Blue Jackets 6 (en) – Sabres 3 They said it would be different in Ohio after Columbus was solidly beat in Buffalo by the Sabres in that they would be playing a more veteran lineup, but with less than two minutes in the second period and Buffalo leading 2-0, it did not seem so.
Fortunately for the Blue Jackets their veterans did recover to score once before the second period ended and then proceeded to play to their level and scored five more times in third period to extract something positive out of this preseason matchup.
The “preseason Sabres” host an undefeated Detroit team Monday night to close out their 2024 preseason schedule and then it is only three days and a bowl of cereal before Buffalo begins the NHL 2024-25 regular season.
Sabres 5 – Munchen 0 They were supposed to be a top professional opponent, they did have 11 “imports” creating a sort of collection of top German talent for an all-star “team”, alas it did not work offensively for the hosts.
Much ado about the additional 15 feet of ice surface in European rinks, it did seem as if Buffalo was working an OT 3 on 3 because of the open ice to skate in, it is a beautifully designed arena with its practice rink underground at the SAP Garden.
Red Bull Munchen helmets looked exactly like the can the product comes in, too funny, but it is our European cousins who slap advertisements all over their hockey sweaters and face off circles, but after watching for a few minutes they are not much of a distraction. (Some NHL teams have a gaudy advert affixed to their sweaters)
Buffalo’s Goaltending duo Luukkonen and Levi splitting duties shutout what SOG did make it to them which were few and far in between, Red Bull’s goaltending was solid and at times excellent during the Sabres barrage of SOG.
A hard deflection changing with a 90 degree angle created the first score then Tage Thompson for Buffalo’s second goal was a clear high stick that would not have counted in the NHL, but there was no review or coaches challenge available.
Captain Dahlin and team lederhosen
One NHL and one German Referee with no clear hierarchy over who has the last say on what was happening on the ice, but it was a fast paced flowing game that although had penalties whistled, there was not frequent stoppages of play throughout the contest.
That is it, two preseason games and one exhibition contest, now the Buffalo Sabres have until next Friday, October 4th and 5th for the regular season’s first two games versus New Jersey in Czechia, while the “preseason Sabres” finish the preseason schedule by visiting Columbus before hosting Detroit.
Sabres 3 (en) – Senators 2 OT Ottawa the sparkling capital of Canada hosted Buffalo last night and even without any starters the Sabres were still able to win over a Senators team that was just as thin with the exception of goaltending.
Ottawa’s goaltenders Ullmark and Tokarski with the later still wearing his Buffalo mask, which seemed odd to see atop a Senators sweater, the time was split evenly between Buffalo’s former net minders, but to no avail as Buffalo scored an empty netter and in overtime for the victory.
From 2:30 pm this afternoon until 10 pm this evening there are 10 games to consume, beginning with Buffalo and EHC Red Bull Munchen making history with the grand opening of the SAP Garden in Munich, Germany, dab smack in the middle of Octoberfest (Sept 21- Oct 6).
Last night during a team dinner, Sabres Rasmus Dahlin was named Captain, the humbled defenseman explained it’s an honor, the proudest moment of his life and knowing how big the responsibility is, he is motivated beyond words and looking forward to leading us into the playoffs.
Sabres 3 – Penguins 2 (unsuccessful penalty shot) Pittsburgh gave it their best shot but Buffalo’s tandem goaltending was sparkling in net last night, with 19 years old 5th round, 141st overall 2023 draft selection goaltender Scott Ratzlaff who stopped all 10 SOG he faced in the third period to preserve the victory.
This preseason Sabres team stopped four Pittsburgh power plays, blocked more shots, but took 28.3% of faceoff wins, were out hit nearly 2 to 1, and ended up being outshot, thankfully there was strong goaltending from 10 year ECHL and AHL veteran Michael Houser in the first two periods.
HC Ruff made me laugh when after over an hour’s worth of drills, the coach challenged defenseman Mattias Samuelsson to hit a length-of-the-ice shot into an empty net on Wednesday and if he made it, the coach said practice would be over.
The defenseman, after scoring in Columbus, hit the shot and was swarmed by teammates, “After he scored, he looked like a 50-goal scorer,” HC Ruff said. “And he nailed it! That’s probably the most surprising part of practice for me.”
Preseason Sabres continuing on the road to Ottawa for a Thursday night game before heading to Columbus Saturday, meanwhile Buffalo Starters play an exhibition game versus a top professional German team, Red Bull Munchen in Munich Friday afternoon two o’clock EST.
Sabres 6 – Blue Jackets 1 Buffalo winning handily again, as they should, considering the amount of experienced NHL talent each team iced, I listened to the game on Columbus radio and their announcers were lenient realizing the Sabres were gearing up for the Global Series.
In the first period Buffalo scored early and took a total of four SOG and seemed as if they were cruising and not pressing as hard, then Columbus tied the game at one taking 13 SOG in doing so.
Buffalo responded by scoring twice in the second and three times in the third period to take control and win the game, goaltender Levi looked retro in his all tan/brown equipment.
Now as the main team heads to Europe today the players remaining will finish out the preseason schedule beginning tonight in Pittsburgh, and it will be interesting to see if there is any difference in scoring.
Utah Hockey Club
They won again, and without scoring for the opposition, after the Kings tied the game 2-2 it took only 19 seconds into overtime for the home team Hockey Club to win 3-2 and send what looked like a sell-out crowd, home very happy.
If you did not know this was only the second preseason game, by the raucous fans in the stands where you would have been hard pressed to find an empty seat, you might have made the supposition this was a playoff game the crowd was so enthusiastic.
Buffalo Winter 