Author: Buffalo Winter

8th consecutive victory

Sabres 4 – Bruins 1 (en) The Buffalo Sabres have won their eighth game in a row bringing them into a tie with the Florida Panthers for the second wild card seeding in the Eastern Conference.

Playing without their Captain the Sabres wanted to beat the Bruins for him, Buffalo (D) Dahlin went home to Sweden for the Christmas break and was given more time for personal reasons.

The Sabres began the game controlling most of the play and outshooting Boston 13 to 9 but came out of the first period down 1-0, then during a strong second period Buffalo again launches 13 SOG scoring three times for the 3-1 lead after two periods of play.

Buffalo (G) Luukkonen was at his best in the third period stopping all 11 Bruins SOG to preserve the two-goal lead and after a few near misses its (C) Norris scoring the “Happy Net” goal for the Sabres 4-1 victory.

The Buffalo Sabres begin a three-game road trip this Monday night at 8 pm EST versus the St Louis Blues.

Buffalo earns 7th consecutive victory

Sabres 3 – Senators 2 (OT) Since November of last season, Buffalo has beaten Ottawa six straight regular season games and with last night’s overtime win the Sabres continue their current winning streak that puts them four games over 500% and solidly within reach of a wild card seeding.

The game’s initial two penalties during the first period earned by Sabres (D) Kesselring and Senators (LW) Tkachuk, Buffalo for high-sticking and Ottawa for roughing which resulted in the Ottawa player bleeding, but alas the officials could not determine with certainty if the blood was caused by the high stick or the scuffle that ensued.

Earning the first star of the game, Buffalo (D) Byram scored twice including the overtime winner along with an assist for three points, contributing to the win, Buffalo (G) Lyon allowed just two goals, one even strength and one power play tally during 26 Ottawa SOG which earned the Sabres goaltender a .923% save percentage and the game’s third star.

The Buffalo Sabres and the NHL will take a 3-day Christmas Holiday before returning to action with 13 games Saturday the 27th, the Buffalo Sabres will host the Boston Bruins at 7 pm EST.

Sabres Win 6th Consecutive Game

Sabres 3 – Devils 1 (en) The Devils were expecting to beat the Sabres since they were at home with (C) Hughes returning to the New Jersey active roster after missing a substantial number of games due to a “non-hockey” injury absorbing a “cut” during a dinner and he scored the first goal of the game giving the Devils a first period 1-0 lead.

Then Buffalo came out skating and shooting in the second period scoring twice, Sabres (C) Norris who has earned 10 points in the last eight games scored a nifty goal as the New Jersey netminder made an initial save but left a juicy rebound that was calmly poked past the goaltender’s pad and into the net to tie the game at one apiece.

The Sabres (LW) Benson scored after receiving a pass from (C) McLeod who took a hit along the dasher boards to complete the pass to (LW) Benson who convincingly faked a pass before ripping a greasy snapper glove side to give Buffalo the 2-1 lead with four minutes remaining in the second period.

Sabres (G) Luukkonen was an absolute brick wall with a highlight reel glove save and earned a .963% save percentage allowing just one even strength goal on 24 New Jersey SOG to preserve the victory.

Buffalo heads to Canada’s capital, Ottawa for a Tuesday night 7pm EST matchup before enjoying three days off for Christmas.

4th Consecutive Victory

Sabres 5 – Flyers 3 (en) Buffalo’s newest GM begins his tenure with a victory and inherits a four-game winning streak, (D) Dahlin earned his 23rd assist of the season last night giving him 300 for his career becoming the ninth Sabres player to achieve this milestone, (C) Thompson scored again with his fifth goal in five games.

(LW) Benson and (D) Samuelsson each contributed two assists, and head coach Ruff earned his 915th win making him the fourth winningest head coach in NHL history.

Notable injuries last night to (D) Timmins who broke his leg and will be out nearly two months, and an undisclosed upper body injury to (C) Kozak with no updates.

The Buffalo Sabres will host the New York Islanders this Saturday early evening beginning at 5 pm EST before embarking on a two-game road trip.

Buffalo has new leadership

Here along the Lake The Sabres Owner & President Mr. Pegula brought in our new General Manager last May hiring Jarmo Kekalainen as a “senior advisor”, GM Kekalainen has solid NHL experience and success that hopefully can translate to playoff participation for the Sabres.

Newly hired General Managers build their own staff and GM Kekalainen could bring in a new head coach or promote Assistant Head Coach Appert which could generate the productive results this team and their fans have been anticipating for over the last decade and a half.

The Sabres realistically still have a few solid months of regular season action to take our 500% overall record and create enough positive play to elevate Buffalo to a playoff wild card seeding, I am positively looking forward to seeing the Buffalo Sabres skate towards playoff success this season.