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<\/p>\nBUFFALO, N.Y. \u2014 The Buffalo Sabres\u2019 players didn\u2019t sound defeated after their 4-0 loss to the Rangers on opening night. Goalie Alex Lyon thought the team played a \u201cwinning brand of hockey\u201d by limiting scoring chances and playing a \u201cgrinding game.\u201d Jason Zucker and Rasmus Dahlin were quick to not make too much of one game in a long season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have 81 left, guys,\u201d Dahlin said. \u201cWe just have to keep growing. We have something really good going on here. If we just got one, the game would have looked way different. It\u2019s unfortunate. We learn from it and grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Zucker: \u201cI would have bet a lot of money, probably all of my money, that we weren\u2019t going to go 82-0. We\u2019ll look at it that way and that we\u2019re going to be fine and go in and try to put the same game on the ice and shore up the things we didn\u2019t like. If we play with that speed and tenacity, our structure was pretty good overall. I don\u2019t think we gave them a lot of wide-open looks. We didn\u2019t turn pucks over. We did a lot of good things. We need to take the positives, look at the negatives and learn from them, and move on.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sabres didn\u2019t play quite as poorly as that 4-0 score indicates. With just over five minutes left in the third period, the Sabres were still down 1-0. That\u2019s when a turnover led to a Carson Soucy goal. The Rangers scored two more goals in the final five minutes to run away with a 4-0 win.<\/p>\n
But the Sabres did play a tightly contested game. At five-on-five, the high-danger scoring chances were even at four apiece, which underscores what a low-event game this was. But the Sabres didn\u2019t handle the small details well enough. Lindy Ruff noted that his team was chasing the puck too often early in the game. They needed some big early saves from Lyon to stay afloat in the first period. The Rangers also won 67 percent of the faceoffs, and Buffalo\u2019s passing was off throughout.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t puck sharp,\u201d Ruff said.<\/p>\n
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\n Alex Lyon made two early saves and helped the Sabres keep the score 1-0 until late in the third period. (Joe Hrycych \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
That\u2019s part of why the Sabres went 0-4 on the power play, adding to a lingering concern from last season. They had 37 shots on Igor Shesterkin, but only five of those were high-danger shots, according to Natural Stat Trick<\/a>.<\/p>\n This could be just one frustrating loss to start the season. The Rangers came in with one game under their belt. Maybe the Sabres will be a bit sharper in Game 2 and beyond. But the Sabres also came in with a long list of injuries, and it grew.<\/p>\n 1. Throughout training camp and the preseason, Josh Norris was one of the Sabres\u2019 best players. Ruff is counting on him to be the team\u2019s top center. The one question with Norris has been whether he\u2019ll be able to stay healthy. That concern was front and center when Norris didn\u2019t finish the game. After taking a faceoff with just under five minutes to play, Norris went down in pain and struggled to get to the bench. Ruff described it as an upper-body injury.<\/p>\n \u201cHe didn\u2019t finish the game, so I\u2019m going to say that\u2019s not a good sign,\u201d Ruff said.<\/p>\n Josh Norris went down on the faceoff and struggled to get off the ice #LetsGoBuffalo<\/a> #NYR<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/hdOruHkMSS<\/a><\/p>\n