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Foligno,Stewart Close; Enroth,Neuvirth Not So Much |
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Updated:
Welcome to the final week of the season from H-E-Double Hockey Sticks.
Head coach Ted Nolan updated the status of his injured players after the morning skate in Philly.
Tyler Myers may play again before the season finale vs. the Islanders on Sunday April 13.
Marcus Foligno and Chris Stewart may play Tuesday night vs. Detroit.
The news isn't very cheery for injured goalies Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth.
Nolan said that their respective seasons may be done.
Stewart suffered a serious ankle injury in a nasty collision with Tampa goalie Ben Bishop a month ago. He has zero goals and no assists in two games with the Sabres. Stewart played physically in his limited time with his new club.
Nathan Lieuwen and Matt Hackett will have to shoulder the load this week.
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Things are not as bad off for Sabres power forward Marcus Foligno than they first appeared to be when #82 was injured on his first shift of the game in St. Louis on Thursday night.
On Friday morning the team summoned center/winger Luke Adam from AHL Rochester to replace Foligno who was injured on his first shift of the 2-1 Sabres loss in St. Louis on Thursday night.
The injury looked like a serious ACL-MCL situation for the big fella, however, come news that Marcus is skating in Philly this morning.
Its great news that Foligno can skate right now.
More on his status will be known later.
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The Rochester Amerks are on a the warpath!
Just when their playoff hopes looked bleak with Sabres injuries depleting their core of difference makers, the Amerks have solved their problems by way of imports of their own. Namely Andrey Makarov, Tim Schaller, Mikhail Grigorenko and Justin Kea.
On Saturday afternoon in Toronto, the retro-fit and reinvigorated Amerks served notice that they are not about to roll over and play dead.
Trailing 3-0 after 40, in a hostile barn in Tronna on Saturday, the Rochester Americans scored four straight unanswered goals over the final 15:57 of regulation time, powered by the natural hatty from rookie forward Tim Schaller. Merk$ dropped the Marlies 4-3 in eye-popping fashion.
The Amerks, with new faces and reinforcements in their lineup, have now won three straight games and have flexed the collective muscles top re-enter the playoff race. The Amerks now hold seventh place by passing Rockford and Charlotte in the AHL's Western Conference.
Schaller’s natural hat trick tied the game. Phil Varone finished the Marlies with his third GWG of the season.
Former Saskatoon Blade and Team Russia World Juniors star goalie Andrey Makarov stood on his head between the pipes for Rochester. Makarov stopped 13 of 16 shots he faced in his sixth straight start. Makarov took sole control of the Rochester net when the Sabres called up Nathan Lieuwen and Mat Hackett two weeks ago in the wake of serious injuries to Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth. "Makky" has acquitted himself well in his impressive role as bullpen ace. He's 3-3 thus far, with a .912 save % and a 2.70 GAA. He has allowed 16 goals against on 181 shots faced in his 6 starts. Makarov had spent the majority of this season in the ECHL before his promotion to Rochester. So far, so good.
Brayden Irwin assisted on all four Amerks goals. Makarov's great friend Mikhail Grigorenko notched two assists in the win and four points (0+4) in his last three games since he arrived in the Lilac City from the Quebec Remparts.
Thanks, Amerks.com
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It started out as a battle royale between two Western powers looking to grab two points and send a message for a future matchup in the playoffs.
It ended with a massive explosion when bad blood, and a lot of Kevin Shattenkirk's hemoglobin, was spilled on the ice when the Blues and Avalanche got gangsta on one another in the third period of the 4-0 Colorado win in St. Louis. Ryan Miller took the loss, his fourth since joining the Blues.
Blues captain David Backes punked the odds on winner of the rookie-of-the-year-award winner as a retaliatory measure for Avs tough guy Patrick Bourdelau crushing the head of Blues rear guard Kevin Shattenkirk off the glass.
Backes infuriated Patrick Roy and the Avs' bench when he made a bee line to MacKinnon and proceeded to pummel the youngster.
Former Sabres captain Steve Ott wanted to take a piece of Bordelau's hide with him to the room and it touched off an ugly melee that saw the referee get dumped on his keester as he tried to restore order.
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Ken Hitchcock was none too happy about Bordelau's shenanigams on Shattenkirk, and rightly so.
Thanks, Blues TV
Just press play to listen to Patrick Roy's pointed words aimed at Hitchcock's head.
Don't you love it when Roy so eloquently called David Backes "gutless"?
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