Zucker - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres star Rasmus Dahlin won’t play versus Bruins; Buffalo makes recall

BUFFALO – Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin returned to Sweden over the Christmas break to be with his fiancée, Carolina Matovac, and will miss tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins, coach Lindy Ruff said.

“He’s just attending to his fiancée in Sweden, should be back shortly,” Ruff said this morning in KeyBank Center.

Dahlin missed three games in November to visit Matovac, who has been rehabbing after experiencing major heart failure and undergoing a heart transplant ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Lindy Ruff sad to see GM Kevyn Adams fired, faces uncertain future

BUFFALO – Coach Lindy Ruff walked into the media room, his whistle still hanging around his neck after running the Sabres’ first practice since general manager Kevyn Adams’ dismissal, and stood at the podium looking somber.

Ruff, 65, and Adams, 51, go way back and enjoyed a close working relationship.

Late in Ruff’s first tenure here, he hired Adams as a skills coach before promoting him to an assistant on his staff. Last year, Adams ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Michael Kesselring set to return from injury; Justin Danforth ‘doing OK’

BUFFALO – Sabres defenseman Michael Kesselring, who has missed the last 14 games with a lower-body injury, is expected to return tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Kesselring, the Sabres’ biggest offseason acquisition, hasn’t played since Nov. 15. He practiced Wednesday alongside defenseman Owen Power in his first session back.

“Kesselring indicated to me that he would be good to go, which is a great thing,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said in KeyBank Center.... Read the full article

Sabres lose Josh Norris, Colten Ellis to injuries before and during OT win

Shortly before Tuesday’s opening faceoff, the Buffalo Sabres pulled center Josh Norris from the lineup after he skated in the pregame warm-up.

What happened?

Coach Lindy Ruff told reporters in Edmonton following the Sabres’ 4-3 overtime win that the oft-injured Norris, who felt ill, tweaked something warming up.

At that point, the Sabres yanked Norris, who had played four straight games after an upper-body injury he suffered opening night sidelined him 24 contests.... Read the full article

Sabres veteran Jason Zucker sidelined with lower-body injury; Buffalo recalls prospect from Rochester

Winger Jason Zucker, the Buffalo Sabres’ oldest and most experienced player, will “miss some time” after suffering a lower-body injury in Monday’s 7-4 road loss to the Calgary Flames, coach Lindy Ruff told WGR this morning.

Zucker, 33, appeared to be injured when he hit an opponent into the boards in the second period. He briefly left the game but later returned.

His injury is the latest blow for the reeling Sabres, who have lost ... Read the full article

Josh Norris wows in return as Sabres beat Jets: ‘He was unbelievable’

BUFFALO – In his first action in almost eight weeks, center Josh Norris needed less than three minutes to give the Sabres a taste of what they had been missing for the last 24 games.

During a power play, Norris, who hadn’t played since suffering an upper-body injury opening night, skated into the right circle and adroitly fed winger Josh Doan the puck at the top of the crease.

A second later, winger Jason Zucker ... Read the full article

Sabres notes: Colten Ellis likely to start again; Noah Ostlund uses ‘sick’ move

BUFFALO – Following a four-game break, goalie Colten Ellis looked sharp throughout Saturday’s 3-2 shootout victory in Minnesota, stopping 22 shots, including the last 14 he faced, as the Sabres ended the Wild’s seven-game winning streak.

Ellis, 25, received an early taste of Minnesota’s firepower, stopping superstar Kirill Kaprizov’s wraparound attempt barely a minute into the contest.

In overtime, the rookie calmly denied two shots from Brock Faber in close.... Read the full article

Tage Thompson fights Stefan Noesen in Sabres’ shutout loss to Devils; Mattias Samuelsson leaves injured

BUFFALO – Before their first game against the New Jersey Devils since the Sabres let winger Stefan Noesen get away with hitting Tage Thompson in the head and concussing him last season, some of the center’s teammates volunteered to fight.

“There was a lot of guys in the room asking, but I said I wanted to do it,” Thompson said following Friday afternoon’s 5-0 loss to New Jersey in KeyBank Center.

Thompson appreciates his teammates’ ... Read the full article

Sabres fall apart late, lose to Penguins; Jack Quinn continues hot stretch

PITTSBURGH – The dagger came just 31 seconds after Buffalo Sabres winger Jack Quinn’s goal tied Wednesday’s game against the Penguins.

After seemingly seizing the momentum at the 7:20 mark of the third period, Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen lost his stick as the Penguins buzzed around him.

When Bryan Rust maneuvered into the right circle holding the puck, Luukkonen faced a shot he would routinely stop. But without his stick, Rust’s shot slid through his ... Read the full article

Josh Doan, Alex Tuch help Sabres jump on Blackhawks early in blowout win

BUFFALO – After a loss so ugly it felt like it could kill any recent momentum they had generated, you wondered how the Sabres would respond against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Was it simply a one-off or the perhaps the start of a trend? Well, right now, after demolishing the Blackhawks 9-3 on Friday, Wednesday’s embarrassing 6-2 loss to the lowly Calgary Flames feels like a distant memory.

The Sabres, whose penchant for slow starts has ... Read the full article