Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres finished the 2024 preseason 6-1-0 thanks to Monday’s 4-3 overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
The Sabres' NHL group went 3-0-0 this preseason, while the team made up of players that will be with the Rochester Americans, Jacksonville Icemen and their respective junior hockey teams went 3-1-0 with two overtime wins.
This year’s first-round pick Konsta Helenius scored with just 12.6 seconds left in overtime on Monday with a power play tally from the left point.
Helenius had some very good plays this preseason, and he did struggle, at times. When I spoke to the 18-year-old on WGR at the end of the first period, he admitted there’s an adjustment to the smaller ice surface. Plays and players come at you much quicker because there’s less ice to work with.
The first shift illustrates what I’m talking about.
Helenius, Viktor Neuchev and Isak Rosen started the game along with Vsevolod Komarov and Jack Rathbone on the back end, and it was a complete disaster. Just 15 seconds in, they gave up a breakaway to Dominik Shine, as well as a 2-on-1 that was scored by 2024 first-round pick Michael Brandsegg-Nygard.
They didn’t pout or get nervous. They came back out and outworked the other team, and it paid off in a Neuchev goal late in the period.
One of the things I took away from these seven games is not the scores of each game, it’s the work I saw in each and every game. Even if the team had lulls in a game, they figured it out quickly by buying into what head coach Lindy Ruff wants them to do.
Yes, it is only preseason, but I would say it’s also encouraging.
Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams has to be thrilled, because the other overtime goal in the preseason came from 2022 first-round pick Noah Ostlund.
Ostlund had a goal and three assists for four points in the preseason, and what I didn’t know about him is how nifty he is. I knew he was an excellent two-way player, but he also seems to have good skill. He also seems to have the puck all night long.
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In the Sabres' only loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets this preseason, Felix Sandstrom came into the game at the midway point leading 2-0, and Buffalo lost 6-3. He couldn’t make a save to save his life.
In this game, he was a little better, making some big saves, but he gave up a bad goal to William Lagesson between the pads which, at the time, gave Detroit a 3-2 lead.
Sandstrom is going to have to be much better during the season if he’s going to be any help to the Amerks.
I think playing four games against NHL teams was a great preseason experience for some of the younger prospects. It helps them to see what things they’ll need to work on if they ever want to play in this league.
It also helps Mike Leone and his coaching staff to see just where some of these players are at, and what needs to be worked on when the Amerks open training camp in Rochester on Wednesday.
One player that likely won’t be in camp is goalie Scott Ratzlaff. In 51 minutes of work this preseason, he stopped all 30 shots he faced. However, the goalie will be sent back to juniors in the Western Hockey League, because he's not eligible to play in the AHL just yet.
Things get started for real on Friday in Czechia, as the Sabres play the New Jersey Devils. Brian Koziol will be in Prague, and will join you with pregame coverage on WGR starting at 12 p.m. ET. Faceoff is slated for 1 p.m. ET.