Locked On Sabres - Daily Podcast On The Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres had an up and down performance against the New York Rangers, but were able to come away with the win. That could also describe the performance of Michael Kesselring, who made some mistakes early in the game, but played better as the night went on. Kesselring's speed and size showed that him playing well is the best possible outcome for the Sabres blueline. Conor Timmins did not...

After Wednesday night's results, the Buffalo Sabres are now in a three-way tie for first place in the Atlantic with the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning. The standings are set up with tiebreakers so that if the Sabres get six points in their final four games, it will likely come down to how many regulation wins they get to determine if they win the division. Looking at the opponents...

The Buffalo Sabres win their third game in a row against the Tampa Bay Lightning! This game had lots of action and fighting early on, but the Sabres were able to shut down Tampa when they needed to in the third period to get the win. The Sabres proving they are not just a 'River Hockey' team on this night. Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram were two of the best players on the ice for either team, but all t...

15 long years are over! The Buffalo Sabres are headed back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2011! What ended up being an incredible and emotional day for Sabres fans everywhere was a long time coming, as the Rangers win over the Red Wings made it official. The Sabres came from the bottom of the standings to give their fans this day, which will be remembered forever. The day of...

The Buffalo Sabres get the win over the New York Islanders in a 4-3 win at KeyBank Center led by a dominate performance from especially Tage Thompson, who was a man possessed on the night, and Peyton Krebs who scores another critical goal in the 3rd period. The Sabres outplayed the Islanders with all four lines, and made star rookie Matthew Schaefer look human, constantly pressuring the New York d...

As the Sabres approach the playoffs, one player that has started to perform poorly is center Ryan McLeod. In the last couple of weeks, McLeod's offense has gone dry, with lots of turnovers and mistakes on the penalty kill to go with it. How concerned should we be with McLeod's play? A look back on his playoff experience with the Edmonton Oilers shows some weaknesses to his game, but also reason no...

The Buffalo Sabres salvaged their weekend with a comeback win over the Seattle Kraken, in part due to a very strong effort by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. That performance, combined with a couple poor Alex Lyon games, has Lindy Ruff looking to switch up the goalie rotation with UPL likely playing the Sabres' next game against the Islanders. If Lyon starts stacking bad game after bad game, he could be in...

In what world is Jon Cooper more deserving of the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year over Lindy Ruff? The Buffalo Sabres are still above the Tampa Bay Lightning for first in the Atlantic Division, the Sabres have more man games lost this year to injury than Tampa, and don't have the likely MVP and best goalie in the world like Tampa. Soooo, why is Cooper getting attention over Lindy? There's a...

The Buffalo Sabres and the Boston Bruins face-off in what could be a playoff preview, as the two teams would meet in the first round if the season ended today. Nothing about the Bruins should be looked at as a significant advantage over the Sabres, from goal scoring, to defense, to even goaltending, despite Jeremy Swayman's stellar season. Swayman's numbers are comparable to Alex Lyon and Ukko-Pek...

With the Buffalo Sabres racing towards the playoffs and potentially an Atlantic Division crown, the Alex Tuch contract situation has taken a back seat. However, there are reports that the two sides are still communicating and that there was a "budge" on the Sabres end after Jarmo Kekäläinen took over as GM. Two signs that the chances of a contract extension at some point are strong. How much impac...

The Buffalo Sabres finished their West Coast road trip with seven of eight points, following a victory in LA over the Kings, and a comeback OT loss to the Anaheim Ducks, which keeps them four points up on the Lightning with just a few weeks to go in the season. The win over the Kings was super impressive, but what about the OT loss to the Ducks? It's as good as you should feel about a loss. The Sa...

The Buffalo Sabres are playing like the best team in the NHL when on the road, winning 19 of their last 22 away from KeyBank Center, gathering points in 11 of their last 12, and Alex Lyon has his own road win streak going with 10 (one off the NHL record). It's the second game in a row where the home team couldn't score a single goal on the Sabres, as Lyon shuts out the San Jose Sharks, in a game h...

While the Buffalo Sabres have been hot, the Carolina Hurricanes have been playing .500 hockey, allowing the Sabres to catch up to them for first place in the Eastern Conference. What will the the Sabres need to finish above the Hurricanes? Finishing in first place would give the Sabres home ice advantage through the entire East playoffs, and would decrease the odds of a playoff matchup with Montre...

