Paul Hamilton

The Buffalo Sabres play in Edmonton on Saturday and will catch a break as the Oilers will be without Connor McDavid. Their superstar center is serving the last game of a three-game NHL suspension for cross checking Conor Garland in the face.

The Buffalo Sabres played pretty well in Edmonton but the same problems that have lost them games cropped up again. In Calgary, Buffalo had 77 shot attempts, but had 21 miss the net and lost. Against the Oilers they had 74 shot attempts and lost

Last season after Jan. 1 with one days rest Luukkonen had a .922 save percentage. This season that has declined drastically as he has an .869 save percentage with one days rest. With two days rest it goes up to .918.

Buffalo got two hat tricks for the first time since 2008 as Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka both had three goals and four points. Jiri Kulich had an assist to give the line six goals and three assists for nine points.

In an honor long overdue, on Friday Rob Ray will be inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame. Ray was a beloved member of the team when he spent 889 games as the enforcer for the Buffalo Sabres.

Not only did the Buffalo Sabres honor Rob Ray by inducting him into the Sabres Hall of Fame, they played a good game for the fifth straight time beating the Nashville 4-3. They’ve only won three of their last five, but they’ve made progress.

I should be talking about in six games they’ve played well in most and won four. I should be talking about their three-game winning streak, but the only thing fans are talking about is Tage Thompson got targeted by Stefan Noeson in the head.

Buffalo Sabres winger Tage Thompson has been picked as the NHL’s Second Star for this past week. In three games Thompson led the NHL with four goals and four assists for eight points

Teams know that they can take liberties against the Sabres and there are rarely consequences. Lindy Ruff said it was talked about and addressed on Monday, “We had some hard conversations. It’s over, what we discussed will stay inside the room.

For the first time since Jan. 26, 2023, the Buffalo Sabres have won four-straight games. That was actually a five-game winning streak. Buffalo held on to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2.