Sabres 2 – Bluejackets 1 The Sabres had another good game versus the Bluejackets downtown last night, (g) Levi played another perfect period of shutout hockey to close out the game on a positive note, and (c) Norris won most of his faceoffs with a 79%-win percentage as he took 11 out of 14 faceoffs.
(LW) Zucker scores the game winner
It was nice to see (c) Thompson and (d) Dahlin on the ice as well, special teams were not up to par with (g) Lyon playing, he let in the only Columbus SOG taken in the second period during a Bluejackets power play, although Columbus was credited with one more SOG with 8 seconds remaining in the period.
The Sabres are headed to the Motor City to play the Red Wings tomorrow night at 7pm EST then back home to replay Detroit Saturday afternoon at 3pm EST.
Sabres 4 – Bluejackets 0 Just another preseason game with players you will not see once the NHL regular season begins, but oh what fun they can be.
Defensemen Byram, Power, and Wahlberg provided timely checks and offense and goaltenders Georgiev and Levi combined for the shutout.
Of course there had to be a fight, Ruff even has one of his goons on the bench, a 30-year-old defenseman who has spent his entire career in the minors except for 25 games playing for New Jersey under Ruff, in those 25 NHL games he earned 77 PIMs and a -6 plus/minus, let us hope Ruff is not so enamored that (d) Geertsen will be on the Sabres roster.
The Stars of the Game as selected by Buffalo Winter: 1st (d) Byram, 2nd (d) Power, and 3rd (g) Levi.
Sabres vs Blue Jackets Columbus, Ohio, Nationwide Arena will host the Buffalo Sabres tonight at 7pm EST.
Although it is just a preseason game it still gets the blood pumping, but with tempered enthusiasm I am looking forward to getting the season started, last night the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions were shut out 5-0, and so it goes with games that do not count in the regular season standings.
To all ESPN FHL team managers, we have approximately two weeks to build our player lists, edit & select the best we want to acquire, and go to the ESPN NHL FHL page to draft our team.
As always Buffalo Winter will draft only one public team and good or bad I will play my team until the final week of play, if I do not earn a playoff seeding, I will still manage my team as solidly as I can, because it will still be valuable for me to learn and earn experience for next year.
St. Louis visits Dallas to get the Hockey Holidays started tonight at 7 pm EST, and although these are “meaningless” games in relation to the regular season standings, it gives coaching staffs and players an opportunity to solidify their rosters.
Each team basically knows what their roster is going to look like, but there are open slots that can be earned by journeymen, rookies, and minor leaguers if they shine during camp and contribute strongly during preseason.
Preseason whets the appetite of fans who are excitedly awaiting October’s regular season start, it also gives us a sneak peek into newly traded players and the (c) Jonathan Toews comeback, and how they might pan out.
Right before the season began in 1977, the Sabres traded away a popular player which at the time it caused me, a 16-year-old fan to suffer a gut punch I did not see coming. Brian “Spinner” Spencer was not the most skilled or talented player, but it hurt none the less.
It makes me think of the loyal Maple Leafs fans who had to watch a highly skilled and talented player who was much beloved in Toronto, Mitch Marner getting shipped off to sin city, I can relate to the pain they feel.
Now I do not claim to know how the locker room in Toronto has come to this where one of their best players felt like he had to leave or was excommunicated, either way it is the legion of fans who will feel betrayed and no matter how well (c) Nicolas Roy plays for the Maple Leafs, it will still hurt.
Thus is the life of a hockey fan who has no real control over his favorite team and players and has to come to grips with trades they do not agree with, but as a hockey fan I still cheered for “Spinner” that season even though he wore a different sweater, as there will be many Canadians cheering for (rw) Marner in his new sweater.
So, let us drop the puck and begin the long haul to the 2025/26 Stanley Cup playoffs!
Here along the Lake The Buffalo Sabres brought in two goaltenders to compete with netminders UPL and Devon Levi, new addition journeyman Alex Lyon is a decent to good AHL goaltender and will probably earn the starting job in Rochester.
The other goalie Alexander Georgiev is even less impressive than Lyon, which means he will more likely than not be the backup goaltender for the Americans this coming season.
Which leaves the team with up and down again UPL, inconsistent and not strong enough to be a winning full-time starter in the NHL, if he was on any other team he probably would be playing in the AHL.
Which highlights Buffalo’s heir apparent in Devon Levi who after a very strong season in the AHL last year has developed enough to come back to the Sabres and be the goaltender to backstop the Sabres into the playoffs.
It will be another fruitless season if Ruff maintains the status quo with UPL or worse uses a newly acquired eight season experienced goaltender who cannot keep his GAA below 3.00 because Ruff thinks that after nearly a decade of NHL play has something to prove. (Which should have been accomplished by now).
This Monday Buffalo begins preseason play versus the Bluejackets in Ohio and the next night at home versus the same Columbus team.
This year’s preseason schedule is short and easy, three home and home series with Columbus, Detroit, and Pittsburgh before opening night October 9th versus the Broadway Blue Shirts at home.
Buffalo Winter 