Sharpen Up: October 17, 2018

The Sabres are now 1-1-0 on the road trip after a 4-1 loss in Vegas last night. They're scheduled to return to practice today before their game against San Jose tomorrow night.
Here's what you need to know.

About last night

From the Lexus Postgame Report…
They weathered an early push and kept the game close for most of the night, but special teams ultimately proved to be the difference for the Buffalo Sabres in a 4-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
Vegas built a 2-0 lead on a power-play goal from Jonathan Marchessault and a shorthanded goal from Cody Eakin. The score stuck until William Karlsson tipped in a Marchessault shot with 9:20 remaining in the third period.

The Sabres went 0-for-6 with the extra man.
"I think special teams were a critical part of our game," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "We focused on that before the game. We knew that they didn't have a power-play goal up to this point and they probably were working on it. We missed an assignment on the PK and our power play let us down."

The Sabres entered the night 4-for-18 on the power play (22.2 percent). In three wins, they've gone 4-for-9. They're now 0-for-15 in three losses.
The key to more consistency, rookie forward Casey Mittelstadt said, could be as simple as getting more shots to the net. The Sabres registered eight shots on their six attempts Tuesday.

"I think it gets hard doing the same things," Mittelstadt said. "I think we've just got to start shooting the puck. When you start struggling on the power play you usually try to get too cute. At times for us, that was what it was tonight."

The Sabres felt they could still salvage the game down 2-0 heading into the third, but they were held off the board until Vladimir Sobotka buried a rebound to spoil Marc-Andre Fleury's shutout bid with 36.7 seconds remaining. Marchessault answered with an empty-net goal 24 seconds later.
"At times, we did some good things in their zone and played well but we're just not generating enough offense in my opinion," Sabres captain Jack Eichel said. "It's obviously hard to score goals in this league. Every pass has to matter. I think we're letting teams off the hook a little bit too easily when we have them.
"It's just something we have to work on. ...It's a frustrating loss."
You can read more here.

Thank you, Sabres fans in Vegas

Sabres Road Crew had a successful tour stop Monday night. Here's what you missed:

Details on the next tour stop will be announced soon.

Amerks in action tonight

Watch: Youtube Video
Rochester is in Utica for a 7 p.m. faceoff against the Comets.
Starting the 2018-19 season winless to begin the campaign, the Rochester Americans put the disappointing start behind them as they have followed the 0-2-0-0 start with three straight victories, which also featured a pair of come-from-behind road wins.
We have more in this week's Amerks Update.
Be sure to check Amerks.com for all of your news and notes regarding the team.

On the way to San Jose

Faceoff tomorrow night between the Sabres and Sharks is set for 10:30 p.m. ET. Catch the GMC Game Night pregame show starting at 10 on MSG. You can also listen to Dan and Rayzor's call on WGR 550.
In the meantime, we'll have full practice coverage for you today here at Sabres.com.