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Uh oh. The hits they keep on comin' for the Ottawa Senators.
First, Bobby Ryan injured his hand on Saturday night.
Now, Mike Hoffman suffered a lower body injury versus Winnipeg on Sunday afternoon.
Hoffman will not return to the game. If Hoffman is forced to miss games, the Senators will sorely miss his 19 goals and 20 assists.
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The Ottawa Senators have been handed brutal news on forward Bobby Ryan.
The Sens have announced that Ryan may have a broken hand as a result of blocking a shot with his hand at some point during Ottawa's 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Hockey Night In Canada.
The Sens will miss Ryan's 12 goals and 12 assists in 50 games this season.
The alleged busted hand comes at a most inopportune time for Ryan who had been playing some of his inspired and productive hockey of the season since being shifted down to the third line for the loss to Buffalo on Tuesday night.
Guy Boucher will have to activate oft scratched forward Curtis Lazar to take Ryan's place in the lineup.
Boucher and GM Pierre Dorion will have to find another solution as the Sens trail division leading Montreal by only two points in the Atlantic standings, however, are being chased down from behind by Florida, Toronto, Boston, Buffalo and the NY Islanders.
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When Robin Lehner talks, his teammates listen.
The Sabres have won three games in a row this week after Lehner chasised himelf and his teammates for a poor performance in their loss to the Vancouver Canucks on home ice last Sunday night.
After the Vancouver loss, Lehner blasted off on teammates who habitually go rogue and play outside Dan Bylsma's structured system. Lehner said he didn't like that some of his teammates were ignoring the game plans being drawn up by the coaching staff in lieu of more high-risk maneuvers on the ice. Lehner suggested that the selfishness of some players was undermining the success of the entire group. Lehner said that he was holding himself to a much higher standard and urged his teammates to do the same.
In the Vancouver loss, Lehner allowed four goals against on 31 shots faced. His .871 save percentage in that loss was an alarm that seemingly sounded in his head. Lehner had to be better. His teammates had to be better. Never one to shy away from confrontation and controversy, Lehner popped his cork and sprayed the walls of the room with the truth. The next day, Lehner defended his cost-loss comments and said that he wasn't singling out Jack Eichel or any one layer in particular. He reiterated that his rant was intended to be delivered to the entire team, not just one or two players.
It appears that his teammates have taken Lehner's pointed words to heart.
Sometimes the older brother has to take his siblings out behind the barn for some "shut up, sit down, and listen carefully" quality time.
In the end, Lehner was correct. Brian Gionta is the only two members of the Sabres roster to have won a Stanley Cup. Everyone else, including Lehner is just chasing the dream. Lehner is now 26 years old and he has played on so-so teams in Buffalo and Ottawa. He wants more than so-so. He wants to win it all and to have his name engraved on Lord Stanley's Cup. Like Gionta and Bylsma have their names indelibly etched upon the Cup.
Lehner made another salient point when he told his mates "We are not Chicago", referring to the three-time Stanley Cup champions. Lehner's message was bang on:
Stop pretending like you've won the Cup and go out and do it.
Money talks. Bullsh*t walks.
It's looking more and more like Lehner's salty outburst was a plea. A plea for the number one goalie job. Once and for all. Seemingly, Lehner was telling Bylsma:
"I am a leader. My teammates respect me. They battle for me. Stop playing the goalie by committee and give me the damn net!"
Lehner's not content to be a .500 goalie on a .500 team.
Lehner made 37 saves against the Blues, with 16 saves in the third period against the high octane offense team led by sniper Vlad Tarasenko.
Lehner improved his win/loss record to 17-16 -6. On 1,344 shot attempts, Lehner has allowed only 99 goals against. Hen has made 1,254 saves in 2,400:30 of playing time. Lehner has a 2.47 GAA and overall .926 save percentage. Lehner also has authored two shutouts in the past two weeks.
Lehner has amassed an impressive .935 save percentage in his past 17 starts.
On Saturday, Evander Kane and Nick Baptiste scored a goal and an assist apiece, Ryan O'Reilly scored the game winning goal on teh power plat to help the Sabres defeat the Blues 3-2.
