Sabres can’t crack Shesterkin in season-opening loss

The Buffalo Sabres opened their 2025-26 season with a 4-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday at KeyBank Center.

Despite rebounding well from a slow first period and trailing by just one goal for most of the night, the Sabres couldn’t break through against one of the best in the business, Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin. Buffalo got 37 shots on the former Vezina Trophy winner and outshot New York 26-17 over the final 40 minutes.

“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.”

Whereas New York already had a game under its belt, Tuesday’s shutout loss to Pittsburgh, these Sabres were playing their first game together as an 18-man unit.

“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,” said goalie Alex Lyon, who made 29 saves in his Sabres debut. “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’s goal midway through the first period was ultimately the game winner. The forward powered through a net-front scramble and squeezed the puck between the post and Lyon’s extended left leg.

From there, after managing just two shots in the first 10 minutes, the Sabres began possessing the puck more effectively, forcing some turnovers and tilting the ice toward Shesterkin’s crease.

“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 highly involved around the net, as always, and found himself in the middle of a couple second-period scrums. One resulted in a Sabres power play, but Buffalo was unable to draw even with the visitors. The Sabres went 0-for-4 on the man advantage despite generating nine total shots, plus a wide-angle blast off the post by Tage Thompson.

“We struggled in the faceoff circle as a team – throughout the entire game, not just power play,” said Zucker, the net-front man on Buffalo’s first unit. “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.”

As a team, at all strengths, Buffalo won just 35 percent (21 of 60) of Thursday’s faceoffs, and each of the five guys who took draws had a losing record.

“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.”

It remained a one-goal contest deep into the third period, but Carson Soucy’s wrister doubled the Rangers’ lead with 5:14 remaining, and J.T. Miller tipped another one in a couple minutes later.

Those late goals aside, the Sabres felt encouraged by many parts of their game, especially their defense and 3-for-3 night on the penalty kill, and they certainly don’t plan on overreacting to the first of 82.

“I would’ve bet a lot of money – probably all my money – we weren’t gonna go 82-0,” Zucker said. “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 the 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.”

Here’s more from the loss.

Norris leaves early

Josh Norris left the ice after a faceoff with 4:38 remaining in the game and didn’t return. Afterwards, Ruff said the forward is dealing with an upper-body injury.

• Injuries and Transactions | Latest on Norris, Power, Benson, Luukkonen, others

Geertsen and Johnson enter

Zach Benson was hospitalized after taking a puck to the face during Wednesday’s practice; he's expected to be discharged Friday. And Owen Power sat due to illness. Their absences pushed forward Mason Geertsen and defenseman Ryan Johnson into action.

Geertsen, in his Sabres debut and first NHL action since April 2022, skated just 4:26. Johnson, who appeared in three games with Buffalo last December, played on a pair with Jacob Bryson and blocked two shots in 11:16 of ice time.

A visit from the commissioner

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman continued his early-season tour with a visit to KeyBank Center for Thursday’s opener.

In an address to the media, Bettman confirmed what Sabres COO Pete Guelli has said: the league is very interesting in holding an outdoor game at the new Highmark Stadium, and it’s eyeing the 2027-28 season – the 20th anniversary of the inaugural Winter Classic, between Buffalo and Pittsburgh – for that game.

Up next

The Sabres head to Boston for a Saturday night showdown with the Bruins. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. before puck drop at 7.