Sabres Edge

Inside the NHL chat with Bucky Gleason

Postgame video: Sabres 6, Bruins 0

Hear from Ruff on his new role in the press box

Lindy Ruff made a surprise appearance at his regular postgame news conference Wednesday nigght following the Sabres' 6-0 win over the Bruins. 

"I felt better and better as the game went on," Ruff said. "By the end, I felt really good."

Ruff said he will be in the press box for the forseeable future, partly because he can't get out of the way of errant pucks and also because he can't yell, so it would be difficult to yell out lines over the crowd (and ostensibly resist the urge to yell at officials).

Here's the audio of the session.

Lindy Ruff

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

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Bruins' Julien feels for Lindy

The first thing Boston coach Claude Julien was asked after his team's pregame skate today was how strange it would be to not see Lindy Ruff on the Sabres' bench. Tonight's game, after all, will be just the second one since 1997 with Ruff absent.

Julien admitted it would be odd and said he's had several close calls in practice as well with collisions like Ruff and with pucks to the head like the one Edmonton's Tom Renney took Monday in Toronto.

"He may pop in there, you never know," Julien said of Ruff. "But I know he's been through a pretty bad fall. You don't like to see those things. Tom gets the puck in the head and it just goes to show you there's always a risk out there. 

"... It happens. That's why you've got to be ready all the time. Sometimes when you see it, you can brace yourself. When you don't, it can be a tough fall. We don't have much protection underneath that sweatsuit except for the extra weight we carry."

Julien confirmed that Tuukaa Rask, who beat the Sabres in the playoffs as a rookie in 2010, will start tonight against Ryan Miller instead of Tim Thomas. Rask is a backup goalie who hardly has backup numbers -- he's 11-6-2 and third in the NHL in both goals-against average (1.88) and save percentage (.936). But like his team, Rask has struggled of late with an 0-2-1 record, and figures of 3.26 and .884 in the last three games.

Rask is 4-3, 2.28, .931 in his career against Buffalo in the regular season. Thomas, meanwhile, is 10-9-4 against Buffalo and his stats against the Sabres (3.10, .899) are his worst in every category against teams he's played at least 10 games.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Patrick to take over behind the bench tonight

Lindy Ruff will not be behind the First Niagara Center bench tonight for the Buffalo Sabres for the first time since March 20, 2006, and James Patrick will be in charge as the Sabres meet the Boston Bruins.

Patrick will move from changing the defense pairs to changing the forward lines and Kevyn Adams, who has been on the bench all season, will change the defense. First-year assistant Teppo Numminen will move down from the press box to the bench for the first time since his playing career ended here in 2009. 

Patrick said Ruff is "hoping to be here" but it's certainly up in the air if the head coach if will be in the building tonight. Patrick said he could be in the press box or could simply stay in the coaches' suite in the locker room area and watch the game on the big-screen TV.

Patrick said it a little unusual to be calling forward lines but will try to keep things business as usual.

"The helpful thing is there's a lot of veteran guys with Pommer [Jason Pominville] and Gaus [Paul Gaustad] and Derek Roy," Patrick said. "It's a pretty veteran lineup. And they communicate on the bench and I don't expect any problems.

"It is a new voice but at the same time, the game plan will be the same," Pominville said. "The systems will be the same. Not much is going to change besides the person speaking and talking to us in intermission. Our focus has to remain the same. No matter who's there, we have the trust and confidence in what they're capable of doing."

"It's the ebb and flows of hockey. You can't predict how you're going to play the game either," said defenseman Jordan Leopold, whose collision with Ruff Monday caused the coach's three broken ribs. "It's one of those things. We're plenty prepared either way. If Lindy were back there, great. If not, we'll make do and stick with our system. He's made sure everything is implemented. It's just a matter of us going out there and doing it."

Patrick had a brief on-ice meeting with the team at end of the morning skate and said his message was to continue to be hard on the puck as the club has been during its 3-0-1 run. He said his first foray as a head coach should be interesting, especially if he needs to make his case known to the referees.

"Usually Lindy has to tell me to stop yelling at the referees so I've had a lot of practice at that," Patrick said. "You get answers or get a little more respect whhen you're the head coach. Hopefully that's not an issue."

Thomas Vanek skated with the team today and Patrick said he's improving. Vanek confirmed he's hoping to play this weekend, either Friday against Dallas or Saturday against Tampa Bay.

Hear Patrick's session with reporters below:

Download audio

--Mike Harrington
(twitter.com/bnharrington)

Miller by the numbers

Here's some numerology on Ryan Miller in the wake of his 235th career win Saturday night on Long Island, which allowed him to break Dominik Hasek's franchise record.