There is no time to rejoice and celebrate the St. Louis win.
Patrick Kane and his Chicago Blackhawks are in town.
This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Blackhawks this season.
Chicago defeated Buffalo 4-3 (OT) in Chicago on January 5.
The Sabres are looking for their first four-game winning streak since December 9 to 15, 2014.
The Sabres are looking to snap a 10-game winless streak (0-8-2) against the Blackhawks that includes a four-game losing streak at home. Their last win against the Blackhawks was a 2-1 victory in Buffalo on December 11, 2009.
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With his power play goal on Saturday, Ryan O’Reilly now has 20 points (6G, 14A) in his last 22 games.
Jack Eichel has accumulated 17 points (5G, 12A) in his last 17 games, including six multi-point outings. The Sabres are 10-0-0 this season (and 19-3-0 in his career) when Eichel scores at least two points in a game.
Evander Kane has 14 points (8G, 6A) in his last 13 games.
Samson Reinhart has six points (2G, 4A) in his last six games.
Rasmus Ristolainen has a point in seven of his last nine games (1G, 6A), including points in each of his last four.
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Several Sabres love playing in front of friends and family.
Ryan O’Reilly has 18 points (6G, 12A) in his last 16 home games.
Samson Reinhart has 12 points (4G, 8A) in his last 12 home games. REinhart missed Saturday's game with the flu and will be a game time decision for tonight's game.
Jack Eichel has 18 points (7G, 11A) in 19 home games this season, including six multi-point performances.
Rasmus Ristolainen (1G, 5A) enters today’s game on a six-game home point streak.
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Today is the Sabres’ sixth game in a stretch of eight straight home games against the Western Conference.
With their recent wins over St. Louis and Colorado, the Sabres are now 14-3-3 in the last 20 home games versus Western Conference opponents, and, 12-6-2 in all games against Left Coast clubs this season.
The Sabres are 12-5-3 in their last 20 games against the Central Division, including a 6-1-2 record in home games.
A win today against Chicago would give Buffalo wins in five straight home games against Central/Norris Division opponents for the first time since the team won five straight against the Norris Division from December 31, 1986 to March 22, 1987.
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By virture of Ryan O'Reilly's 5-on-3 PPG versus the Blues on Saturday, the Sabres ranked second in the NHL with a 23.0% efficiency rate on the power play.
The Sabres went 1 for 6 on the man advantage against the Blues.
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Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s 11th of a league-high 19 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began with a 3-2 win last night vs. St. Louis. The Sabres are 6-3-2 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 4-5-1 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets this season is: four points (2), three points (2), two points (3), one point (1) and zero points (2).
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Evander Kane has scored each of his 20 goals this season in his last 35 games, including a team-high 19 even-strength goals. Since December 1, Kane is ranked second among all NHL skaters in goals scored with 20. Kane leads the NHL with 19 5v5 goals, and ranks second in shots on goal with 135.
Kane said after the St. Louis win on Saturday that he isn't interested in scoring twenty goals. He doesn't see it as a huge accomplishment. In other words, he feels like he can score 30 goals or more this season. At this pace, the sky is the limit for Kane in terms of lighting the lamp.
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Rasmus Ristolainen finished the St. Louis win game tied for 24th among all NHL skaters with 31 assists.
Ristolainen has recorded an assist on 22.0 percent of his teammates’ goals. Only one Sabres defenseman has ever recorded an assist on more than 20 percent of his teammates’ goals: Phil Housley (22.6%) in 1989-90.
Ristolainen would need to fail to record an assist on each of his teammates’ next 15 goals to fall below 20 percent.
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Buffalo Sabres: 22.0% PP% (2nd)
Eichel: 4.0 S/GP (1st)
Foligno: 204 hits (3rd)
Lehner: .926 SV% (4th), .935 EV SV% (4th)
Nilsson: .934 EV SV% (6th), .922 SV% (8th)
Okposo: 20 PPP (T-8th)
O’Reilly: 21:43 TOI/GP (1st, forwards), 58.0 FO% (7th)
Ristolainen: 18 PPA (T-1st), 27:02 TOI (4th), 20 PPP (T-8th), 31 A (T-5th, defensemen
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