Sharpen Up: February 12, 2018

The Sabres fell last night to Colorado 5-4 in their first full game without Jack Eichel. He's out indefinitely with a high-ankle sprain sustained on Saturday.
Casey Nelson scored his first NHL goal and Buffalo also received goals from Ryan O'Reilly, Benoit Pouliot and Evander Kane. O'Reilly also went 29-for-39 on draws (74 percent) and posted two assists for a three-point night.
Buffalo is back in action tomorrow night at KeyBank Center against Tampa.
Here's what you need to know.

About last night

From the Lexus Postgame Report…
Less than a minute had ticked off the clock at KeyBank Center on Sunday night when Nikita Zadorov sent a pass from behind his own net off the boards in the neutral zone and onto the stick of Colin Wilson, stationed all the way at the opposite blue line.

Wilson had snuck behind the Buffalo Sabres' defensive duo of Nathan Beaulieu and Rasmus Ristolainen and was promptly joined by linemate Alexander Kerfoot. Kerfoot buried a feed from Wilson on the 2-on-0 rush, giving the Colorado Avalanche a lead just 43 seconds into the contest.
The goal was characteristic of the lapses that would plague the Sabres for the rest of the night in a 5-4 loss

"We just totally got away from a simple game, getting pucks deep, forechecking, working in the offensive zone," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "We wanted to play an east-west game, turning pucks over through the middle of the ice. … They have a terrific rush game and we just fed it and we got on our heels."

"We made too many turnovers from the start," O'Reilly said. "We tried to play an east-west game, that's not our style. We had to keep it a little simpler off the bat to get some stuff going and we didn't. We just fed their transition and obviously they got ahead, and it was tough to climb out of it."

News and notes

• O'Reilly led all skaters with three points (1+2), including his 400th NHL point. It was O'Reilly's 15th career game with at least three points and his third of the season.
• O'Reilly now has 15 points (8+7) in his last 15 games.

Prospect William Borgen ready for Olympic experience

Catch a video feature about him here.

Team USA's first group stage game is scheduled for Wednesday at 7:10 a.m. ET against Slovenia. The U.S. was drawn into Group B, which includes the Russian team, Slovenia and Slovakia.
Look for Kris Baker's weekly Sabres Prospects Report later today.