They’ve surged past an injury-laden Washington Capitals squad to sit in playoff positioning, and they’ve kept pace ahead of other up-and-coming Atlantic Division teams like the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators. Buffalo hasn’t exactly been a model of consistency for defensive play, but that was never the expectation for such a young team.
“Honestly, some of the boys are laughing about it sometimes, and I don't even think he'd be mad if he heard me say that,” Mittelstadt said of Granato’s ability to analyze which plays need to be presented. It's only really in game, so I think video is huge to just see those things and to see different trends or habits that you're doing that you may want to change or keep doing.”
Adam Proteau looks at what the Rangers may do at the trade deadline, Senators' assistant coach Bob Jones' ALS diagnosis and Craig Anderson playing 700 games. The Rangers don’t have a wealth of above-average prospects, so Drury will almost assuredly have to surrender a first-round pick in any trade.
The Buffalo Sabres already had a pretty good goalie when Ryan Miller arrived on the scene in 2002, and Martin Biron was still thinking he was the man when Miller arrived for good from Rochester in 2005. He's going up there with some pretty big names, too, so that's really cool."
They’ve won five in a row and settled on the Vancek-Blackwood debate, and it’s actually nice that they got a bad losing streak out of the way early in the season. They’ve won eight of their past 10, but the two losses against Detroit and Montreal were a little perplexing.
The Chicago Blackhawks welcome the Buffalo Sabres to The United Center on Tuesday night, with an attempt by the Blackhawks to wash away the terrible taste of their 8-5 loss at home on Saturday night against the Seattle Kraken. He broke out big last year with 68 points (38 G, 30 A) in 78 games and he’s currently on pace to obliterate both of those numbers with 58 points (31 G, 27A) so far in only 41 games, which ranks sixth overall in the NHL scoring race (slotting him just behind Jason Robertson and David Pastrnak).
One part of the three-goalie system the Sabres have to watch is to make sure their goalies get enough work outside of the games. Anderson said he's never been in a true three-goalie system, other than the 2020 Covid season in Washington when he served as the No.
And you’ve just got to trust that everything will work out. “For him, through his career, the position he’s been in, he’s been forced to play to not make a mistake and conservative.
That was just a paper move, though, to clear a roster spot, and Luukkonen was back in net for the Sabres on Thursday night. If the team needs to send someone down, it seems the rookies are, for now, at the top of the list.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kopitar sits second in assists (727) and third in points among the Kings’ all-time leading scorers. Matty Beniers, Vince Dunn and Eeli Tolvanen each had a goal and an assist as the Kraken improved to 23-12-4 to sit four points behind the Kings in third place in the Pacific Division with 50 points.
