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Late Sunday afternoon, the Buffalo News broke a story regarding Buffalo Sabres forward Evander Kane being the the subject of a sex offense investigation by Buffalo police,
The Buffalo Sabres issued the following statement on Sunday night:
"We take the allegation made today against Evander Kane very seriously," the Buffalo Sabres said in the statement.
"We are gathering facts and have been in touch with the NHL and Evander's representatives. Until we have more information we will not have any additional comment."
Citing unidentified police sources, The Buffalo News reported that Kane is being investigated for an alleged incident that occurred early Sunday morning in a downtown hotel. According the report, Kane has not been charged, and police officials have confirmed an ongoing investigation.
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Lehner Me Your Ears
https://t.co/jt0aSJbKsq pic.twitter.com/qzNnxhnTHU
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) December 27, 2015Friends, Buffalonians, and Sabres fanatics.
Lend me your ears.
Merry Christmas.
You may be getting a belated present delivered in the next week or two.
Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma said Sunday that he hoped that injured goalie Robin Lehner can return to full team practice soon.
Lehner hasn't played in 11.5 weeks. He has been skating with his goalie coach and other injured teammates while he has been rehabbing his injury.
Lehner stopped pucks prior to Buffalo's Sunday morning's practice. The Sabres thumped the Boston Bruins 6-3 in Beantown on Saturday night. Jack Eichel scored 2 goals and added 2 assists while Ryan O'Reilly struck for 2 goals and an assist. Chad Johnson was in net for the win.
Bylsma said that soon he will map out a schedule for Lehner to return to team practices. “Robin was on the ice this morning again taking shots,… Bylsma said Sunday. “He was working on some post play and some of that pushing off and loading up on the post. We are looking at starting a schedule for him to return to practice and possibly down the road return to play.…
The Sabres team doctors initially gave Lehner an 8-10 week timetable to recover from the high ankle sprain that he suffered just 27 minutes into the season opener versus Ottawa.
Lehner took shots prior to Buffalo's Sunday morning's practice. Bylsma said that soon he will map out a schedule for Lehner to return to team practices.
When Lehner returns, it will likely mean that rookie Linus Ullmark will be sent down to AHL Rochester where he will assume the starting goalie role. The tall, cool Swede needs to play in games rather than sitting behind Chad Johnson. Ullmark has played exceptionally well and is 5-7-2 with a .911 save % and 2.64 GAA this season.
Chad Johnson is 6-2-1 in his last nine starts and is 10-9-2 overall this season with a .918 save % and 2.34 GAA.
There are no guarantees that Lehner will be the #1 goalie when he is healthy. In the calendar year of 2015, Lehner has been injured for nearly 9 of the 12 months. He missed nearly 6 months while recovering from his concussion . He has missed nearly three months due to his high ankle sprain. At 6'5" tall and 230+ lbs., Lehner's physical conditioning will have to be improved before he is cleared to play again. Perhaps a conditioning stint in Rochester will be in Lehner's near future.
Thanks, Sabres.com
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Matt Moulson missed Sunday's practice due to sickness after he skated on the fourth line in Boston. Marcus Foligno was a full go in Sunday's practice. He is ready, willing and able to draw back in to the Buffalo lineup.
Evander Kane missed practice for personal reasons.
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The red hot Washington Capitals will invade Buffalo on Monday night.
On Saturday night, Braden Holtby stopped 29 of 30 shots to earn his NHL-leading 22nd win of the season. Holtby has posted a 14-0-1 record in his last 16 games with one shutout, a 1.85 GAA and a .940 save percentage. It was his 10th consecutive decision on home ice on Saturday.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Holtby is the first NHL goaltender to win 10 straight home-game decisions in one season since Minnesota's Josh Harding and Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury each posted 10 straight home-ice wins in 2013-14. Holtby leads all NHL goalies with 22 wins and 1.92 GAA. He ranks fifth in save percentage (.932).
Since the start of the 2012-13 season, Holtby ranks tied for first in the NHL in wins (109) and tied for third in shutouts (18).
Holtby can be credited with the Capitals having won seven consecutive games to improve their record to 26-6-2 (54 points) this season. Their 26-6-2 record marks the team’s best start in franchise history.
Washington has now earned at least one point in 15 of its last 16 games. Their combined record from November 21-December 26 is now 14-1-1. The Caps are now 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. When your team's goal differential is +36 you are going to win a lot of games. The Washington offense has scored 108 goals for. Their D has only allowed 72 goals against in 34 games played.
The Capitals are 12-3-1 on the road this season.
Ovechkin and company are 19-4-0 against the Eastern Conference opponents this season.
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