a ... Read the full article
Robin Lehner (40) makes a save on Ottawa’s Kyle Turris on Saturday. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Robin Lehner, of course, always downplays it. Still, it’s hardly a secret the Sabres goalie loves facing his former team, the Ottawa Senators.
Sabres coach Dan Bylsma has mentioned the twinkle Lehner gets in his eye. And the Swede’s statistics against the Senators illustrate the tilts mean a little more.
Clearly, Lehner, who was traded to the Sabres for a first-round pick in 2015, wants to prove the Senators made a ... Read the full article
Josh Gorges had a hard time sitting out. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The badgering has finally stopped. Josh Gorges is healthy, back playing after a hip injury cost him 12 games. So Sabres coach Dan Bylsma can walk by the defenseman again without getting an earful.
“Josh has been one miserable guy to be around,” Bylsma said Saturday morning. “I don’t walk by him without him saying he’s ready to play, and that was about 15 days ago.”
Gorges, 32, played in Saturday’s 4-0 win ... Read the full article
Jake McCabe (29) missed five games. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – For weeks, Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said, defenseman Josh Gorges “has been one miserable guy to be around.”
“I don’t walk by him without him saying he’s ready to play, and that was about 15 days ago,” Bylsma said this morning inside KeyBank Center.
Gorges, out the last 12 games with a hip injury, can finally stop badgering Bylsma. He will return tonight against the Ottawa Senators. So will defenseman Jake McCabe, ... Read the full article
Justin Falk has bounced around the NHL for years. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – On Wednesday, after almost three months of commuting back and forth to Rochester, Sabres defenseman Justin Falk moved his family into an extended-stay hotel here.
For Falk, who has shuttled between the NHL and minors for years, having his wife and two children close by, of course, offers some comfort.
“That helps … just to have a little sense of feeling at home,” said Falk, who said he sometimes made the 75-mile drive ... Read the full article
Dmitry Kulikov was injured in the preseason. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – These days, Sabres defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, a young veteran at just 26 years old, said he feels like an old man when he wakes up.
A lower-back bruise has been dogging the Russian for four months, forcing him out of the lineup three times and costing him 26 games.
Kulikov has dealt with the pain through a daily treatment regimen, and Thursday’s 2-1 overtime loss against New York Rangers was his fourth ... Read the full article
Nick Deslauriers (44) battles Florida’s Jason Demers on Oct. 29. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Nick Deslauriers, center? Believe it. For tonight at least, the defenseman-turned-winger will pivot the Sabres’ fourth line against the New York Rangers.
To make room for Deslauriers, a healthy scratch the last two games, center Cal O’Reilly will sit.
Update: O’Reilly is on waivers, according to reports.
Deslauriers, Bylsma said, has never played center before. Still, he’s “comfortable down low, comfortable going back for pucks,” Bylsma said this morning inside KeyBank Center.... Read the full article
Anders Nilsson tries to stop the New York Rangers’ Chris Kreider on Dec. 1. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Very quietly, after years of ineptitude on home ice, the Sabres have recently morphed into a strong team at KeyBank Center, winning four straight games.
Of course, four consecutive home victories isn’t overly impressive. But for the Sabres, who haven’t finished above .500 at home since 2012-13, the streak represents progress.
It also gives them some hope. With each loss, their slim playoff chances decrease. But tonight’s tilt against the New York Rangers ... Read the full article
Tyler Ennis (63) tries to check Montreal’s Alexander Radulov on Tuesday. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Flush it. Forget about it. Just get rid of it.
“Obviously, last night’s game we have to throw out the window because it was horrendous,” winger Marcus Foligno said about Tuesday’s wretched 5-2 road loss to the Montreal Canadiens, arguably the Sabres’ worst setback all season.
Sabres coach Dan Bylsma added: “We got beat badly.”
No kidding. The Canadiens led 5-0 before the Sabres scored two late goals. The game, by any measure, ... Read the full article