First Win: Nov. 22, 2002,  vs. Columbus (5-4)
First Shutout: Jan. 14, 2003, at Minnesota (1-0)
100th Win: Feb. 10, 2008 vs. Florida (5-3)
200th Win: Dec. 28,  2010 at Edmonton (4-2)
234th Win: Jan. 31, 2012 at New Jersey (2-1/shootout)
235th Win: Feb. 4,  2012 at NY Islanders (4-3/shootout) 
Career Record: 235-141-44-1 (W-L-OTL-T)
Only Tie: Jan. 16, 2003 at San Jose (2-2)
Most Saves: 48, Jan. 8, 2010, in 3-2 win over Toronto.
Career shutouts: 24
Shootout record:  33-21

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Hear from Miller on the record

UNIONDALE -- Ryan Miller had a pretty big smile in the Sabres' locker room after Saturday's 4-3 shootout win over the Islanders, and he had a puck marked 235 with him after setting the franchise record for victories by a goaltender.

Hear Miller's thoughts below on the record, the big comeback win and the overtime penalty kill that made it all possible.

Ryan Miller

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

(For those asking, I made it out of the Nassau Coliseum unscathed this time. Red light showed open door at Gate 5 and concourse was filled with workers. Told you last year they were all Jets fans. Not a soul). 

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Red-hot Islanders a tough test

UNIONDALE -- The Sabres face a red-hot team tonight in the New York Islanders but for once, Buffalo was the team sitting in a city waiting for their opponent to show up. The Islanders posted a 2-1 overtime win last night in Ottawa but between the long ride to the airport there and customs and the flight home, they probably weren't in their beds until the 2 a.m. range.

One school of thought after today's pregame skate is a quick jump on the Islanders is rarely as important as it will be tonight.

"It's important if we get the puck down low below the goal line and really spend the majority of the first period there, or at least the first 10 minutes maybe," said coach Lindy Ruff. "Sometimes a team gets a little bit stuck in back-to-back games."

The Islanders (21-22-7) will be gunning to get to .500 tonight while the Sabres can move ahead of them with a regulation win. Buffalo can be anywhere from 11th to 15th in the East after tonight's play.

The Islanders are 6-1 in their last seven against the Sabres. They're 5-1-1 in their last seven overall this season and 10-5-1 in the last 16. And their top line of John Tavares centering Matt Moulson and Kyle Okposo has been one of the hottest in the league.

Tavares was named the NHL's First Star for January after leading the league with 22 points in the month. In his last 16 games, he has 11 goals and 15 assists.

"They play very well  together," said Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers. "Tavares has proven he's a pretty special player in this league. Especially as of late, he's been unbelievable for them."

"They're a tough line to control and Tavares is becoming one of the premier younger players in the league,'" Ruff said. "His stats are really going up (53 points in 50 games), his skating has been excellent and they've got some good chemistry."

Ryan Miller will start in goal. Ruff said the Sabres will dress all the forwards for the warmup, although Zack Kassian was the extra this morning and would be the best bet to join Marc-Andre Gragnani as a scratch. 

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Inside the NHL chat with Bucky Gleason

Postgame interviews: Rangers 1, Sabres 0 (SO)

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Ennis set to return tonight, will play center

MONTREAL -- Tyler Ennis, who has been out since spraining his ankle a second time this season Dec. 17, will return to the Sabres tonight against Montreal.

Not only is he excited to be back, he's thrilled to be making a return to center. He played in the middle in juniors and the minors. With Jochen Hecht sidelined by a concussion, the Sabres needed someone to play center and are ready to try Ennis.

Paul Gaustad may also return from injury. He will skate in the warm-up and coach Lindy Ruff will make a game-time decision on the center's status.

Marc-Andre Gragnani will be the healthy scratch on defense.

To hear the interviews with Ruff and Ennis, click the audio files below.

--John Vogl

Lindy Ruff:

Download audio

Tyler Ennis:

Download audio 

Quick practice update

Here's the attendance report as the Sabres have just opened practice in First Niagara Center:

---Jason Pominville and Luke Adam are not here. They went directly to Montreal from Ottawa.

---Jochen Hecht and T.J. Brennan are not on the ice as they continue to battle their concussions.

---Brayden McNabb is back on the ice in his first workout with the team since getting concussed against the Leafs on Jan. 13, the night before the Sabres left for their road trip. Tyler Ennis is also skating on a line with Nathan Gerbe and Drew Stafford. We'll see if he returns tomorrow.

---The lines aren't that valid because Adam and Pominville aren't here. But for the record, it's Vanek-Roy-Gragnani, Gerbe-Ennis-Stafford, Kaleta-Boyes-Leino and McCormick-Gaustad-Ellis. The D pairs are Sekera-Myers, Weber-Regehr and Leopold-Ehrhoff.

