Another game. Another injury. Another player is recalled from the AHL.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
That is the Buffalo Sabres way.
Through the first 35 games of the season, the Sabres have lost 171 man games to injury.
On Thursday night, the Buffalo Sabres lost forward Will Carrier due to a hand injury. Carrier entered the game with an existing hand injury and caused further damage when he slammed his knuckles off the face and visor of Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid.
In my opinion, McQuaid got what he had coming to him for jumping Carrier, who earlier had knocked Bruins forward David Backes out of the game with a clean, hard hit. Carrier was assessed a hit to the head minor penalty. The replay of the hit shows that Carrier made shoulder to shoulder contact with Backes. According to reports, there will be no supplemental discipline for Carrier.
Carrier added toughness, speed and grit to the Sabres lineup. However, he added very little offense to a team that has been plagued by a goal scoring drought for the past 90+ days of the NHL season. Carrier scored only one goal and one assist in 24 games played.
Buffalo have scored just 48 even strength goals in 35 games this season. It's pathetic how few even strength goals have been scored in Buffalo. The Sabres have scored just 76 goals in total this season. They average just 2.17 goals per game (28th overall).
Dan Bylsma should the hockey gods for for the 25 power play goals his team has scored to date, otherwise, his team would be a lost cause.
On Friday morning, Sabres GM Tim Murray recalled forward Justin Bailey from the Amerks.
Bailey joins the Sabres for his second recall of the season after appearing in two games with the team in November. The Buffalo native is currently tied for seventh among all AHL skaters with 13 goals in the 2016-17 season and is currently on a five-game point streak in which he has recorded seven points (5 goals, 2 assists). Bailey will play in the New Year's Eve matinee at Boston on Saturday, a game that promises to be fast, furious and physical. Bailey will be up to the challenge.
The Sabres' second-round pick (52nd overall) in the 2013 NHL Draft, Bailey has appeared in 10 NHL games in his career. His 22 points in 31 AHL games this season rank the second-year pro third among all Rochester skaters.
At 6'3 and 215 lbs. Bailey plays a complete game. He's big, fast, strong along the walls , has a great shot, and can finish. Bailey is an upgrade over Carrier at this point in Buffalo's inconsistent season.
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Finland vs. Sweden - 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship from IIHF on Vimeo.
Thanks, IIHF
With a 3-1 win over Finland, the Swedes wrapped up first place in Group A.
The Buffalo Sabres knew what they were getting in advance of drafting Alexander Nylander with the eighth overall pick at the Buffalo-hosted NHL Draft in June. Tim Murray was captivated by Nylander's high-end skill, blinding speed, deft passing, moves like Jagger and 360 vision.
On Thursday night in Montreal, Nylander continued his domination of the World Junior Championships when he scored twice and added an assist.
Nylander now leads his team in tournament in scoring with 4 goals and 3 assists in three games played. Nylander led Sweden is scoring at the 2016 WJCs when he accumulated 9 points in 7 games played.
Nylander has been on loan this season to the AHL Rochester Americans where he has scored 17 points in 25 games played.
Team Sweden is now 3-0 at the legendary WJC tourney.
Lias Andersson added a single goal for Tre Kronor, which rallied after trailing 1-0 for more than 32 minutes.
Aapeli Rasanen scored Finland's only goal.
Swedish starting goalie Felix Sandstrom won his head to head battle Finnish keeper Veini Vehivailainen as Finland outshot Sweden 29-20.
The Swedes are seeking their first gold since 2012 and first medal of any shade since 2014.
This game failed to live up to the advance billing and hype. The defending champion Finns are in last place in their group and their offense is virtually non existent now that Patrik Laine, Jesse Puljujarvi and Sebastien Aho are skating full time in the NHL this season.
On New Year’s Eve, the Finns will battle Switzerland in a must-win group finale.
Sweden takes on the Czech Republic.
