Connect with us

Published

on

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The young, retooled Buffalo Sabres can rely on Kyle Okposo‘s veteran presence for at least one more season after the team captain signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract on Wednesday.

The 35-year-old’s re-signing was anticipated after both the player and team expressed mutual interest in his return once Buffalo’s season ended last month.

Okposo was eligible to become an unrestricted free agent after completing a seven-year, $42 million contract, and gets an opportunity to continue leading a team finally showing signs of being competitive.

Despite extending an NHL-worst playoff drought to a 12th season, the Sabres fell two points short of making the playoffs and finished with 42 wins and 91 points — their most since last making the playoffs in 2011.

“I’m extremely proud to be a part of this group and to see how far we’ve come. We’ve become a team,” Okposo said after Buffalo was eliminated with two games left. “And that’s the first time in a long time that I think we can say that about our squad here.

“It was extremely gratifying in a way, but at the same time extremely disappointing with how it ended.”

Okposo was credited for providing guidance and serving as the voice of a team that began the season with the NHL’s youngest roster. He was appointed captain to start this season after serving as an alternate in 2021-22 when Buffalo stripped Jack Eichel of the captaincy before finally trading him to Vegas.

Where other players wanted out of Buffalo because of the Sabres’ losing track record, Okposo expressed a desire to stay because of the promise he saw in a team that features young and up-and-coming stars such as Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.

Okposo had 11 goals and 28 points in 75 games while playing more of a checking line roll. His best season in Buffalo came two years ago, when he had 21 goals — his fourth 20-goal season — and 45 points.

From Minnesota, Okposo spent his first nine seasons with the New York Islanders before signing with Buffalo in free agency in July 2016. At the time, Okposo viewed the Eichel-led Sabres as becoming contenders.

Though the team never played to its potential, Okposo eventually adopted Buffalo as a permanent home.

He’s continued playing despite having his career nearly sidetracked by several injury scares.

Okposo endured a rash of concussions, experiencing four over a three-year stretch from 2017-19. It’s a span that included such severe concussion-related symptoms that he spent nearly a week in Buffalo General Hospital’s Neuro Surgical ICU after he began losing weight and experienced difficulty sleeping following a routine hit in practice.

Continue Reading

Sports

Ohtani’s blast caps 6-run 9th in wild Dodgers rally

Published

on

By

Ohtani's blast caps 6-run 9th in wild Dodgers rally

PHOENIX — Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer to cap a six-run ninth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a wild 14-11 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.

The Dodgers trailed 11-8 entering the ninth inning after blowing an early five-run lead.

Andy Pages and Enrique Hernandez hit consecutive run-scoring doubles to open the ninth inning against Kevin Ginkel (0-1). Max Muncy tied it at 11-11 with a run-scoring single and Ryan Thompson replaced Ginkel to face Ohtani.

It didn’t go well for Arizona.

Ohtani, who doubled twice, fell into a 1-2 hole before launching his 12th homer near the pool deck in right to put the Dodgers up 14-11. He finished with four RBIs.

Tanner Scott worked a perfect ninth save in 11 chances.

The Dodgers roughed up Eduardo Rodriguez to take an 8-3 lead through three innings, but couldn’t hold it.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a tying grand slam in the fifth inning, then Ketel Marte and Randal Grichuk hit solo shots off Alex Vesia (1-0) in the eighth to put Arizona up 11-8.

Pages finished with three RBIs and Hernández extended the Dodgers’ homer streak to 13 straight games with a solo shot in the second inning.

Marte homered twice for the Diamondbacks. Rodriguez allowed eight runs on nine hits in 2⅔ innings.

Continue Reading

Sports

Marchand’s OT score cuts Panthers’ deficit to 2-1

Published

on

By

Marchand's OT score cuts Panthers' deficit to 2-1

SUNRISE, Fla. — Brad Marchand scored on a deflected shot at 15:27 of overtime and the Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Friday night to cut their deficit in the Eastern Conference semifinal series to 2-1.

Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and Jonah Gadjovich scored for Florida, which got 27 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Evan Rodrigues had two assists for the Panthers. They 13-2 in their last 15 playoff overtime games.

John Tavares scored twice, and Matthew Knies and Morgan Rielly also scored for the Maple Leafs. Joseph Woll stopped 32 shots.

Game 4 will be in Sunrise on Sunday night.

Florida erased deficits of 2-0 and 3-1, and that’s been almost impossible to do against Toronto this season.

By the numbers, it was all looking good for the Maple Leafs.

  • They were 30-3-0 when leading after the first period, including playoffs, the second-best record in the league.

  • They were 38-8-2, the league’s third-best record when scoring first.

  • They had blown only 11 leads all season, none in the playoffs.

  • They were 44-3-1 in games where they led by two goals or more.

Combine all that with Toronto having won all 11 of its previous best-of-seven series when taking a 2-0 lead at home, Florida being 0-5 in series where it dropped both Games 1 and 2, and leaguewide, teams facing 0-2 deficits come back to win those series only about 14% of the time.

But Marchand — a longtime Toronto playoff nemesis from his days in Boston — got the biggest goal of Florida’s season, rendering all those numbers moot for now.

The Leafs got two goals that deflected in off of Panthers defensemen: Tavares’ second goal nicked the glove of Gustav Forsling on its way past Bobrovsky for a 3-1 lead, and Rielly’s goal redirected off Seth Jones’ leg to tie it with 9:04 left in the third.

Knies scored 23 seconds into the game, the second time Toronto had a 1-0 lead in the first minute of this series. Tavares made it 2-0 at 5:57 and just like that, the Panthers were in trouble.

A diving Barkov threw the puck at the night and saw it carom in off a Toronto stick to get Florida on the board — only for Tavares to score again early in the second for a 3-1 Leafs lead.

Florida needed a break. It came.

Reinhart was credited with a goal after Woll thought he covered up the puck following a scrum in front of the net. But after review, it was determined the puck had crossed the line. Florida had life, the building was loud again and about a minute later, Verhaeghe tied it at 3-3.

Gadjovich made it 4-3 late in the second, before Rielly tied it midway through the third.

Continue Reading

Sports

Vegas’ Roy dodges suspension for G2 cross-check

Published

on

By

Vegas' Roy dodges suspension for G2 cross-check

NEW YORK — Vegas Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy was fined but not suspended Friday for cross-checking the Edmonton OilersTrent Frederic in the face in overtime of Game 2 of the teams’ second-round playoff series.

The NHL Department of Player Safety announced the fine of $7,813, the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement, after a disciplinary hearing with him.

Roy attempted to play the puck while it was airborne but made contact with Frederic’s head instead, resulting in a laceration for the Oilers forward.

Frederic briefly exited the game before making a quick return to the ice. Edmonton, however, failed to capitalize on the ensuing five-minute power play but won not long after on a goal by Leon Draisaitl from Connor McDavid.

Vegas trails the best-of-seven series 2-0 with Game 3 on Saturday night at Edmonton.

Information from The Associated Press and Field Level Media was used in this report.

Continue Reading

Trending