Stay tuned for a full update after the workout ends.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Inside the NHL live chat with Bucky Gleason

Ice Chips: On Sabreland, Thomas and the all-stars

The Sabres are taking off from practice today, the last day they're allowed to work out prior to the NHL all-star break. They return to the ice Monday at First Niagara Center and have their next game Tuesday in Montreal, where they might be able to add Tyler Ennis and Paul Gaustad back to their lineup.

---Maybe pigs do fly because the Sabres won a road game with Tuesday's shootout win at New Jersey. Guess that means no trades and no firings? Oy. Still no back-to-back wins though with the next chance coming in Montreal. The Sabres are 10-19-5 since their last winning streak and the 34 games currently stands as the third-longest drought in franchise history -- behind only 40+-game lulls in their first two seasons. Ugh.

---Forget about trading Jochen Hecht for a pick at the deadline. Forget hockey altogether. It's time to worry about the veteran's health in general after he apparently got another concussion Saturday in St. Louis. For Lindy Ruff to say, "Emotionally, he was really unstable" after last night's game is nothing short of alarming. 

---Bucky Gleason's column today talks back to the fans and answers some of their fury.

---There's only one game today and it's Detroit at Montreal at 7:30 on NBC Sports Network. The Habs, Islanders and Sabres are all tied at 45 points. If Montreal loses tonight in regulation, it would drop to 14th place while the Islanders would improve to 12th and Buffalo to 13th. The Sabres would stay in 14th if Montreal gets a point.

---This week's edition of "NHL 36" is tonight at 6:30 and it features 36 hours in the life of Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom. His first day was last Monday, when the Sabres were in Detroit, and the cameras rolled pregame and during the contest. Might be an interesting watch.

---NHL.com has Jason Pominville pegged as Mr. Irrelevant in the all-star fantasy draft, as in the last guy chosen. At least he would get a car for his troubles. I loved the draft last year. It was better than the game.

---Jerry Sullivan offers this take on Tim Thomas' snub of the Bruins' White House visit. Good post, good reasoning but I don't agree. My feeling is Thomas should have been a teammate and gone. A fun argument for sure on both sides.

---Speaking of the All-Star Game, James Neal will replace Alex Ovechkin in Ottawa. Caps owner Ted Leonsis obviously did not agree with the Great Eight's suspension, as he wrote the other day on his blog. Boo to that, Ted. He jumped and contacted the head. Almost automatic these days. To me, it was a test case to see if Brendan Shanahan would give a Shanaban to a name player. He passed.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

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The coldest corner in North America

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Be sure to join our live game blog tonight at 8:30 from the MTS Centre in absolutely horrifically frigid Winnipeg. Paul Gaustad is out tonight and probably the next two games as well and Lindy Ruff said a forward may join the team tomorrow in St. Louis.

The building here is really neat. A tiny little bandbox. Our man John Vogl used to work in Georgia and he loved Atlanta trips. He's still mourning their loss. So on the day the Sabres make their first trip to Winnipeg in 1996, give a look back to June at this link to Vogl's Winnipeg-Atlanta comparison.

I went somewhere today that Atlanta doesn't have -- the coldest intersection in North America (click the pic for a bigger view). That's the billing of the corner of Portage Avenue and Main Street in downtown Winnipeg. The temperature was minus-27 Celsius and the windchill was minus-35 Celsius according to the radio (so we're talking minus-16F and wind chills of minus-31F). Your breath barely escaped your mouth. You could feel your cheeks. I could hear John Facenda in my ears because this truly was The Frozen Tundra.

When I took my glove off to snap the shutter,  I could feel my hand freezing. What's that they say about how many seconds it takes for exposed flesh to freeze? Believe me, it's true. Went to a convenience store underground -- a lot of buildings are mercifully connected -- and the clerk asked where I was from. She said in broken English, "Winnipeg is worse than Buffalo. Crazy freezing, eh?"

Eh. Crazy freezing. But mighty friendly people. Stay tuned.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Inside the NHL chat with Bucky Gleason at 10 a.m.

Pregame update: Enroth to start in goal

CHICAGO -- Jhonas Enroth has led the Sabres on to the ice at the United Center (left, view from The News seat) and will start in goal tonight against the Blackhawks against Corey Crawford.

The game, remember, is a 7:30 start and you Time Warner blackoutees can watch on NBC Sports Network. No MSG for tonight.

Enroth is 8-8-3 with a 2.42 goals against and .924 save percentage (Ryan Miller is 11-13-2,  3.12, .898). In his last four games, including Monday's relief outing in Detroit, Enroth is 0-1-2 but has a 1.90 GAA and .949 save percentage.

"He went through a tough stretch and I asked him what was different," coach Lindy Ruff told me today during his pregame session with the Buffalo media. "He said he's battled harder. ... If you look at his last couple starts especially, pucks aren't going through him. When he was struggling, he had some go in under the arm, some long-range ones going in. When a goalie struggles, pucks tend to go through  you. When they're playing well, they seal pretty good and he's doing a good job of that."