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Regarding Nylander, Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray has been in Montreal since Boxing Day. He has been keeping a close eye on Nylandetr and Sabres 2-016 draft choice Rasmus Aspund, the slick skating Swedish attacker whose draft choice Murray acquired in the Mark Pysyk for Dmitry Kulikov trade with the Florida Panthers.
Murray will have a serious decision to make on Nylander after the WJC's end.
Will GMTM invite Nylander to Buffalo to play a game or two with the Sabres as a reward for his stellar international play?
I'm on the record as saying that I would give Nylander 2-3 games in Buffalo in January so that Dan Bylsma can play him on a regular line. What is the worse thing that can happen? If Nylander flat lines, he'll be send directly to Rochester. However, if he provides a pop to the Buffalo offense, why not keep him in Buffalo for his nine game NHL tryout?
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
Another subplot to the Nylander accelerated development and dominating performances at the WJCs is that the NHL trade deadline is on March 1.
I'm told that Murray is presently working on a deal or two that will impact the Buffalo forward ranks. And the D corps. Murray has been looking to upgrade his top four D since last summer.
The window shopping phase has passed. If Murray's team is going to be playing meaningful games later this spring in May and June, he is going to have to infuse new blood into his blue line.
Will Evander Kane be traded? The LA Kings and Tampa Lightning are two of the teams who have been scouting Buffalo aggressively for the past month. The Kings and Bolts are searching for scoring due to injuries that have hit their respective forward groups. The Kings lost Tyler Toffoli to a lower body injury and have placed him on the IR. I can see a Kane for Jake Muzzin trade brewing between Buffalo and Los Angeles. The Kings need a top six play maker and scorer to play alongside the silent Silent Kopitar. Kane fits that bill to a tee. Murray needs a top four left D and Muzzin fits that bill.
If Kane or Zemgus Girgensons, or both are traded in the next month or so, Murray will need capable forward to fill the roster in Buffalo. Nick Baptiste and Justin Bailey have 14 and 12 goals respectively right now for the Amerks. Murray and Bylsma would likely call up Baptiste or Bailey in the event Kane were to be traded.
Dan Bylsma has been preaching to his team for the past three days about the importance of winning in regulation the home and home set Boston in order to pull his Sabres to within two points of third place in the Atlantic Division. On Thursday night, the Sabres dominated the Boston Bruins for 30 minutes. Then, they blew a 2-0 lead and ended up losing the must-win game 4-2. So much for Bylsma's sermons about the importance of starting games on time and playing for 60 minutes.
The final 30 minutes of Thursday's regulation loss to the Bruins is a microcosm of their 2016-17 season. The Buffalo blue line isn't good enough to compete for 60 minutes a night. Rasmus Ristolainen played 29:35 TOI against the Bruins. He's been averaging 27 minutes TOI per night. Bylsma can count on his 22 year old Finnish Rock of Gibraltar. Bylsma can also count on Zach Bogosian and Jake McCabe to play 20 solid minutes a night. However, he cannot rely on playing Josh Gorges, Dmitry Kulikov, Justin Falk nor Cody Franson in crunch time minutes.
The Buffalo blue line succumbed to the aggressive fore check pressure by the speedy Boston forwards for the final thirty minutes on Thursday night. The Buffalo D have been getting rattled by making sloppy breakout passes to the wingers and create turnovers in their own end of the rink.
Murray and Bylsma know their blue line weaknesses. Murray can use Evander Kane as the trade chip to finally get his hands on a top four, left shot D-man.
When Murray trades a forward for a D, it will create an opportunity for a prospect from Rochester to draw in to the Buffalo lineup. Be it Nick Baptiste, Justin Bailey, or Alex Nylander.
You see. Murray and Bylsma can find goal scoring from within the family. They are desperately seeking a legit top four D-man from outside the organization. Why trade Kane for said top four D? Because you trade assets at their highest value. Kane has eight points (7G, 1A) in his last ten games.
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