Lindy Ruff, head coach of the Buffalo Sabres, has emphasized building a defensively strong team that reflects the spirit of Buffalo. “First and foremost, you want something for the fans to wrap their arms around and for me, that’s important,” Ruff said. “Come to the rink and see a team that’s going to work extremely hard, that’s going to claw and scratch for every inch and get themselves in a place where you’re competing and putting yourself in the playoffs by the end of the year.”
The Sabres will open their season at KeyBank Center against the New York Rangers on Thursday. This game will be the first appearance for new players Josh Doan and Justin Danforth at forward, as well as Conor Timmins on defense. All three were added to strengthen the team’s defensive capabilities.
These newcomers join returning players such as Tage Thompson, Josh Norris, Alex Tuch, and Rasmus Dahlin. Ruff expressed anticipation about seeing his team compete: “I think we’re all excited,” he said. “We’re all tired of looking at preseason video and practice video and now let’s put it to the test against the other team’s real lineup … let’s go to work and prove that what we’ve been working on will make us a winning hockey club.”
Fans can attend festivities downtown starting with a Party in Ticketmaster Alumni Plaza. Players will arrive via the Blue and Gold Carpet into the arena at 3:45 p.m., followed by live music from Nerds Gone Wild. More details about this event are available online.
The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. For those watching from home, local TV coverage is available on MSG within Buffalo’s broadcast market. The game can also be streamed via Gotham Sports App or ESPN+ for out-of-market viewers. Radio coverage is provided by WGR 550.
In terms of lineup changes, Owen Power (illness) and Zach Benson (facial injury during practice) are both unavailable for Thursday’s game but are considered day-to-day. Ryan Johnson and Mason Geertsen will take their places.
This week’s practices introduced Jiri Kulich as center between Jason Zucker and Alex Tuch after Kulich recovered from a minor muscle issue during training camp. Kulich scored 15 goals in 63 games last season entering his second full NHL campaign.
Tage Thompson commented on Kulich’s potential: “I think he can score 30-40 [goals] easily.” Thompson highlighted Kulich’s shooting skills while noting that veteran linemates like Tuch and Zucker could help him build confidence.
Currently paired with Josh Norris—both tied for seven points each during NHL preseason—Thompson hopes that Kulich can boost an offensively strong second line for Buffalo.
Ruff also spoke highly of Kulich: “You know that he can be a guy that can score big goals,” Ruff said. “He can skate with the best of them. He can defend well. We’re looking at a guy like Tuch who can score and can those two guys kind of complement each other the way him and Thompson did, or the way Norris and Thompson are. That would give us a really good one-two punch with the top two lines.”
The Rangers enter this matchup following a 3-0 loss against Pittsburgh earlier in the week under new head coach Mike Sullivan—formerly with Pittsburgh Penguins for ten years.
“I think my first observation is, we got a long way to go to become the team we want to become,” Sullivan told reporters postgame according to NHL.com. “I thought we had moments in the game where we were playing the game that we envisioned … but it’s not nearly consistently enough.”
New York features goaltender Igor Shesterkin—who stopped 28 out of 29 shots before two empty-net goals—and Artemi Panarin who led last season with 37 goals and 89 points.
