WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Calder Cup Playoffs Edition
Owen Power has recently found a groove. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In recent weeks, Sabres defenseman Owen Power has shaken off a slow start and recaptured some of the form that helped him enjoy a dynamic rookie season.
“He’s just played with more confidence, a little bit more calm with the puck and little bit more assertiveness physically without it,” Sabres coach Don Granato said Tuesday morning after announcing Power will be sidelined week to week with an upper-body injury. “I think a combination ... Read the full article
Dylan Cozens scored Buffalo’s only goal Saturday. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – When their six-game home stand began, the Sabres had an opportunity to ignite a run and roar into playoff contention. Instead, they blew perhaps their best chance to make up ground against their Eastern Conference foes.
The Sabres finished their longest stint at KeyBank Center this season 3-3-0. Kind of meh.
Overall, having gone 5-3-0 in their last eight outings, they’ve showcased improvement, most notably defensively. Still, they must make up seven points ... Read the full article
Zach Benson has played just 34 NHL games. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Early in Monday afternoon’s 3-0 win, Sabres coach Don Granato shuffled his lines to give them more directness.
Most notably, he shifted Casey Mittelstadt from left wing on the top line, where he had been subbing for Jeff Skinner, to center, his natural position, between Jordan Greenway and captain Kyle Okposo.
To replace Mittelstadt alongside center Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch, he promoted 18-year-old rookie Zach Benson, who began the game playing with ... Read the full article
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 40 saves Saturday. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
PITTSBURGH – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen calmly faced each breakaway, patiently waiting in position in his crease as Penguins roared toward him. Each time, the Buffalo Sabres goalie stymied his opponent, barely moving and making the stops look easy.
In Saturday’s first period, shortly after Sabres winger Alex Tuch scored 2:53 into the game, superstar Sidney Crosby became Luukkonen’s first victim. In the second period, the Finn thwarted Rickard Rackell’s attempt. Later in the second, he stoned ... Read the full article
Devon Levi has faced Montreal once in his short career. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Once, when Sabres rookie Devon Levi was 10, he visited a restaurant in Montreal and had some pictures taken with his idol, Canadiens goalie Carey Price.
Another time, Levi’s girlfriend spotted Price at a basketball game and handed him the phone. The netminders ended up chatting on FaceTime for a bit.
Then prior to Levi’s fifth NHL start on April 10, Price texted him some words of advice before the Sabres beat the ... Read the full article
From left, Zach Benson, Casey Mittelstadt, Mattias Samuelsson and Rasmus Dahlin celebrate Mittelstadt’s game-tying goal Saturday. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Forty-five minutes prior to the Sabres’ 3-2 overtime victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets, general manager Kevyn Adams acknowledged he understands the frustration directed toward himself, coach Don Granato and the assistants.
The Sabres have woefully underachieved this season, morphing from one of the NHL’s up-and-coming young teams into perhaps its biggest disappointment.
They’re wildly inconsistent, regularly get outworked, often fall behind early in games and have trouble scoring and preventing goals. Nearly ... Read the full article
Buffalo recalled Ryan Johnson on Nov. 4. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Ryan Johnson figured his first trip to the NHL would be brief. Having lost defenseman Mattias Samuelsson to injury, the Sabres summoned the rookie on Nov. 4 for some insurance.
“I didn’t expect to be here longer than that game,” Johnson said prior to returning to the lineup for Thursday’s 9-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in KeyBank Center. “I didn’t expect to be here at all.”
Johnson, 22, played that night ... Read the full article
Eric Robinson joined Buffalo on Dec. 6. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Sabres newcomer Eric Robinson acknowledged that, yes, Tuesday’s game against the Columbus Jackets, his former team, possessed “a little extra meaning.”
The Blue Jackets, after all, gave Robinson his big chance, signing him as a free agent out of Princeton in 2018. The New Jersey native grew up in their organization, playing 266 NHL games before the Sabres traded a conditional seventh-round pick in 2025 on Dec. 6 in exchange for the winger.... Read the full article
Eric Robinson has played three games for Buffalo. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In Eric Robinson’s first days here, the Sabres have started playing a more tenacious, direct style. It’s no coincidence.
High compete, Sabres coach Don Granato said, rubs off.
“We haven’t had enough of that, we’ve had it intermittent,” Granato said following Monday’s 5-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes, a game in which Robinson scored one goal and three points.
With Robinson, the Sabres have possessed it regularly. They’re 2-0-1 since they traded a ... Read the full article
JJ Peterka skates away Saturday after Montreal’s Cayden Primeau stopped his shootout attempt. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – The final result, a 3-2 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens, stings. The Sabres squandered opportunities all night, pumping a season-high 48 shots on goal and failing to convert six power plays, including one that carried into overtime.
In Saturday’s shootout, they needed one stop to secure back-to-back wins for just the second time this season.
Still, in losing for the sixth time in eight outings (2-5-1), the Sabres at least carried over ... Read the full article
