Sabres #1 D Rasmus Ristolainen was assessed a five minute major for interference and a game misconduct for this hit on Pittsburgh forward Jake Guentzel just nine minutes into the Sabres-Pens game on Tuesday night.
Due to nonstop injuries the Sabres have had to play 12 different D this season.
Why would Ristolainen wreck Guentzel the way he did?
Perhaps it was a message to Sidney Crosby who was just feet away from Guentzel when Ristolainen dropped him. Rewind the game tape to two minutes before the Ristolainen-Guentzel collision and you will see Crosby deliver a brutal stick to the nether regions of Sabres center Ryan O'Reilly.
Crosby penalized for his nutcracker on O'Reilly?
Surely you jest.
Typical Crosby whose cheap shot on O'Reilly was in full view of the Buffalo bench.
Perhaps Ristolainen was airing his grievances for the Crosby punk play on O'Reilly.
For every action is an equal and opposite reaction.
Guentzel likely caught the git that was intended for Crosby. Only Ristolainen knows the the full story.
Buffalo GM Tim Murray says that Notre Dame starting goalie and Sabres draft choice Cal Peterson will turn pro after Notre Dame finishes their college season.
On Tuesday afternoon, Murray told Buffalo radio's "The Bulldog" that Petersen has proven all that he can during his exceptional NCAA hockey career. Were it up to Murray, Petersen would be turning pro in the near future with Buffalo i.
Murray: Cal Petersen "has nothing left to prove in college". Prefers G to turn pro when Notre Dame season is completed.
Petersen has been electrifying for the Fighting Irish the past three seasons.
Petersen's save percentage has been .919, .927 and .928 respectively.
Petersen is a fifth-round pick of the Sabres from the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
Murray says there is opportunity right now for Petersen in the Buffalo Sabres organization. Murray characterized his relationship with Petersen as respectful and professional.
My guess is that Murray has a pro contract burning a hole in his briefcase that he wants to have Petersen autographed. Once he gets a signature, Murray can slide Petersen into a net in AHL Rochester where incumbent goalie Linus Ullmark will likely be exposed to the Las Vegas expansion draft in June. Petersen can play the string of games out in Rochester this season.
For the second consecutive season and the ninth time in program history, the University of Notre Dame hockey team has made the NCAA Championship field.
The Fighting will be the #4 seed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester, New Hampshire, and will face #1 seed Minnesota at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 25.
The 2017 NCAA Northeast Regional's other game will feature #2 seed UMass Lowell versus #3 seed Cornell. The winners of the opening round games will then play at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 26 for the right to go to the 2017 Frozen Four in Chicago.
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Murray: I favor 7F, 3D, 1G option for expansion. Have already spoken with Sin City pic.twitter.com/OKBQd9JcRl
Murray said Tuesday he is leaning towards the seven forward, three defensemen, one goalie option as it pertains to the Las Vegas expansion draft. Murray said he has already reached out to Vegas GM George McPhee regarding which players he doesn’t want to lose off his Buffalo roster. Murray is at risk of losing players like Zemgus Girgensons, Tyler Ennis or Matt Moulson. Marcus Foligno is in the midst of his best NHL season and could be a Vegas selectee. Mike Foligno, Marcus' father and former Sabres captain, is an a pro scout for Las Vegas and has been seen at dozens of Sabres home games this season. Murray and McPhee may be talking about a trade that will prevent Vegas from grabbing Foligno or another player whom Murray wants to protect.
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“ It didn’t work out”.
That's how Murray described the Dmitry Kulikov experiment. Murray trade D Mark Pysyk last summer in exchange for Kulikov and the pick that would become Swedish 200 foot forward Rasmus Asplund.
Murray aggressive searched for a top pair D to play alongside Rasmus Ristolainen. While he wasn’t convinced he had a Stanley Cup-winning D corps for the 2016-17 campaign, Murray contents that his blue line was at least "good enough" to get Buffalo into the postseason. Talk about a fail. The Sabres allow the the most shots against per game in the NHL at 34.3.
The injury prone Kulikov has scored just two points in 39 games and is a pathetic Dash 17.
Last June, Murray swung for the fences and whiffed on Cam Fowler. When the dust settled, Kulikov was Murray's object of desire.
Kulikov's $4.3 million AAV will leave the books July 1 when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Murray has made it abundantly clear that he will be adding youth, speed, skill, and size to his blue line this summer. Murray has admitted that he and his scouts did not do a good enough job of bolstering Buffalo's blue line last summer. Murray vows to get it right this summer.
Suffice to say Kulikov won't be a Sabre next season.
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