All Posts

3-game regular season series tied at one

Sabres 4 – Hurricanes 1 (en) Buffalo and Carolina each have beaten each other at their home rinks this season with the rubber match coming on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday January 19th, 2026, an afternoon game (1:30 pm) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The first period was maddening, the Sabres took the 1-0 lead on the power play and then shortly thereafter scored again, but the officials and the HQ in Toronto ruled “goaltender interference” (no clear rules on this) and disallowed the goal, video replay highlights the Buffalo player was clearly out of the blue ice and the Carolina netminder had time and did reset.

Then the officials called a phantom penalty on Buffalo which video replay again clearly shows that the offending Buffalo player did not touch the Carolina player who on video replay can be seen reaching too far forward and fell on his own, the Sabres killed off that Hurricanes power play.

Buffalo had held Carolina to just one SOG for approximately the first 15 minutes of the first period, then chaos during another penalty kill in front of the Sabres net as one Sabres player fell onto a sprawling (G) Luukkonen and another Sabres player in an attempt to clear the puck put it to a Carolina player in open ice who shot the puck into a gapping net to tie the game at one apiece to end the first period.

The Second period was much better as the Sabres scored early and late in the period to take a commanding 3-1 lead, with the third goal a beautiful deke the defender & breakaway goal by (LW) Malenstyn (2nd goal of the season) with less than two minutes remaining in the period.

Carolina had pulled their goaltender with at least three minutes remaining in the game and kept control for the most part, but Sabres (G) Luukkonen was excellent and once Buffalo regained possession it turned into an easy give-and-go between (C) Thompson and (LW) Benson for the empty netter and the 4-1 victory over the Eastern Conference leader.

Sabres Silence Blackhawks

Sabres 9 – Blackhawks 3 Buffalo’s offense came alive Friday night as (RW) Tuch earned four assists, (RW) Doan scored twice, special teams scored on the power play, and the defense contributed greatly as three different defensemen scored to aid the offense as well as keeping Chicago’s SOG to a minimum.

After an eight-game absence, Sabres (LW) Zucker scored and earned two assists during his first game back, and young phenom (C) Beddard (2 assists) was prevented from scoring a goal when (G) Luukkonen stoned the Chicago player on a breakaway.

Tomorrow afternoon at one o’clock the Carolina Hurricanes who currently are sitting atop of the Eastern Conference and with the second-best record in the NHL visit Buffalo for the Sabres last game during this four-game homestand.

Left Wing Mason Geertsen

Here along the Lake From the very beginning of training camp I questioned HC Ruff’s decision to bring on a career 30-year-old AHL player whose only NHL experience was 25 NHL games (0 goals 0 assists 77 PIMs) for New Jersey under head coach Ruff right before the Devils kicked their underperforming coach to the curb before their season was over.

This player was brought to Buffalo in order to bring “toughness” to the Sabres, head coach Ruff kept the narrative that he wanted Buffalo to be less “soft” appearing to other teams, on paper it sounded great, a 6′ 4″ 230 pounds left wing that will not let us get pushed around, well the Sabres have placed (LW) Geertsen on waivers after contributing 0 goals, 0 assists, 12 PIMs and a -1 plus/minus in five games.

We have four goaltenders in our system thanks to head coach Ruff, (G) UPL, (G) Ellis, and (G) Lyon are decent (inconsistent) netminders but is it now possible to bring (G) Levi up from AHL banishment or are we required to wait for our head coach to be put on waivers as well, I wonder rhetorically.

Buffalo hosts Chicago tonight at 7 pm.

Calgary Stampede Came to Town

Sabres 2 – Flames 6 Buffalo remains the number one penalty killing team in the NHL as they did not allow a Calgary goal on the Flames only power play, the Sabres defense provided last night’s offense as Sabres (D) Samuelsson scored the Sabres first goal and earned an assist on Buffalo’s second goal by (C) Thompson’s which tied the game at two apiece entering the disastrous third period.

Buffalo completes their three-game homestand this Friday night at 7 pm versus the Chicago Blackhawks.

Ostlund Overtakes Oilers

Sabres 5 – Oilers 1 (en) Buffalo rookie (C) Ostlund produced his first multi-point game scoring during the power play and even strength, Captain (D) Dahlin dished out two assists, and rookie (G) Ellis was spectacular in net stopping 32 of 33 SOG for a .970% save percentage earning his third win in his first four games, while special teams killed a penalty and scored to contribute to the victory.

Next up during this three-game homestand are the Calgary Flames who visit tomorrow night at 7:30 pm affording Buffalo an opportunity to extend their current efforts to three consecutive wins.