The Buffalo Sabres lost yet again Monday night in Calgary, falling in a 7-4 blowout to the Flames – one of the worst teams in the NHL The loss cemented Buffalo’s place as the worst team in the Eastern Conference with an 11-14-4 record. The Sabres are now four standings points behind the 14th and 15th-place teams in the East (the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators) – and those two teams have a game in hand on Buffalo. 

The future is looking bleak for this Sabres team, and by the time their current road trip ends on Sunday, Buffalo could have its Stanley Cup aspirations all but buried for the 15th straight season. So, the question becomes -- what’s next? 

To wit: Is Sabres ownership going to fire GM Kevyn Adams and coach Lindy Ruff, and start over for the umpteenth time? Will whomever is running things take a scalpel to the roster, or will they blow things and look at moving heretofore untouchables?

We’ve already gone on record stating that the Sabres should be ready to trade starting goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as soon as possible, but what about stars Tage Thompso, Rasmus Dahlin, Bowen Byram and Alex Tuch, does anyone have the right to feel like they deserve to be untouchable? We’re not here to lay Buffalo’s struggles at the feet of any one player, but we’re also not here to absolve anyone of anything, either.

Slumping Sabres Should Be Trading This Goaltender As Soon As PossibleThe Buffalo Sabres are at the bottom of the standings yet again, and they need to start making trades. And there's one goalie in particular who they need to deal -- and they need to deal them now.

What do you think? Leave us your thoughts in the comment section. The commenters with the most intriguing trade proposals and thoughts on who is to blame for where Buffalo is in the standings could be used in a future THN.com Sabres column. 

But for now, it’s safe to say that Buffalo fans are enraged to the gills. Once again, the Sabres are proving that they don’t know how to win. And because of that fact, it’s time to take away the keys from Adams, and it’s time to make major roster moves to this Buffalo group. There can be no more excuses, only consequence

It was a play you don’t see very often in the National Hockey League.

In the first period of the Senators’ 4-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils at Canadian Tire Centre Tuesday night, winger Drake Batherson was down below the goal line, behind the Devils’ net, when the puck squirted toward him.

Instinctively, he tried to control the puck with his right skate. The puck then caromed off his blade toward the front of the net. However, because of where Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom was set up, the puck deflected off him and into the net.

Batherson and the Senators celebrated, but when the goal went to review, it was ruled that he had kicked the puck into New Jersey's net, or by letter of the law, he had "made a distinct kicking motion."

Drake Batherson went over to plead his case with Jamie McLennan after his goal was called off for kicking the puck 😂 pic.twitter.com/NqxAFnZpAS

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 10, 2025

Sens Nation cried foul from several perspectives.

First, and this is the most obvious point, they believed there was no distinct kicking motion at all. Batherson had only turned his skate and redirected the puck, which players are allowed to do, even when scoring goals.

Second, they argued it wasn’t an attempt to score. So even if there was a distinct kicking motion, those are allowed all over the ice, as long as you're not trying to score. It happens all the time, whether a player is passing to a teammate, or trying to clear the zone when they've lost their stick.

Batherson was down below the goal line, and it would have been an incredible display of mental processing and skill for him to be able to read the puck coming, know exactly where the goalie is, then intentionally punt a one timer in off Markstrom.

And every kicking motion has to have a follow through, right? Batherson somehow managed to pull this off without his skate ever moving in the goalie's direction. It only ever moved toward the area behind the net.

"If they see my soccer game off the ice, that would definitely have counted," Batherson told the media. "Because I couldn't try to do that if I wanted to, but it's the way it goes.

What do you think? Should Batherson’s goal have counted or not? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Steve Warne
The Hockey News

With Jason Zucker set to miss time due to injury, the Buffalo Sabres have now called up one of their promising forward prospects.

The Sabres have announced that they have recalled winger Isak Rosen from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rochester Americans. In addition Rosen was immediately put into the lineup for the Sabres against the Edmonton Oilers.

Seeing Rosen get another chance on the Sabres' roster is not surprising in the slightest. The 2021 first-round pick has been playing excellently down in the AHL with the Amerks this season, as he has posted nine goals, 10 assists, and 19 points in 13 games.

Rosen has also made an impact with the Sabres when called up to their NHL roster this season. In 10 games with the Sabres so far this season, he has recorded three goals, four assists, and seven points. Now, he will be looking to make an impact with the Sabres during his latest call-up to the NHL roster. 

In 25 career NHL games over three seasons, Rosen has posted three goals, five assists, and eight points. 

Injured reserve has been an all-too-popular place for the Pittsburgh Penguins this season. 

And, although they added a few players to the list on Tuesday, there is one key player who appears close to a return.

Penguins' top-line forward Rickard Rakell was cleared for contact and participated in Tuesday's morning skate. Although he is not in the lineup for the Penguins' matchup against the Anaheim Ducks, it's a good sign that he's not far off of a return.

Rakell was injured when a shot hit his left hand during an Oct. 25 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The broken hand required surgery, and he was expected to miss eight weeks. Right now, it has been six weeks since his initial injury, and there's a chance he might return before that two-month marker.

