(WGR Sports Radio 550) – The Buffalo Sabres know how to try to come back from big deficits, because they’ve spent most of the past two years doing it on a pretty consistent basis.
Game 1 of the 2024-25 season was in Prague, the head coach was different with Lindy Ruff taking over for Don Granato, but the results were almost identical.
Your best players have to be your best players, and elevate to the situation of the game. However, the Sabres' two best players were close to their worst on Friday.
It took New Jersey 15:38 to take a 2-0 first period lead on Friday, and 23:29 to have a three-goal margin. Buffalo started the game tentative. They looked nervous, they looked scared to make a mistake, and looked like Granato was still their coach.
On the first goal, defenseman Mattias Samuelsson was in his own zone trying to pass the puck up the wall to Jason Zucker. I don’t know if the pass was bad or Zucker just butchered it, but Devils defensemen Jonathan Kovacevic could see the shemozzle coming and stepped up to steal the puck. He then relayed the puck to a wide-open Stefan Noesen sprinting down the slot for the first goal of the NHL season.
Kovacevic wasn’t done when he saw his screen shot from the point hit one of the Sabres in front of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and sail past the Sabres netminder to make it 2-0 after 20 minutes of play.
The goal that put the game away was an abysmal effort by the guy that’s their new captain, and supposed to be the Sabres' best player.
Rasmus Dahlin was kind of battling with Nathan Bastian at the side of the net, but wasn’t putting much into the battle. Bastian easily pushed Dahlin away, then quickly found a wide-open Nico Hischier in the high slot.
The Devils' captain scored an easy goal, because Luukkonen found himself way out of position near the post, and was scrambling to get back and all squared up. He couldn’t get all the way back, allowing for the goal to be scored.
Dahlin also started the game by taking a lazy holding penalty. That game by him on Friday was unacceptable by any standard for a new captain.
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Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch weren’t much better, except on the penalty kill.
Thompson had two quality chances on Jacob Markstrom and missed the net both times. The guy that has the potential to score 40-to-50 goals can’t miss the net on those types of scoring chances when his team is down.
About midway through the second period during another one of their failing power plays, Thompson turned the puck over in the neutral zone to Dawson Mercer, who was off to the races. JJ Peterka made one of the best hustle plays of the night, turning on the jets to catch Mercer and knock the puck away just before he shot.
That play totally turned Thompson’s game around. He and his linemates started to get into the zone and started to battle. Buffalo had two more power play chances, and we started to see some battle and simplified entries, as the Sabres produced five power play shots.
The second unit, led by Dylan Cozens, was better than the first unit on Friday. They got a puck to Zach Benson all by himself with Markstrom, but he couldn’t get it past him.
Cozens was getting pucks to the scoring area and working hard in battles, just like he did playing for Team Canada back in May at the IIHF World Championship.
Markstrom made 30 saves, and should’ve been the game's first star. He ended up being named the second star of the night.
After being on the ice for the two Devils goals, the Thompson line worked hard in the third period and produced Buffalo’s only goal.
Both Bo Byram and Owen Power came in from the point and got to the front of the net. Byram put the puck behind the net to a charging Peterka, who won the battle and found Power next to the net. The young defenseman took his time and calmly scored.
After two full seasons in the NHL and 164 games, the 21-year-old Power has looked like he’s ready to be more of an offensive threat since he arrived at training camp.
Brian Koziol and I talked after the first period about how the Sabres looked tentative, scared to make mistakes and nervous. After the game, Ruff said they looked nervous and couldn’t execute at a high level. He knew they took too long to ramp up, and he needs them to be faster to the puck and win more 50-50 battles.
They were better, but not great in that department in the second period, and then kicked it up two notches in the third after it was too late.
Again, sound familiar?
After numerous breakdowns in the first period, allowing 11 shots, the team gave up just 12 more in the final 40 minutes, with one of those shots being an empty net goal by Devils forward Paul Cotter.
One of the examples of what Ruff was seeing was a play where Power and Byram got too far apart. Jesper Bratt just turned on the jets and sprinted right between them, forcing Luukkonen into his best save of the night.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel had the chance of the night in the first period to cut the deficit in half to 2-1, but didn’t bear down hard enough with a wide-open net staring him in the face. He was in the crease, and should’ve just shot the puck right through the back of the net, but instead, babied it and Markstrom reached back with his stick and the puck hit his paddle and stayed out.
Aube-Kubel left the game in the second period after playing just 5:45 with a lower-body injury. Ruff said after the loss he probably won’t play Saturday.
That likely will put Peyton Krebs in the lineup, but Jiri Kulich and Lukas Rousek are from Czechia. There’s a slight possibility one of them could come in.
I would also expect Devon Levi to be in goal for Buffalo against Jake Allen for the Devils.
If Buffalo picks up Saturday right where it left off after the third period on Friday, they will be fine. That was the team we saw in the preseason and during training camp.
Join Brian Koziol on Saturday morning, as he hosts pregame coverage on WGR live from Prague, starting at 9 a.m. ET. He’ll be joined by NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, as well as myself and Pat Malacaro.