Buffalo News

‘Rather than counterattacking the Ducks with speed and skill, the Sabres committed turnovers and failed to score on seven power-play opportunities in their first regulation loss of the season.’

‘“Henri’s been a positive point, for sure,” Krueger said. “Our D corps in general is playing quite aggressive on our gaps through the neutral zone. We’re denying entry into our zone quite regularly, which we’re happy of. Henri’s one of the driving forces there.”‘

‘”I had a great time in Buffalo,” Miller said. “It’s a huge part of my life. People in Buffalo had a huge impact on my life, from the people I saw at the grocery store to people at the rink every single day. I felt fully a part of the community and fully a part of the organization for a long time. It was and still is a sad day that it wasn’t quite working out to where I was going to be in the plans for Buffalo. Accepting that people change and situations change and you move forward in life. I still look back and think about how great it was to be a Buffalo Sabre and I still have a big piece of my heart that feels that way.”‘

‘The Sabres fell to 5-1-1 with their first regulation loss and failed to start the season with points in each of their first three road games for the first time since 2011-12. The Ducks (5-2) scored four consecutive goals, including three in a vicious second period that included 30 penalty minutes between the two teams.’

‘”Yes, I’m happy,” Ristolainen said ahead of the Sabres’ matchup Wednesday against the Anaheim Ducks. “You want more and more. This means nothing if we [mess] up next game. It’s the past now. We’re on a good pace right now and we just have to keep doing it. Last year, we played one month well but who [cares] about that month anymore? Right now it’s good but I’ve been here a long time. I know how many games we have left. Last year, the biggest games start in January and February. They’re huge. The closer we get to the playoffs, that’s where you want to play your best hockey. … We have to get better every day.”‘

‘”Conor’s feeling better,” Krueger said of Sheary. “We’ll assess him this afternoon. He’s still day to day, but looking good and back in the group.”‘

‘“The terminology is, ‘safe is death,’ and we’d sit back,” said Hutton, who made 25 saves for his first shutout with the Sabres. “Teams are too fast and too good, especially when they press, right? So we’ve got to stay on the offense and be aggressive, and tonight’s a great example of that. We didn’t change the way we played in the third.”’

‘”That was a rock-solid game,” Hutton said. “I thought early on it was a tight game and then there were a couple power plays where our power play clicks and that was the difference in the game. We get a power-play goal and we take it from there.”‘

‘Victor Olofsson notched yet another power-play goal to grab a slice of NHL history, and set up a Sam Reinhart goal to put the Sabres in control through 40 minutes. But unlike Wednesday’s overtime win over Montreal and Friday’s shootout victory over Florida, the Sabres finished the deal in regulation.’

‘So, what has changed? A lot, when you consider all of the off-ice changes to the coaching staff and the personnel changes throughout the lineup. I have been most curious about the state of the blue line though, especially because of how big of a detriment the defensive units had been to Buffalo’s success – or lack thereof – in years past. The organization knew it had a budding superstar in Rasmus Dahlin, but also knew that there was only marginal competency behind him – a roster historically littered with players too one-dimensional in talent, incapable of generating transitional play and unable to show the type of poise and creativity with the puck that is a minimum expectation for modern-era defenders.’