The Buffalo Sabres began their 2025-26 NHL season with a 4-0 loss to the New York Rangers at KeyBank Center on Thursday. Despite generating 37 shots and outshooting the Rangers 26-17 in the final two periods, the Sabres were unable to get past goaltender Igor Shesterkin.
“Hell of a goalie,” said Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin. “We’ve just got to put the puck in, and the whole game looks different. We had our chances.”
The Rangers entered the game having already played once this season, while it was Buffalo’s first outing as an 18-man unit. Goalie Alex Lyon, making his debut for Buffalo, stopped 29 shots.
“They had played two days ago; it’s a pretty good team, and they lost, so you just knew that they were gonna come in hungry,” Lyon said. “I think that first one, you’ve just got to get reacclimated to the speed. You can play as many preseason games as you want, and it’s just never the same.”
Alexis Lafreniere scored midway through the first period for what proved to be the winning goal. After a slow start offensively—just two shots in the opening ten minutes—the Sabres improved their puck possession but could not solve Shesterkin.
“I thought we did a lot of good things,” Jason Zucker said. “I think we passed up some shots early – I think I had one early, I think a few of us passed up some shots. We tried to touch on that on the bench and get more of a shooting mentality, and I think we did that for the most part.”
Zucker was active near the net throughout and drew a power play opportunity in the second period after getting involved in scrums around Shesterkin’s crease. The Sabres finished 0-for-4 on power plays despite nine shots during those opportunities; Tage Thompson also hit a post.
“We struggled in the faceoff circle as a team – throughout the entire game, not just power play,” Zucker added. “I think our breakouts got a little discombobulated at times. I think we can have a little bit more poise and structure on our breakouts and zone entries, and I think we’ll be better off. I think we kind of got jumbled in a few spots, and then your release points are a little bit different, guys are in places they’re not supposed to be.”
Buffalo won only 35 percent of faceoffs (21 out of 60), with each player who took draws finishing below .500.
“We were chasing the puck around,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “I think at one point we were at less than 20 percent on faceoffs, so they had the puck all the time, which hurt us. They’ve got a couple guys that are good in the faceoff dot. We didn’t win the faceoffs clean, and we didn’t get the secondary help.”
The contest remained close until late goals by Carson Soucy and J.T. Miller secured New York’s win.
Despite being shut out offensively, players expressed optimism about their defensive performance—including going three-for-three on penalty kills—and emphasized focusing on improvement over an 82-game schedule.
“I would’ve bet a lot of money – probably all my money – we weren’t gonna go 82-0,” Zucker commented regarding expectations for perfection this season.“So, I think we’re going to look at it that way, and we’re gonna be fine. We’re gonna go in and try to put the same game on the ice and shore up things that we didn’t like.”
Added Lyon: “We have a game in two days, and then we have a game two days after that, so we just need to continue to be levelheaded, move forward rationally and try to improve a little bit at a time and try to get a W on Saturday.”
Josh Norris left late due to an upper-body injury following an incident during a faceoff; coach Ruff confirmed his status postgame.
With Zach Benson hospitalized after being struck by a puck during practice (he is expected to be discharged Friday) and Owen Power sidelined by illness, Mason Geertsen made his Sabres debut—his first NHL appearance since April 2022—while Ryan Johnson also saw action after playing three games last December.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman attended Thursday’s opener as part of his early-season tour of arenas across North America. Addressing media members before puck drop alongside Sabres COO Pete Guelli,Bettman reiterated interest from both league officialsand local organizersin hosting an outdoor NHL eventat Highmark Stadiumfor Buffalo inthe2027-28season.The year will markthe20th anniversaryoftheinauguralWinter Classic featuringBuffaloandPittsburgh.
Next,theSabrestraveltoBostonfortheirSaturdaynightmatchupwiththeBruins.CoverageonMSGbeginsat6:30p.m.,followedbypuckdropat7.
