{"id":356211,"date":"2025-12-19T20:38:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T20:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/356211\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T20:38:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T20:38:12","slug":"sabres-show-signs-of-character-consistency-new-gm-kekalainen-emphasized-in-replacing-adams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/356211\/","title":{"rendered":"Sabres show signs of character, consistency new GM Kekalainen emphasized in replacing Adams"},"content":{"rendered":"

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) \u2014 Two familiar sounds were missing during the Buffalo Sabres<\/a>\u2019 first game under general manager Jarmo Kekalainen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There was no hint of former GM Kevyn Adams<\/a> pounding at the table in the Sabres\u2019 executive suite next to the press box each time the team made a mistake. And there were no chants of \u201cFire Adams!\u201d coming from the stands.<\/p>\n

There were instead cheers following a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers<\/a> on Thursday night, in an outing the Sabres began showing the character \u2014 and some of the consistency \u2014 Kekalainen placed an emphasis on in taking over after Adams was fired on Monday.<\/p>\n

In extending their winning streak to a season-high four games, the Sabres overcame a slow start in which they were out-shot 12-4 in the opening period, and a 2-1 second-period deficit. Most importantly, they clamped down on defense by killing off a delay of game penalty in the final two-plus minutes, before Ryan McLeod<\/a> sealed the victory with an empty-net goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, one game doesn\u2019t mean anything,\u201d said Tage Thompson<\/a>, who scored to extend his goals streak to five games. \u201cBut we\u2019ve started to string some games together where we\u2019re playing the right way. And we\u2019re feeling confident knowing that we\u2019re going to be able to close out games.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the type of shot-blocking, don\u2019t-let-down character Kekalainen said he was looking for in his opening news conference Tuesday. The problem, he said in having spent the past six-plus months watching the Sabres as a senior adviser, wasn\u2019t the team\u2019s talent, but it\u2019s effort and consistency in too often getting out-worked.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s outing represented but a start, because the Sabres still have much to do if they intend to climb back into contention and avoid extending their NHL-record playoff drought to a 15th season.<\/p>\n

Improving to 15-14-4, Buffalo moved into 15th place in the 16-team Eastern Conference standings. But they\u2019re only five points behind eighth-place Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing really changes and nothing should change,\u201d said goalie Alex Lyon<\/a>, who stopped 24 shots and has accounted for all four wins in Buffalo\u2019s run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s obviously been well documented that at times we get a little bit high and we get a little low,\u201d he added. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what the score is. It doesn\u2019t matter what your record is. You have to try to put the same product out there in practice, in games, all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyon\u2019s was a message coach Lindy Ruff<\/a> re-emphasized following his 915th career win, which moved him into fourth place on the NHL list.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need really to worry about one game: Saturday,\u201d he said, looking only ahead to Buffalo\u2019s next outing, a home game against the New York Islanders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For all his wins, including 622 in what is now his second stint in Buffalo, Ruff has plenty at stake now working under a new GM and in the final year of his contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m focused on finishing the job. I\u2019m disappointed,\u201d he said a day earlier in reference to the front-office shakeup.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019ve got ourselves in position where we can really push ahead,\u201d Ruff added, noting his roster was filling out with center Josh Norris and defenseman Michael Kesserling returning from injuries. \u201cThe getting healthier part is the part that excites me. We get to see the team we envisioned it to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NHL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nhl<\/p>\n

John Wawrow, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) \u2014 Two familiar sounds were missing during the Buffalo Sabres\u2019 first game under general manager…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-356211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}