And the Penguins would certainly welcome his return right now. Not only does Rakell have three goals and eight points in nine games, the Penguins also placed Evgeni Malkin and Blake Lizotte on IR Tuesday with week-to-week undisclosed injuries and recalled Danton Heinen and Sam Poulin from the AHL to take their place on the roster.

Penguins Call Up 2 Forwards As Injury Bug BitesThe Penguins have called up two forwards from the AHL.

When he's ready, Rakell's ability to play center might prove valuable without Malkin, as will the ability of others on the team - like Heinen - to switch between center and wing.

"It happens. It's part of the season," Muse said. "You deal with injuries, we've been dealing with it, and I think the entire league has. It's 'next guy up.' So, it was mentioned before, but we have a lot of guys there in [Wilkes-Barre/Scranton] that have been doing a great job, and there becomes opportunity. I think we also have it right now where there's different options in regards to guys that can play both center and wing. Some guys that have maybe been on the wing at different times will move over to center."

There is no exact timetable on a potential return for Rakell as of now. 

Penguins' Top Defensive Prospect Named To Team Canada's Preliminary World Junior RosterIt appears that at least two prospects from the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins</a> could be headed to the World Junior Championship (WJC).&nbsp;

Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!    

Tuesday night, the New Jersey Devils (16-12-1) will travel to the Canadian Tire Centre to face off against the Ottawa Senators (13-11-4) for the first time this season. ​

Lineups

Devils' projected lineup per NHL.com

Timo Meier -- Nico Hischier -- Stefan Noesen

Ondrej Palat -- Dawson Mercer -- Jesper Bratt

Arseny Gritsyuk -- Cody Glass -- Connor Brown

Paul Cotter -- Luke Glendening -- Angus Crookshank

Jonas Siegenthaler -- Dougie Hamilton

Brenden Dillon -- Luke Hughes

Dennis Cholowski -- Simon Nemec

Jacob Markstrom

Jake Allen

The Devils had an optional skate this morning. Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt, who were both absent from Monday’s practice, are “good to go,” coach Sheldon Keefe said.

Senators projected lineup per NHL.com.

Nick Cousins -- Tim Stutzle -- Fabian Zetterlund

Brady Tkachuk -- Dylan Cozens -- Drake Batherson

Michael Amadio -- Ridly Greig -- Claude Giroux

Stephen Halliday -- Lars Eller -- David Perron

Jake Sanderson -- Artem Zub

Tyler Kleven -- Jordan Spence

Nikolas Matinpalo -- Nick Jensen

Linus Ullmark

Leevi Merilainen

Injury Report

​With that in mind, here is the full injury report for both teams: ​

Devils ​

Jack Hughes (finger), Zack MacEwen (lower body), Brett Pesche (hand), Jonathan Kovacevic (knee), Evgenii Dadonov (upper body)​

Senators

Thomas Chabot (upper body), Shane Pinto (lower body)​

Storyline to Watch ​

Angus Crookshank returns to Ottawa for his third game with the Devils, the city where his NHL career started. The 26-year-old signed with New Jersey as a free agent on July 2, 2025, after spending his first two NHL seasons with the Senators, who drafted him in the fifth round in 2018. ​

Player to Watch

​Nico Hischier is the player to watch tonight. He ranks sixth all-time in franchise history for career points against the Senators, recording 19 points (9 goals, 10 assists) in 20 games versus Ottawa.​

The puck will drop at 7 PM as both teams look to secure another win. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's New Jersey Devils site for THN's latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

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The Buffalo Sabres continue their trek through Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday with the second of back-to-back games in the province of Alberta against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. The Sabres poor performances on the road continued on Monday in Calgary, as they fell behind in the first and every time they scored a goal to narrow the gap, Calgary responded in short order. 

Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, and Owen Power tallied in the second period, but Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, and Yan Kuznetsov replied to maintain a two-goal Flames lead into the third. Alex Tuch scored late in the third to cut the Calgary lead to one, but two empty-netters sealed the Sabres fate in the 7-4 loss, which handed Buffalo their 11th road defeat in 13 games (2-9-2).

“(It was) a s**t game. Horrible game. That’s all I can say. The result. How the game ended. A lot of errors,” Sabres team captain Rasmus Dahlin said. “(We have to) regroup, game tomorrow, and we have to win.”

Other Sabres Stories

Six Former Sabres Who Signed Elsewhere

Guerin Gathering Info On Possible Olympic Options 

To make matters worse, Sabres winger Jason Zucker suffered a lower-body injury in the second period. He returned and fought through the rest of the game, but on his Tuesday morning radio spot on WGR-550 radio, head coach Lindy Ruff indicated that the veteran will miss some time. 

The Sabres have only 12 forwards on the roster with Zucker out, which likely means a recall from Rochester is imminent. Recently demoted center Noah Ostlund impressed Ruff during his recent stint and the 21-year-old is the likely call-up prior to their next contest in Vancouver on Thursday.

Josh Dunne will replace Zucker in the lineup against the Oilers, and with the Sabres not holding a morning skate on Tuesday, it is likely that Alex Lyon – who replaced Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the third period – will get the start.  

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