Ruff - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Fresh off career season, will Alex Tuch sign contract extension with Sabres?

BUFFALO – Over the final 30 games this season, Sabres winger Alex Tuch ranked among the NHL’s elite offensive threats, scoring a whopping 20 goals.

From Feb. 4 until April 17, that gaudy total tied for the most in the league with Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin, the most prolific goal scorer in history.

That’s elite company, for sure.

Tuch, who turns 29 on May 10, showcased remarkable consistency during that torrid stretch, never enduring ... Read the full article

After ending season on tear, will Sabres’ James Reimer retire or keep playing?

BUFFALO – James Reimer’s superb goaltending down the stretch for the Sabres showed he possesses the talent to return for his 16th season.

Even at 37, an advanced age, he ranked among the NHL’s hottest netminders, compiling a gaudy 8-2-0 record from March 23 until the season ended, including a career-long seven-game winning streak. His win total during that torrid stretch was tied for first in the league with Los Angeles Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper, ... Read the full article

After becoming Sabres’ No. 1 center, Jiri Kulich returns to Rochester Amerks for starring role in playoffs

ROCHESTER – Americans center Jiri Kulich has returned to where he starred for two seasons as a more accomplished and mature player.

When the Buffalo Sabres assigned him to the AHL for a four-game stint in early November, they had just spent a month easing him into the lineup, playing the neophyte at the wing and occasionally scratching him.

Kulich, who will play for the Amerks in tonight’s opener of the Calder Cup Playoffs at ... Read the full article

After struggling and getting scratched, Sabres’ Mattias Samuelsson thrived late

BUFFALO – If Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson could do it over again, he would make New Jersey Devils winger Stefan Noesen pay for the suspect hit that concussed teammate Tage Thompson.

Four other Sabres skaters were on the ice Feb. 2 when Noesen thumped the Sabres’ leading scorer in the head. None of them went after him.

The 6-foot-4, 227-pound Samuelsson, however, bore the brunt of the criticism for the team’s inaction as a woozy ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Kevyn Adams can’t say if he’ll stay in GM role

BUFFALO – In the coming days, general manager Kevyn Adams will be sitting down with owner Terry Pegula to review the season and offer insight into the Sabres’ sorry seventh-place finish in the Atlantic Division.

Adams, who was hand-picked by Pegula for the job in 2020, talks to his boss every day. Their relationship is closer than perhaps any GM and owner in the NHL.

But their annual end-of-season meeting to discuss the state of ... Read the full article

Can late-season growth keep Sabres’ offseason changes to a minimum?

BUFFALO – Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin processed the question, searched for the right words and moved back in his chair a bit.

What has general manager Kevyn Adams told him that makes him believe the Sabres can finally get it done and reach the playoffs?

Dahlin, sporting a white hoodie and black Bills hat with a blue backdrop adorned with Sabres logos behind him, spoke confidently. While he refused to get into specifics of his ... Read the full article

Lindy Ruff records 900th win as Sabres close season; James Reimer has injury scare with skate blade

BUFFALO – As his 900th NHL win approached, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff refused to give it any thought, saying he could care less.

The Sabres brought the franchise legend back this season to help them earn that elusive playoff berth. Instead, their NHL-record drought reached 14 years.

Clearly, the Sabres’ struggles throughout a trying campaign – most notably, their season-killing 13-game winless skid – gnaw at Ruff. He knows he failed to deliver.

So not ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Peyton Krebs becomes trusted, versatile asset for Lindy Ruff

BUFFALO – Six and a half months ago, Peyton Krebs sat out the Sabres’ season opener as a healthy scratch. In Thursday’s finale, his 81st consecutive appearance, he centered Alex Tuch and Jason Zucker on a scoring line.

Krebs’ consistent effort and willingness to embrace any task quickly earned him coach Lindy Ruff’s trust. It can be argued Krebs, 24, grew more than any player during Ruff’s first season back behind Buffalo’s bench.

His short-handed ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen shines in loss to Maple Leafs: ‘He was dialed in’

BUFFALO – So much for that late-season optimism the Sabres had been generating. Suddenly, they’ve lost four straight games.

Not that they’ve been performing poorly, mind you. No, they’ve led in three of those contests and lost once in a shootout.

They haven’t been finding ways to win like they did beginning in mid-March.

In Tuesday’s 4-0 loss, a game closer than the score indicates, they trailed 1-0 in the third period before the Toronto ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Connor Clifton adds first goal to stat line featuring more than 200 hits

BUFFALO – By his 71st appearance, Sabres defenseman Connor Clifton couldn’t get that goose egg attached to his name out of his head.

As a defender the Sabres value for his gritty play, they don’t expect him to produce much offense. Still, he wanted to score at least one goal this season.

“I was thinking about it, trying to get that zero to one,” he said prior to Tuesday’s 4-0 loss to the Toronto Maple ... Read the full article