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Sabres Injury Report: Updates On Norris, Greenway, and Kozak
The Buffalo Sabres will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning at Key Bank Center on Saturday night winners of five of their last six games and out of the Eastern Conference basement, but with less than two weeks to go in the regular season, the club may not be getting some of their injured players back in time.
Head coach Lindy Ruff provided an update on injured forwards Josh Norris, Jordan Greenway, and Tyson Kozak after practice on Friday. Norris played just three games after being acquired from the Ottawa Senators on March 7 due to an injury that occurred before the trade. Ruff indicated that he skated prior to practice and that the plan was for him to get back into the lineup in the final eight games.
Greenway has been out of the lineup since the final game of the three-game Central Division road swing in Winnipeg on March 23 with an unspecified lower-body injury. Ruff did not provide any update on his progress, other than to say that the plan is for the big winger to return before the end of the season.
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Kozak suffered what Ruff described as a mid-body injury in the 5-2 win over the Sens on Tuesday and is considered week-to-week. With less than two weeks to go in the campaign, the Sabres head coach pretty much ruled out the possibility of the fourth-liner returning before the season finale on April 17.
“When I say week to week, the likelihood (is) we're running out of time for him, so there's a good chance he won't play (the rest of the regular season)." Ruff said. "Week to week pushes him to the end of two weeks, which probably means he gets ready (for Rochester in the playoffs)."
Kozak is eligible to play for Rochester since he was on their roster at the trade deadline. With his NHL experience, he could be a valuable contributor during their playoff run. The Amerks' regular season ends on April 19, with the Calder Cup Playoffs tentatively scheduled to begin the following week.
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Ostlund To Play First NHL Game Against Tampa Bay
The Buffalo Sabres practiced at LECOM Harborcenter on Friday after taking team photos on their day off after returning from Ottawa after going 2-1-0 on a three-game road swing. The club returns to action on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the contest will mark the NHL debut of youngster Noah Ostlund, who the club called up on Friday.
The 21-year-old was the Sabres middle first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and has made remarkable strides in his first full season in North America. After missing two months with an injury, the young center returned in December and struggled to find his game, going goalless in 11 straight.
"It was something with my hand that wasn't right, and (they) had to do a little surgery on it, and now I don't feel it," Ostlund said. "(After returning, I just found my game a little bit more. I've been playing more with the puck and creating more."
Since January 19, Ostlund has been red-hot, with 18 goals in 28 games. Last week, he was named AHL Player of the Week, and his empty net goal in the Amerks playoff clinching win over Springfield on Wednesday marked his sixth straight game with a goal, which prompted the Sabres to recall him with the injury to center Tyson Kozak.
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"(I’ve heard) nothing but good (things). The way he's played, the way he's defended, how well he's operated with the puck, he's put together real good year down (in Rochester)." Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said. "It's just a player (who is) finding his path, and he feels comfortable down there. (The AHL is) a hard league to play in, but he's progressed and pushed himself to where he's become one of the top players down there……I always think players need that time. It's a hardness that you have to get. It's like I say, sometimes playing down there is harder than playing up here, and he's navigated that path pretty well."
Ostlund skated on Friday in place of Kozak on the fourth line with Beck Malenstyn and Sam Lafferty. Ruff indicated that his being placed there was more due to not mixing up his other three lines and not to overwhelm the youngster against a lineup of Stanley Cup-winning veterans with the Lightning.
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Buffalo Sabres Call Up Surging First-Round Pick
The Buffalo Sabres have announced that they have recalled forward Noah Ostlund from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rochester Americans.
Seeing Ostlund get called up to the Sabres is entirely understandable, as he has been red-hot with Rochester. The 2022 first-round pick currently has an eight-game point streak with the club, posting eight goals and five assists over that span. Furthermore, he has scored at least one goal in each of his last six AHL games.
Due to his excellent play, Ostlund was named AHL Rookie of the Month for March. In addition, he was named the AHL's Player of the Week from March 21 to March 30.
After recording just one point in his first 12 games with Rochester this season, Ostlund now has 18 goals, 17 assists, and 35 points in his last 32 games. He has been only getting better as he continues to adjust to the AHL level, and he is now getting this big opportunity with the Sabres because of it.
It will now be intriguing to see how much of an impact Ostlund makes with the Sabres during his call-up from here. When noting that he is one of the Sabres' top prospects, he is a player fans should watch very closely.
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Young Sabres Forward Is Heating Up Big Time
While the 2024-25 season has been another tough one for the Buffalo Sabres, they have been playing better hockey as of late. The Atlantic Division squad has won four out of their last five games and seven of their previous 10.
Sabres forward Peyton Krebs has certainly stepped up during the team's recent strong stretch of play. The Calgary, Alberta native is currently sporting a five-game point streak, where he has three goals, six points, and a plus-6 rating over that span. This includes scoring a goal in each of the Sabres' last two games.
With his ongoing hot streak, Krebs now has nine goals, 15 assists, and 24 points in 73 games this season. He also just needs one more goal and three more points to set new career highs in those stats.