The Buffalo Sabres won their first game of the western road trip in Vegas, on the back of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen getting his first shutout of the season, in one of the greatest games of his career. UPL was dialed from the beginning, stopping point blank shots on Jack Eichel and others, stopping one timers across the ice, and even stopping pucks that were deflected. He was flawless. UPL's game now pu...

Owen Power is on track to record a career low in points this season and is yet again the subject of constant debate in group chats and social media for Buffalo Sabres fans. Is he good? Is he great? Is he terrible? This may be the hardest season to answer that question as Power's role has changed with much more defensive responsibility and less offensive insulation. Power's lack of physicality cont...

The Buffalo Sabres have five defensemen that are all competing for two spots on the bottom pairing down the stretch and into the playoffs. Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn are the new guys, but does that mean they'll automatically get the benefit of the doubt? Stanley has looked better than Schenn, who Sneaky Joe does not believe will factor into playoff lineups. Zach Metsa still has an incredible ru...

With one month to go in the regular season, Lindy Ruff has an incoming decision to make regarding who will be his starting goalie in the playoffs. Alex Lyon or Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Lyon has been better this season, but with what the team has invested in UPL, will Lyon get the net to himself? Or will it be a rotation? Lindy's history includes plenty of examples where he chose one guy and rode with...

There was no "let down" to be found when the Buffalo Sabres took the ice against the San Jose Sharks, especially when it came to the line of Jack Quinn, Ryan McLeod, and Jason Zucker. Quinn nets a hat-trick, crossing the 40-point mark for the first time in his NHL career. That line has been unbelievable for weeks and they carried the Sabres with four goals as a line. Is it time to give the McLeod...

In the fallout from the insane Sabres win over the Lightning, Brandon Hagel was fined a measly $5K for punching Rasmus Dahlin repeatedly in the back of the head. No ejection, no suspension for attacking the Sabres captain. With such a light punishment, it's up to the Sabres to serve justice the next time these teams play on April 6th. Will Logan Stanley or anyone else on the Sabres roster go after...

The Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning played one of the best hockey games we've seen played in a decade, and it certainly was the best one played at KeyBank Center. The Sabres crowd was electric from start to finish in an atmosphere that rivals the 2006 playoffs. It was loud from beginning to end. The game featured over 100 penalty minutes, most sparked by Tampa players going after Sabres pla...

The Buffalo Sabres have made their first couple trades before the NHL trade deadline, landing depth defensemen Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn from the Winnipeg Jets. Two enormous defenseman who figure to play on the Sabres third pair going forward. Despite adding defensive depth, neither player projects to help the Sabres much come postseason time. Stanley is a rare combination of size, physicality...

The Buffalo Sabres and St. Louis Blues agreed on a trade that would send Colton Parayko to the Sabres in exchange for prospect defenseman Radim Mrtka and a 1st round pick, but Parayko exercised his no-trade clause to block the move. The reporting is he will only waive his clause to stay out west on a team like Anaheim or Los Angeles. How bad a look is this for the Sabres? Fans are not happy that t...

The Buffalo Sabres were in hot pursuit of Blues #1 center Robert Thomas and still could end up pulling off the trade, despite reports that talks have cooled for the time being. Sneaky Joe's favorite trade idea could end up coming true! There is some talk of an even bigger MEGA trade idea that would include Thomas and Colton Parayko coming to Buffalo in the same deal. Is Jarmo swinging too big and...

With just a few days to go until the NHL trade deadline, there's a good amount of debate about just how aggressive Jarmo Kekäläinen should be. With a report that they have "kicked the tires" on Blues defenseman Justin Faulk, it's the first tidbit that makes us think the Sabres could acquire a big fish. Faulk is a top pair defenseman that could give the Sabres a dominant shutdown pairing with Owen...

The Buffalo Sabres are in need of a depth defenseman ahead of Friday's NHL trade deadline. There are lots and lots of ideas, some of which are former Sabres, including Rasmus Ristolainen. It's not gone great for Risto in Philadelphia, but could finally being placed in a protected role mean better results for him on a third pair? With Marc Bergevin in Toronto tonight to watch the Flyers, he could b...