WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Spring Edition
Toronto’s Max Domi scores on Buffalo goalie Devon Levi in Sunday afternoon’s game. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
TORONTO – Lindy Ruff has coached 1,805 games over 24 seasons. He has led Buffalo Sabres teams that went bankrupt during the season and that came within two wins of a Stanley Cup victory.
Ruff, 64, has experienced just about everything during his long and distinguished career. He has won 875 games, the fifth-highest total in NHL history, and led three franchises to the playoffs.
He has always found a way to get his teams ... Read the full article
Devon Levi started the season with Buffalo. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
TORONTO – Goalie Devon Levi is back with the Buffalo Sabres.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said Levi, 22, will start this afternoon against the Toronto Maple Leafs after being recalled today from the Rochester Americans.
Levi, of course, began the season with the Sabres, compiling a 2-5-0 record with a 3.95 goals-against average and an .870 save percentage in seven games.... Read the full article
Rasmus Dahlin has missed the last four games. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – On Thursday, a day off for the struggling Sabres, injured captain Rasmus Dahlin and Lindy Ruff had what the coach called “a long conversation” about the team.
Dahlin has missed the last four games after suffering back spasms Dec. 3. The Sabres’ top defenseman skated on his own again Friday and is progressing, according to Ruff.
Still, the Swede has been a bystander as the Sabres’ losing streak reached eight games, and it’s ... Read the full article
Ryan Johnson made his NHL season debut Monday. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Instead of easing Ryan Johnson into the lineup, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff tossed the defenseman headfirst into the fray, skating him nearly 21 minutes in his NHL season debut.
Not only did Johnson, 23, play the third-highest total of his short career (20:50), he earned a plum assignment playing alongside Bowen Byram throughout Monday’s 6-5 shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
When Johnson’s turnover in the corner led to Alex DeBrincat’s tying ... Read the full article
JJ Peterka fails to scored Monday in his shootout attempt against Detroit goalie Sebastian Cossa. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In the most difficult of times, the reflex is to look for positives. But coach Lindy Ruff has stressed to his reeling Sabres that when they can’t notch victories in the standings, they can’t succumb to moral ones.
Ruff said everyone must do a little more. Nothing comes easy in the NHL.
The Sabres, having lost seven straight games (0-4-3) after imploding late again Monday’s 6-5 shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings, ... Read the full article
Rasmus Dahlin was injured Tuesday. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin missed his second straight game with a back injury Saturday afternoon against the Utah Hockey Club.
Coach Lindy Ruff said Dahlin, the Sabres’ top defenseman, is still being evaluated.
The Swede left Tuesday’s 5-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche with back spasms.... Read the full article
Jack Quinn has scored just one goal this season. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – For one of the few times this season, you couldn’t miss Jack Quinn. The Sabres winger dazzled throughout the night, aggressively creating offense.
Quinn, 23, was often the best player on the ice.
While he did not score, similar efforts will almost certainly produce the goals that have been so difficult to come by this season.
“I thought it was my best game by far,” Quinn said of Friday’s 3-2 overtime road ... Read the full article
Tage Thompson has missed the last five games. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In Tage Thompson’s absence, the Sabres have done well, going 4-1-0 and winning all three stops last week in California without their top center.
By the end of the trip, Thompson, who said he’s “ready to go” for tonight’s home game against the Minnesota Wild, told the Sabres he would play if they needed him.
Still, they held him out of Friday’s 3-2 overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks and Saturday’s 4-2 victory ... Read the full article
Rasmus Dahlin (26) celebrates his overtime goal Thursday with Jack Quinn (22) and Dylan Cozens. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – The competitive balance in the NHL has perhaps never been higher, meaning the difference between the top and bottom teams is slim.
There are no gimme games, as coaches will tell you. Still, this week, two teams – the St. Louis Blues and Montreal Canadiens – limped into KeyBank Center reeling and ripe to be exploited.
The Sabres nearly lost both games.
But forget the Sabres needed to late rally and overtime Thursday ... Read the full article
Tage Thompson has a four-game goal streak. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Sabres center Tage Thompson and goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen both missed Wednesday’s practice and are day to day with their respective injuries. Coach Lindy Ruff said they could play in tonight’s home game against the St. Louis Blues.
That’s the good news for the Sabres. The bad? Ruff said the lower-body injury defenseman Mattias Samuelsson suffered in Monday afternoon’s 7-5 loss to the Montreal Canadiens will sideline him “weeks.” The injury, however, isn’t season-ending.... Read the full article