Buffalo Hockey Beat - WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage

Ted Nolan changes Sabres’ lines; Brayden McNabb to return Tuesday

BUFFALO – Ted Nolan wanted to give his lines a long look. The interim Sabres coach figured he couldn’t ask his players for consistency if he kept shuffling the trios.

But after a string of losses and more meager offensive production, Nolan switched the lines up today.

“Our top line is having a little bit of trouble, maybe the chemistry wasn’t quite right,” Nolan said this afternoon following practice inside the First Niagara Center. ... Read the full article

Sabres rookie Zemgus Girgensons ends goal drought, knows he must score

MONTREAL – It was here, Sept. 15 inside the Bell Centre, that Buffalo Sabres rookie Zemgus Girgensons first sent notice he wouldn’t be leaving the NHL.

The ferocious Latvian winger scored twice in the Sabres’ first exhibition game, a 5-4 shootout win against the Canadiens. Of course, preseason openers are often filled with junior and AHL players with little or no chance of making the big club.

Still, Girgensons’ performance impressed the Sabres.

“That ... Read the full article

Sabres outplay Canadiens most of night, still lose tight game

MONTREAL – Finding silver linings in defeats can be difficult, Ted Nolan said. But the interim Buffalo Sabres coach is beginning to see progress in his rebuilding club.

Mistakes, of course, are still part of the team’s game.

“But not as frequent as they were,” Nolan said Saturday following the Sabres’ 3-2 loss to the Canadiens before 21,273 fans inside the Bell Centre.

The hapless Sabres, losers of eight of their last nine games, outplayed ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Jamie McBain likes Ted Nolan’s straightforward approach

MONTREAL – Jamie McBain wanted to know why he was sitting so much. So the defenseman dissected the four games he had played under Ted Nolan, the Buffalo Sabres’ new interim coach.

“I couldn’t come to an answer myself,” McBain said Saturday prior to the Sabres’ 3-2 loss to the Canadiens inside the Bell Centre.

So the 25-year-old, a healthy scratch four straight games recently, approached Nolan.

“I wanted to kind of hear his opinion ... Read the full article

Sabres rookie Zemgus Girgensons on scoring struggles: ‘It’ll come’

MONTREAL – It was here, Sept. 15 inside the Bell Centre, that Buffalo Sabres rookie Zemgus Girgensons first sent notice he wouldn’t be leaving the NHL.

The Latvian winger scored twice in the Sabres’ first exhibition game, a 5-4 shootout win against the Canadiens. Of course, preseason openers are often filled with junior and AHL players with little or no chance of making the big club.

Still, Girgensons’ performance impressed the Sabres.

“That was a ... Read the full article

Sabres goalie Jhonas Enroth to start tonight against Canadiens; Brian Flynn back in

MONTREAL – Shortly after he took over the Buffalo Sabres, interim coach Ted Nolan said he wanted to play franchise goalie Ryan Miller as much as he could. Sure enough, backup Jhonas Enroth sat two weeks between starts.

But Enroth’s 23-save performance in the Sabres’ 1-0 overtime loss last Saturday in New Jersey impressed Nolan, who didn’t like the Swede’s first start Nov. 16.

Enroth will start tonight against the Canadiens, a team he’s 3-0 ... Read the full article

Goalie Ryan Miller will judge Sabres on actions, not words

MONTREAL – Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller said he’s heard lots of talk about the franchise’s future before.

In less than a year, Miller has gone from backstopping a veteran team built to contend for the Stanley Cup to being the lone bright spot on a rebuilding club already regarded as one of the worst in NHL history.

So the 33-year-old, an unrestricted free agent following the season, wants more than words from the Sabres ... Read the full article

Ted Nolan wants Sabres prospect Mikhail Grigorenko ‘to be one of the best players’ at world junior championship

BUFFALO – Mikhail Grigorenko packed his bags today and said goodbye to the Sabres for at least a month. The 19-year-old center is off to represent Russia at the upcoming world junior championship, a tournament the prospect and the team believe could ignite his development.

Having compiled four goals and 11 points in 13 tournament games over the last two years, Grigorenko has played well against the world’s best teenage talent.

But interim Sabres coach ... Read the full article

Franchise goalie Ryan Miller wants actions, not words, from Sabres

BUFFALO – Sabres goalie Ryan Miller said he’s heard lots of talk about the franchise’s future before.

But at this point, months away from becoming an unrestricted free agent, the 33-year-old wants more than words.

“It’s about action at this point,” Miller said this afternoon following practice inside the First Niagara Center. “I’m not going to sit around and let promises get thrown around.”

Miller said he’s had some talks with Pat LaFontaine, the president ... Read the full article

Sabres fall to Rangers, left searching for answers again

BUFFALO – Finally, about seven minutes into the third period Thursday, Cody Hodgson briefly generated some excitement for the 18,088 fans inside the First Niagara Center, slickly undressing Ryan McDonagh before roaring in on a partial breakaway.

But New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist stoned Hodgson, and a second later the center tripped star Rick Nash.

Brad Richards scored on the ensuing power play, building the Rangers’ lead to 2-0.

It was one of those ... Read the full article