Sharpen Up: October 23, 2021 | Sabres to play 1st road game of 2021-22

The Buffalo Sabres took their first L of the season last night, but there's no time to dwell on it. They're back in action tonight against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center for their first road game of the season.
Buffalo is now 3-1-0 after being defeated 4-1 last night. Victor Olofsson scored the team's lone goal.
Faceoff tonight is at 7 p.m. on MSG and WGR 550. Pregame coverage on MSG begins at 6:30. Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray will have the call.
They'll then return home for a game on Monday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tickets are on sale now.
Here's what you need to know.

A look back at last night

Let's quickly recap Friday's 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins at KeyBank Center.

From the Postgame Report:
The Sabres fell to the Boston Bruins 4-1 at KeyBank Center, marking their first loss of the season. They're now 3-1-0 with a road game on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils up next.
They came out of the gates strong, as they opened the game outshooting the Bruins 15-7 after the first 20 minutes, but found themselves down 2-0 heading into the intermission.
Despite being behind, the Sabres played a relentless style in the opening period, hounding pucks and being tough on the Bruins. Sabres coach Don Granato said afterwards that he felt his club played "tight" for most of the night and started to play a more perimeter game, looking for the perfect plays as opposed to the more direct ones that helped them to their 3-0-0 start.
Buffalo outshot the Bruins 36-26 by the end of the night.
After the loss, the players were able to find positives that they can build upon.

"We know mistakes are going to happen. We know it's not always going to go our way. We just try as hard as we can to put that stuff behind us," forward Dylan Cozens, who finished with 6 shots on goal, said. "A bad shift, a bad turnover, put it behind you and move on. Learn from it and keep the positive things going."
The Bruins top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak was a force all night against the Sabres. Marchand ended the game with two assists, Pastrnak had one goal on six shots and Bergeron was 10-for-14 (71.4 percent) from the faceoff circle.
Charlie Coyle had three points (1+2) for Boston. Tomas Nosek also scored and Taylor Hall added a late empty-netter.

"Their top players cashed in for them and played very well for them. Credit to them. They were ready for it," Granato said. "They took advantage of our mistakes and that's what good players do. They hold you accountable. Good teams hold you accountable. That was a big part of the game."
Linus Ullmark, in his return to Buffalo after signing a four-year contract with Boston in the offseason, made 35 saves.
Read the full recap here.

Tonight's matchup

The Devils are 2-1-0 this year and most recently fell 4-1 to the Washington Capitals on Thursday. Jack Hughes (who will miss time with a shoulder injury) and Ryan Graves lead the team in scoring with three points each.
Saturday's game is the fourth of a season-opening five-game homestand for New Jersey.
Let's look at a few Game Notes, courtesy of @SabresPR:
- The Sabres have successfully killed 10 of their 11 penalties to begin the season, ranking fifth in the league with a 90.9 penalty kill percentage this season.

Samuelsson skates with team

Rookie defenseman Mattias Samuelsson took part in yesterday's morning skate. He's been sidelined with a lower-body injury sustained when he blocked a shot at the end of Buffalo's first Prospects Challenge game on September 10.
He will be re-evaluated when the team returns from New Jersey and he could be close to returning to game action with either Buffalo or AHL Rochester.
Samuelsson, 21, made his NHL debut last season and played in the Sabres' final 12 games.
"I felt confident going into camp," Samuelsson said. "Getting that little taste last year, I felt I was actually in the running for pushing for a spot on the team on a nightly basis. Not that the chance was taken away or anything, but I just have to earn it in a different way now."
Read more here.

Amerks win home opener

From the Amerks.com recap:
Watch: Youtube Video
Rookie forwards Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka each scored once and added two assists to lift the Rochester Americans (1-1-0-0) to a 5-3 victory over the intrastate rival Syracuse Crunch (1-1-1-0) in the team's 2021-22 Home Opener Friday at The Blue Cross Arena.
While both Quinn and Peterka each tallied their first multi-point efforts of the campaign, Sean Malone and defensemen Ethan Prow and Josh Teves all rounded out the scoring for Rochester. Prow and Teves' markers were their first points as Amerks while Linus Weissbach picked up his first pro point with an assist on Rochester's first goal of the game.
Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen earned his second start in the net and he made 21 saves to even his record on the season to 1-1-0 while also picking up an assist.
Read the full report here.
The Amerks head north of the border as they begin a four-game Canadian road swing today starting with a 4 p.m. matinee at Coca-Cola Coliseum against the Toronto Marlies.
The matchup will be the first contest between the two clubs since Feb. 8, 2020 and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV.

Today in Sabres history

1992: Dominik Hasek relieves Daren Puppa to start the third period vs. San Jose and earns his first of 234 wins with the Sabres.