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No NHL Experience, No Problem

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.

With or without starters Sabres still win

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 5^th round, 141^st 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.

Buffalo Germany Bound

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.

Minnesota, Iowa, and St. Louis contribute to Utah win

Hockey Club 5 – Blues 3 (empty net, penalty shot) Location, location, location is important…In Iowa, home of the Minnesota AHL farm team, last night the Utah Hockey Club (not sure how to refer to them yet) earned their first win of their inaugural season, albeit a preseason contest.

The first score comes from an un-drafted lefty who notched 21 goals last season for Arizona, Michael Carcone in a NHL career barely over 100 games has etched himself in Hockey Club history by scoring twice including the empty net tally in Utah’s first ever NHL exhibition.

Knights 4 – Sharks 2 (empty net)  Heralded Macklin Celebrini did what he will probably do all season, scored and assisted on the power as he help drive San Jose in a 3-2 game before his team surrendered the empty net goal.

Stanley Cup Champions

Panthers 3 – Predators 2

Panthers 6 – Predators 2  Florida begins where they left off, winning, as visiting Nashville lost both games to the defending champs.

ESPN FHL

Former Sabres 3x 20-goal scorer left winger Evander Kane has been scheduled for multiple surgeries and will miss the start of Edmonton’s season with an indefinite recovery time frame, obviously not a FHL keeper this year.

There is still time to join a FHL, and time is what you will have to invest in order to successfully manage your team, at least 5-10 minutes each day to win the week, the more weekly wins the better your shot at a playoff seeding.

Sabres first preseason game of the new season

Sabres 7 – Penguins 3  In this game Buffalo was supposed to win handily because they had most of their starters in the game and Pittsburgh did not, and it went pretty much the way most thought.

Except…goaltending was horrendous on both ends of the ice, .833 and .837 are save percentages you expect from less experienced goaltenders with a preseason squad in front of them, Pittsburgh can use this reasoning but Buffalo cannot.

One hilarious moment was when the Penguins O’Connor swiped the puck off UPL’s pad and into the Sabres net with his hand, of course after review the “goal” was overturned.

The Sabres host a preseason game versus Columbus Monday, before flying off to Germany for an exhibition game before the start of Buffalo’s season versus New Jersey in Czechia October 4^th and 5^th.

The players not making the trip will make up the Sabres squad finishing the preseason here in North America, which provides a unique opportunity for players to be in preseason games they might not actually have been able to participate in.