Seattle Kraken - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres activate Jiri Kulich from injured reserve, send prospect to Rochester

The Buffalo Sabres this afternoon created a roster spot to activate center Jiri Kulich from injured reserve by sending center Tyson Kozak to the Rochester Americans.

Kulich missed four games with a lower-body injury before returning for this afternoon’s contest against the Seattle Kraken, the start of a four-game road trip. The rookie began the game on the top line pivoting Tage Thompson and Jason Zucker.... Read the full article

Sabres blow another lead, implode late in loss to Kraken: ‘Hard one to explain’

BUFFALO – Don’t blame the Sabres’ problems on talent. They possess plenty of it. No, their sorry standing and penchant for blowing multi-goal leads can be traced to between the ears.

They’re fragile mentally, and at the first sign of adversity they often crumble.

Saturday afternoon’s embarrassing 6-2 loss to the hapless Seattle Kraken, a game in which the Sabres led 2-0 in the first period, only reinforced that.

“Mental, all mental,” captain Rasmus Dahlin ... Read the full article

Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen recapturing elite form of last season

BUFFALO – In winning five of his last seven starts, goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has reemerged as the Sabres’ backbone, helping them shake off a disastrous stretch in which they plummeted to the Eastern Conference basement.

Over the past three weeks, the Finn has regularly showcased the stellar form that made him one of the NHL’s elite netminders throughout the second half of last season.

Luukkonen was at his best in Thursday’s 4-0 road win over ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Mattias Samuelsson likely to miss game against Kraken

BUFFALO – Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said defenseman Mattias Samuelsson is “still pretty sick” and likely won’t play in this afternoon’s home game against the Seattle Kraken.

Samuelsson missed Thursday’s 4-0 road win over the Ottawa Senators. The Sabres had him travel back to Buffalo separately from the team.

In other news, winger Beck Malenstyn, who has missed the last two games because of illness, practiced Friday but likely won’t play today.... Read the full article

Defensive lapses doom Sabres in loss to Kraken: ‘It was the mistakes we made’

BUFFALO – The Seattle Kraken grabbed a commanding three-goal lead in the second period, and frustration immediately overwhelmed Sabres star Rasmus Dahlin.

Dahlin smashed his stick over the top of the net, looking more like a lumberjack than a defenseman, breaking it into two pieces.

The Sabres, having won two straight games for just the second time this season, began Tuesday feeling pretty good about themselves. As they started a six-game home stand, they had ... Read the full article

Sabres’ long home stand could decide playoff fate: ‘The time is now’

BUFFALO – Don Granato kept going, talking for two minutes on perhaps his least favorite topic, the Sabres’ dreary home record.

Discussing his team’s struggles at KeyBank Center clearly struck a nerve with the coach. Any explanation, he reasoned, could be taken as an excuse.

“I don’t even like talking about it,” Granato said after the Sabres prepared for Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Kraken, the start of a season-long six-game home stand.

Still, Granato ... Read the full article

Sabres captain Kyle Okposo returns to practice, could play soon

BUFFALO – At first, Kyle Okposo did not know he had suffered a lower-body injury. Then the Sabres captain had to take faceoff his next shift.

“(I) was feeling it then,” he said of the injury he suffered Dec. 31 in a 5-1 road loss to the Ottawa Senators. “And progressively your adrenaline takes over and you just finish the game, which is fine, and I knew I was going to be sore the next ... Read the full article

After unlikely in-season comeback from injury, Andrew Poturalski hopes to earn chance with Kraken

After the Coachella Valley Firebirds advanced to the AHL Pacific Division finals, an excited, sweat-soaked Andrew Poturalski greeted his teammates as they entered the dressing room to begin celebrating their series-clinching victory.

The Firebirds, having fallen behind in a best-of-three play-in round and again in a best-of-five series, had just won their third do-or-die game of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

An injured Poturalski had anxiously watched it all, and after that 5-0 win over the ... Read the full article

Sabres generate offense again, still fall to Kraken; Eric Comrie returns to net

BUFFALO – For the first time in six weeks, the Sabres have hit a bit of a rut, losing two straight games in regulation.

The good news is they got some of their mojo back in Tuesday’s 4-3 setback, generating offense again while taking the Seattle Kraken down to the wire. They looked much better than they did in Monday’s dreadful 4-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Sabres, however, couldn’t capitalize on chances they ... Read the full article

Sabres notes: Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka sit as healthy scratches; UPL misses start

BUFFALO – In the nine games prior to Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to the Seattle Kraken, Sabres winger Jack Quinn registered zero points. JJ Peterka, his linemate, wasn’t much better during that stretch, mustering just two assists.

On Tuesday, the Sabres scratched the struggling rookies. Rasmus Asplund and Vinnie Hinostroza, both of whom had sat out nine straight games, replaced the youngsters on a line with center Dylan Cozens.

Peterka had played every ... Read the full article