Let me preface this blog entry by saying that about a month and a half ago, the word playoffs around Sabres nation was so laughable it got to a point where a Jim Mora reference would be suitable to describe Buffalo’s predicament. The Sabres were dead last in the eastern conference at one point. Admittedly, even I had little to no hope that Buffalo would be able to make up that ground, and can even remember having discussions with friends about the draft and what pick we would have and who we might pick up.
With eight games remaining, Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff's message to his team was simple: Win them all, and we're in the playoffs.
Then they went out and knocked off the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers.
Drew Stafford had two goals and an assist, linemate Tyler Ennis had a goal and two assists, and Marcus Foligno set up both of them to lead the surging Sabres to a 4-1 victory Friday night. Travis Turnbull scored his first NHL goal.
Buffalo moved up into an eighth-place tie in points with Washington, which lost in overtime to Winnipeg on Friday night, and is only two points behind seventh-place Ottawa with two weeks left.
Everywhere Sabres rookie forward Marcus Foligno turns these days, he is reminded of his father, Mike Foligno, and the grit and goal-scoring legacy the former captain established in Buffalo 30 years ago.
Whether it's fans he meets on the streets, Sabres alumni at the arena, or simply leaving the locker room and passing the wall honoring the franchise greats, the Foligno name — his father's name — is inescapable.
And Marcus, who was born in Buffalo during his father's playing days and then drafted by the Sabres some 18 years later, wouldn't have it any other way.
Syracuse will be playing for a spot in the Final Four because of numbers.
C.J. Fair put up some like he hadn't in a while, and the Orange finished with offensive statistics that Wisconsin just doesn't allow in a 64-63 victory in the East Regional semifinals Thursday night that wasn't secure until the final buzzer.
"Offensively we played very, very well and we had to play very, very well," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said.
Ryan Miller made 34 saves for a career-high sixth shutout this season and the Buffalo Sabres continued their late-season push for a playoff spot with a 3-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night.
Cody Hodgson scored twice and Jason Pominville once to help the Sabres improve to 11-2-4 in their past 17 games and catch the eighth-place Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference standings. Miller improved to 11-1-3 in his past 15 games, a stretch in which he's allowed only 29 goals.
The shutout was the 28th of Miller's career, and fifth in his past 23 games.
First, Mario Williams. Now, Mark Anderson. The Buffalo Bills weren't kidding when suggesting how much they wanted to improve the pass rush this offseason.
Making their second significant free-agent splash in less than a week, the Bills on Wednesday signed Anderson to a four-year contract potentially worth $27 million. It includes $8 million guaranteed. The defensive end is a sixth-year player who had 10 sacks with the New England Patriots last season.
The Buffalo Bills today announced that DB Bryan Scott has agreed to terms on a contract extension with the team. In accordance with team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Buffalo Sabres are making a serious push for a postseason berth.
Marcus Foligno and Jason Pominville each scored twice and the Sabres beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-3 Monday night.
"We were able to capitalize on a couple of rushes and made some good plays on our power play," Pominville said. "When they have to change their game plan and open the game up, I think it falls into our style of play. We've got guys that have speed and can make you pay, and we did."
The Buffalo Bills today announced that WR Derek Hagan has re-signed with the team. In accordance with team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Hagan caught 13 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown in four games with the Bills in 2011 after joining the team on November 22nd. The 6-2, 215-pound Arizona State product has played in 69 games, making eight starts and recorded 109 catches for 1,221 yards and six touchdowns.
The newest member of the Buffalo Bills has yet to take the field but he's already made an impact on the fans.
The Bills say the ticket office has been so busy since Thursday's signing of free-agent defensive end Mario Williams that it added Saturday hours.
Chief Executive Officer Russ Brandon said Friday that fans bought up more than 1,000 new season tickets with 24 hours of the signing, and another 1,000 season tickets were renewed.
The Buffalo Sabres will have to continue their playoff push without top defenseman Tyler Myers, who has been suspended without pay by the NHL for three games for an illegal hit from behind.
League disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan issued the ruling Tuesday, after holding a hearing with Myers over a minor boarding penalty he received in the third period of a 3-2 overtime win against Montreal a day earlier.
The Buffalo Bills have made no secret of their need to improve their pass rush, and they're sparing no expense in courting prized free agent, defensive end Mario Williams, to provide that push.
The Bills opened the NFL's free-agency period on Tuesday attempting to make a big splash by meeting with Williams, the former Houston Texans defensive end at a downtown Buffalo restaurant.
Tyler Myers scored 2:01 into overtime to lift the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night.
Tyler Ennis scored twice and Ryan Miller made 26 saves as Buffalo earned its season-best fifth consecutive home win. The Sabres (33-29-8) also improved to 9-2-2 in their past 13 games and jumped ahead of Winnipeg into ninth place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind Washington in the race for the final playoff spot.
The Buffalo Sabres were hardly perfect, but they were perfectly happy to skate off with two points against the Ottawa Senators.
Tyler Ennis scored in regulation and then added the winning goal in the shootout to give the Sabres a 4-3 victory over the Senators on Saturday night.
Nathan Gerbe and Marcus Foligno also scored for the Sabres (32-29-8), and Ryan Miller stopped 33 shots.
Retired NFL safety Coy Wire says he was part of a small group of Buffalo Bills players who pooled money on a weekly basis and rewarded themselves for hurting opponents during his rookie season in 2002.
Though the Bills were at that time coached by Gregg Williams, Wire insists the "pay-for-play pool" was solely player-driven.
The Buffalo Bills today announced that LB Kirk Morrison has agreed to terms on a contract extension with the team. In accordance with team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Morrison saw action in 14 games with Buffalo in 2011 and recorded seven tackles and one sack. He has started 95 of 110 career games since entering the NFL in 2005. He has totaled 771 tackles (580 solo), 6.0 sacks, seven interceptions and 18 passes defensed.
The Bruins didn't have to be — or want to be — told how long it had been since they'd won two games in a row.
"January-something, I know that," Tyler Seguin said. "I knew it was too long."
David Krejci scored for the fifth time in the last five games and Boston won consecutive games for the first time in almost two months with a 3-1 victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.
The Buffalo Bills retained another key member of their receiving attack before the start of free agency after tight end Scott Chandler agreed to a two-year contract on Thursday.
The Bills announced the deal had been reached, while Chandler's agent, Rick E. Smith, provided the length of the contract in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Jason Pominville scored on a power play 56 seconds into overtime to give the Buffalo Sabres a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night.
Thomas Vanek and Tyler Myers also scored to help the Sabres (31-28-8) jump into a tie with Washington for ninth place in the Eastern Conference. Ryan Miller stopped 22 shots, Pominville and Vanek also had assists, and the Sabres outshot the Hurricanes 42-24.
Blake Wheeler scored the deciding goal on a breakaway in the third period and Bryan Little had three assists in the Winnipeg Jets' 3-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
Andrew Ladd and Chris Thorburn also scored and Ondrej Pavelec made 23 saves for the Jets (32-27-8), who maintained their hold on eighth place in the Eastern Conference and stretched their over Washington to three points.
