Sharpen Up: October 5, 2018

Last night, the Sabres lost to the Boston Bruins 4-0 at KeyBank Center to open the 2018-19 season. They'll look to move on from that today when they take the ice for practice.
Here's what you need to know.

About last night

From the Game Recap:
With no goals to show for their regular-season opener, the leadership group of the Buffalo Sabres had one thing on their minds when they got back to the dressing room on Thursday night: It's time to go back to work.
The Sabres lost 4-0 to the Boston Bruins, the product of a lack of consistency in execution on both ends of the ice. Phil Housley spoke passionately to the media afterward, balancing the disappointment of the loss with the task ahead.

"Was it disappointing in front of a good crowd that was here to support us? You're dang right," Housley said. "It's disappointing. So what can we control? We can control how we come to the rink tomorrow and work, because we are not going through this again."
The Bruins entered the game coming off a 7-0 loss of their own in Washington on Wednesday. The Sabres expected them to respond, and they did - the Bruins played stingily, limiting the Sabres' quality chances despite being outshot 32-26.

Where the Sabres faltered, Housley said, was in their attention to detail. Boston's first three goals were all scored by an unchecked man - Zdeno Chara shot alone on the rush, Ryan Donato buried a 2-on-1 feed on the power play and David Pastrnak scored alone at the back door in the second period.
"These are things just about our checking detail of our game," Housley said. "It needs to get better, or we're going to have results like that."

Dahlin's debut

More from the recap:

Rasmus Dahlin became the second-youngest Sabre to make his NHL debut at 18 years, 175 days old, behind fellow No. 1 pick Pierre Turgeon. He skated 22:37, tallied two shot attempts and delivered two loud hits.

"I thought he got good as the game went along," Housley said. "Being on that stage, just trying to get accustomed to the North American game and a sold-out crowd, but I thought his game got better as the game went on. He got more comfortable."

Coming up today

Buffalo is set to practice this morning at KeyBank Center.
Housley shook up his lines last night in the third period, putting Conor Sheary with Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart, and moving Vladimir Sobotka between Jeff Skinner and Tage Thompson. That left Casey Mittelstadt centering Patrik Berglund and Kyle Okposo, and Evan Rodrigues on an intact line with Zemgus Girgensons and Jason Pominville.
The third period also saw Rasmus Dahlin pair with Rasmus Ristolainen from time to time.

Amerks hockey begins tonight

From the Amerks.com Game Preview:
The Rochester Americans open their historic 63rd season in the American Hockey League - and 37th as the primary affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres - tonight in the first of a back-to-back set against the Charlotte Checkers at The Blue Cross Arena. Game time is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and can be heard live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester.
The Amerks enter the new campaign with a 38-18-6 all-time home-opening record and have outscored their opponents 258-195 dating back to when the puck first dropped on Rochester's inaugural season in 1956. Additionally, Rochester enters with a 32-23-7 all-time record in season-opening games, outscoring its opponents 235-211 over the past 62 years.
Tonight's Home Opener is the seventh straight year the Amerks have opened the season on home ice. The Amerks have scored six or more goals in six of their last eight home-opening wins dating back to an 8-5 victory over Toronto to begin the 2005-06 season.
Veteran forward Kevin Porter was tabbed team captain for a second straight season and third time in his 11-year career.
The Amerks will also rotate through forward Kyle Criscuolo and defensemen Taylor Fedun, Andrew MacWilliam, Zach Remond and Nathan Paetsch as alternate captains over the course of the season.

Opening Weekend continues Saturday

The Sabres will host a party in the Alumni Plaza before the team's 7 p.m. game against the New York Rangers presented by Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. The event will begin at 5 p.m. and will include a green screen photo booth and live music from Dwayne Gretzky. All fans in attendance at Saturday's game, which is the second Family Pack game during Opening Weekend, will receive a free magnet schedule.
Sabres alumni and Sabretooth will also be on hand to sign autographs and hand out giveaways. Sabres fans will have to chance to partake in activations and sampling opportunities from Buffalo Sabres' corporate partners. Food and beverages will be available for purchase throughout the weekend. All outdoor events will be weather permitting.
Tickets are on sale now.

Jersey auction is live

The Sabres are holding a game-worn jersey auction at auction.NHL.com](https://auctions.nhl.com/iSynApp/allAuction.action?sid=1100803&rc=20&sort=timeleft_asc&selectedCatId=11902&&pgcust1=sabres&pgcust2=&pgcust3=panname_teamName_s&pgmode1=teamsearch&pgmode2=&qMode=open&qt[0].type=fieldmatch&qt[0].name=panname_teamName_s&qt[0 until Sunday, Oct. 14 at 9 p.m. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Buffalo Sabres Foundation.
The jerseys available for bidding include set three of the game-worn road jerseys from the 2017-18 season. All jerseys will come with a certificate of authenticity.