Ruff said Patrick Kaleta, who missed practice Tuesday with the flu, is OK and will play tonight. Cody McCormick and Joe Finley are expected to be the healthy scratches, although McCormick is on the ice for warmups.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Kane on Sabres: 'The fans get on Miller a little bit too much'

CHICAGO -- Patrick Kane hears plenty of chatter about the hometown team and the Chicago Blackhawks winger said he's curious to see what the struggling Buffalo Sabres put on the ice tomorrow night in the United Center.

"I know the owner [Terry Pegula] and the fans aren't really too happy with the way things have been going down there," Kane said today after practice at Johnny's Ice House, just down West Madison Avenue from the UC. "That's fine with me. I can't really care any more about the Sabres. Hopefully we can make it even worse for them and get a win against them."

Of particular interest to Kane is the problems of former U.S. Olympic teammate Ryan Miller, who has dropped to 42nd in goals-against average (3.12) and 40th in save percentage (.898). 

"I still think the fans get on Miller a little bit too much back in Buffalo. He's definitely the guy there," Kane said. "He's not having the kind of season he wanted to and maybe things are getting caught up in everything back there. I think they can be a good team. They've got everything in place to do well. You want them to do well, especially being from there.  Not better than you're doing but at the same time, growing up there I know a lot of people who root for the Sabres. It's a city that deserves the team to do well."

For his part, Kane's 10 goals and 39 points have him on pace for career lows. 

"It's something you're going to deal with in your career," he said. "I'm trying to have a new clean slate when I come to the rink every day, whether it's practice or game day. Not get too high or too low."

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

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It's Miller vs. Miller: Hear from the brothers

DETROIT -- The Red Wings are going for a franchise-record 15th straight home win and the Sabres are trying to break their all-time skid of eight straight road losses in regulation tonight. That's Story 1A at Joe Louis Arena. But a clear 1B is the fifth career meeting of Ryan Miller and his younger brother, Red Wings winger Drew Miller.

The Millers haven't met in two years (Drew was a healthy scratch last season in Buffalo and Ryan missed the teams' December meeting with his concussion), and even got to spend all day together yesterday as the Sabres got the day off after arriving from Long Island. Their father was out of town but a younger brother and sister and some family friends had lunch and dinner at Drew's house.

"We didn't talk about hockey so that was nice," Drew said. "It didn't work out the last two years. I wanted to play last year and I know he wanted to get back from his injury to play against us. It will be fun to get back on the ice and play against each other."

"A lot of people are looking down like he's playing horrible and I don't think it's all on him," Drew said. "I don't think he's playing that bad. I think he expects more of himself. The injury is improving every day. The injuries have been pretty unfortunate for him and the team hasn't been winning like they'd like to so a lot of the pressure goes down on their big players. He's one of their guys that has to answer to that and that's tough."

As is usually the case here, Ryan had some long chats with Detroit-area reporters. Among the items he discussed was a change from a titanium mask to steel to help ease some of the puck impacts on his head.

As for the Sabres predicament tonight, Miller said, "This is a good place to start for this season. It's time to get our feet under us and play consistent hockey. [The Red Wings] had a little bit of a slower start than I think they wanted. It just shows they demanded something higher and they turned it up a notch."

The Sabres will get Andrej Sekera back tonight in place of Robyn Regehr. Joe Finley looks like a healthy scratch with T.J. Brennan arriving from Rochester and appearing to be in the lineup as well (Lindy Ruff said that would be a game-time decision)

Click below for audio from both Drew and Ryan Miller. (Sorry for the abrupt end to Ryan's interview as I had to jump off to chat with Andrej Sekera).

Drew Miller

Ryan Miller

Click below to hear Ruff's pregame chat, where he updates the injuries,  gives his thoughts on the Red Wings' streak, the problems of the Buffalo defense and Miller's road back from the concussion.

Lindy Ruff

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Brennan gets another call to join thin D corps

DETROIT -- Greetings from Motown, where the Sabres have recalled defenseman T.J. Brennan from Rochester in the wake of the injury Robyn Regehr suffered Saturday night on Long Island. The team is hopeful Andrej Sekera can return to the lineup tonight after missing eight games but Lindy Ruff told me yesterday that's still uncertain. The morning skate here at Joe Louis Arena doesn't begin until 11:30 so we'll have to see how Sekera holds up.

If Sekera can't play, the Buffalo defense would be woefully thin going against a Detroit team looking for its franchise-record 15th straight home win. Brennan, Joe Finley, and Marc-Andre Gragnani would make up half the D corps, which would mean plenty of ice time for Tyler Myers, Jordan Leopold and Mike Weber. Sekera, Regehr, Christian Ehrhoff and Brayden McNabb all out.

Holy moly.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)