A pair of new faces scored for the Sabres in Buffalo on Thursday, but only one goal ended up counting in the Ottawa Senators’ 3-1 win. Taking a terrific pass from Marcus Foligno directly in front of the net, Eichel waited for the puck to settle down, then rifled a rocket past Craig Anderson to narrow the Sabres’ defecit to 2-1. If this is a sign of things to come this season, sign me up.
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And before you knew it, the game started – with huge cheers for the Sabres!…until Kyle Turris opened the scoring for the Senators just 30 seconds into the game, bringing back sour memories of seasons past.
Ottawa begins the year on a high note in Buffalo with a little help from the NHL’s newest rule in the book.
With the Sabres trailing 2-0 Eichel, the 2015 second-overall draft pick, wristed a shot top-shelf on the power play in the third period. Ottawa finished last season with a record of 23-4-4 in its last 31 games before clinching a playoff spot in its regular season finale. Since we arrived in 2011, Terry and I have been very optimistic about the future of Buffalo. The Sabres didn’t do much until the third period and that includes Eichel. He scored over 50 goals in a rookie year. “Even though it gets asked every day and is out there, it’s really outside our sphere and his sphere and he doesn’t really need to worry about it. His comparisons to Connor McDavid, his comparisons to his daily activity if he has a good game, bad game, good shift or bad shift”.
It’s opening night for the Buffalo Sabres and fans attending the game against the Ottawa Senators at First Niagara Center should be prepared for a new security screening procedure upon entering the arena.
“I think it’s like when Jim Kelly came here originally and Gilbert Perreault, ” said Steve Morris, 64, of Depew, Erie County, who was wearing a We Got Jack T-shirt.
Lehner was full of butterflies beforehand, talking about the “weird” feelings he was experiencing while watching his former teammates at the morning skate.
Halfway through the period it was Turris again, firing home his second goal of the season into a wide open cage.
The Senators looked to be in serious trouble as Buffalo was coming strong and hard. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of my whole life; stepping foot on that ice and making the National Hockey League”.
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Without revealing the nature of the injury, coach Dan Bylsma said the initial prognosis is that the injury is not a short-term one. Cameron’s challenge was the second this season after Toronto coach Mike Babcock was successful in overturning a goal because of goalie interference in Montreal’s 3-1 win on Wednesday night…. The next meeting between the two teams is January 26 in Ottawa….