It is encouraging to see Krebs starting to heat up offensively. At 24 years old, there is still time for the 2019 first-round pick to hit a new level and become a more prominent force on the Sabres' roster. Perhaps this could be the start of him doing just that.
It will now be intriguing to see if Krebs can stay hot in the Sabres' next contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 5 from here.
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Sabres Climb Out Of Eastern Conference Basement With Recent Hot Streak
The Buffalo Sabres appear to be putting things together, unfortunately for them it is coming way too late to salvage the 2024-25 season. The Sabres 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday was their fifth victory in six games and vaulted them out of last place in the Eastern Conference for the first time since December 17th.
The key to the club’s recent resurgence has been their offense averaging over five goals per game over that stretch, with Ryan McLeod leading the club with 10 points (3 goals, 7 assists), Alex Tuch tallying six goals, Tage Thompson with five, youngster Jack Quinn coming alive with nine points (4 goals, 5 assists) and veteran James Reimer winning his last five starts, with a 3.00 GAA and .911 save %.
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While head coach Lindy Ruff is encouraged by the turnaround and interested in the club making progress and finishing the year on a positive note, the fanbase is looking at the recent victories as too little too late. Buffalo is mathematically still alive for the final Eastern Conference wildcard spot (they trail the Montreal Canadiens by nine points with eight games remaining), but according to Moneypuck, they have less than a 1% chance of making the postseason.
Questions that will not be answered until after the season are the fates of Ruff and GM Kevyn Adams. The veteran bench boss has made it clear that he does not want to exit on a sour note, and it is likely that he will return next season. The presence of owner Terry Pegula on the club’s recent road trip was conspicuous and may indicate that an evaluation of all aspects of the club is ongoing, especially the fate of Adams, who has only been made available to the media once since the ill-fated “Palm Trees” press conference in December.
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Buffalo Sabres Roundtable Community
13 Games that Decimated a Season
When the Buffalo Sabres left the ice on November 23, they
had just defeated the San Jose Sharks to sweep their 3 game western road trip.
The sat alone in 3rd place behind Toronto and Florida in the Eastern
Conference’s Atlantic Division and were 7W-3L in their 10 prior games. With an
overall record of 11W-9L-1OTL for 23 points and a goal differential of +4, this
team of youngsters was finally ready to break through the franchise’s
NHL-record 13 season playoff drought.
They wouldn’t win another game for a month.
In the 13 games the Sabres played between November 27 and
December 21, the team had 0 wins, 10 losses in regulation, and 3 OT/shootout
losses. 3 points out of a possible 26. When it was over, the Sabres record was
11-19-4, good for 26 points and tied for last place in the entire league.
There would be no worst to first run like the St. Louis
Blues did in winning the Stanley Cup in 2019. The Sabres would never recover.
Many teams can go back and look at stretches of their season
where they played particularly well or particularly poorly and point to that as
the make-or-break point of their season. Those 13 games broke the Sabres.
Today (April 3) the Sabres sit with a 32-36-6 record, good
for 70 points and their latest win (5-2 over the Ottawa Senators) got the
Sabres out of the Eastern Conference basement for the first time since that
miserable 13 game run.
Prior to the losing stretch, they had a .548 points
percentage and were +4 goal differential.
During the losing stretch, they had a .115 points percentage
and were -26 goal differential.
After the losing stretch, they have a .550 points percentage
and are +3 goal differential.
Taken over the course of their season-to-date, a .550 points
percentage would give them about 81 points. Those 81 points would put them in
the 2nd wildcard spot, 3 points behind those same Ottawa Senators
that they just defeated.
So, what went wrong? Simply put, they couldn’t score. They also
couldn’t keep the puck out of their own net, but even outside of the dubious
stretch they still give up more goals than average. During those 13 games, the
team scored 28 goals, 2.15 goals for per game. In their other 61 games, the
team has scored 213 goals or 3.49 goals per game. The difference is 1.34 goals
per game.
During those 13 games, they lost 6 of them by 1 goal and 3
others by 2 goals. An additional 1-1/3 goals per game would have made all the
difference in the world. That’s 9 of those 13 games where they could
have gotten points (or more points in the case of the 3 OT/SO losses).
Yes, they need to do a much
better job of keeping the puck out of their own net. It’s probably the most
impactful change that could get them over the hump next season. However, with
more consistent goal scoring during those 13 games, we could be looking at a
playoff spot for them this year.
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Rumor: Erik Brännström To Switzerland
thehockeynews.comRumor: Erik Brännström To SwitzerlandErik Brännström has played in North America
since 2018 but multiple Swedish
media sources are reporting that he will
return to Europe next season.
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Former Sabre C.J. Smith Offered Try-Out With German Club
thehockeynews.comFormer Sabre, Hurricane Offered Try-Out With German ClubAmerican left winger C.J. Smith, 30, has been offered a try-out contract by Adler Mannheim, the DEL club announced on Monday. Smith was held pointless in nine
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Will Santa Leave A Win For The Sabres Under The Tree?
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Adams Reflects On The Difficulties Of Bringing Players To Buffalo
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About Buffalo Sabres RoundtableBuffalo Sabres news, video, analysis and community on The Hockey News
Follow all Sabres news at https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabresGraemeApr 23, 2024
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