Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The biggest takeaway from the Buffalo Sabres' opening night 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers was Jacob Trouba and Nick Bonino has 12 blocked shots between the two of them. Meanwhile, the Sabres as a team had 14.
The Rangers were sprawled in front of Buffalo shooters all night long, and the Sabres got to the point of just firing pucks right into the other team's shin pads.
Overall, the Rangers had 23 blocked shots, while the Sabres only had 25 shots on goal.
The Sabres' only goal by JJ Peterka came from Owen Power’s shot being blocked and going right to Peterka, who ripped one home.
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Tage Thompson is a good example of how things went for Buffalo on Thursday. He had three shots on goal in the game, had three shot attempts blocked, and missed the net on another three shot attempts.
Things won't get any easier on Saturday, as Buffalo plays the New York Islanders on Long Island. New York is another team that blocks a lot of shots.
Power signed a new seven-year contract extension with the Sabres on Wednesday night. Power says both sides wanted to get the contract done before the season started.
The young defenseman was willing to commit long-term for a number of reasons.
"When I first got here, I fell in love with the city," said Power on Thursday. "If you look at the group we have from the management on down, and with the core we’ve been building, I thought it was a pretty easy decision to want to be here long-term."
Power and Rasmus Dahlin are both first overall picks in the NHL Draft, but they’re totally different defensemen.
"For sure we’re different players, but I think at the same time, he’s been someone I’ve been able to watch and pick a lot up from his game to add to my game," Power said.
As for Saturday, it’ll be interesting to see if Granato goes with Levi against the Islanders or Eric Comrie, who backed up the rookie goaltender on Thursday.
