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‘”We expected rust and there was rust, and we expected an adjustment to the physicality and the speed,” Buffalo coach Ralph Krueger said. “We need to simplify with the puck. We need to make sure that we are more compact defensively. We were a little hesitant. Our defensive game needs to take away the gaps and we need to attack quicker. I thought we were a little bit soft defensively as a group. We kind of fell back. We need to get back on our toes tomorrow.”‘

‘Before the Sabres season opener against the Washington Capitals at KeyBank Center, the team had local first responders call out the names of each player as they skated out on the ice.’

‘”It’s not just Jack that I’m going to be playing with this year,” Hall said. “There’s five guys on the ice and who knows what the line is going to be in game five or in game 10? So it’s important to play with different guys and to see how they play and to see where they want passes and how they shoot, how they move out there. So obviously, you’d love to see him out there. He’s the captain of this team and he’ll be out here pretty soon.”‘

‘”He’s super easy to connect with,” Eichel said. “I’ve had a lot of really, really good conversations with him; we’ve been able to sit down a few times and just get to know each other more than anything. And yeah, he’s been tremendous so far.”‘

‘”It definitely changed the confidence level of the group,” he said. “It was an extremely important decision from our side and from Taylor’s combined to be able to show that what we’re building here, the culture that we’ve put into place, is one that wants to be competitive with the top level of the National Hockey League.”‘

‘This remains the Sabres’ biggest question mark. They decided to not dip into the free agent goalie market, instead giving Linus Ullmark a vote of confidence as the starter. He was 17-14-3 with a 2.69 goals-against average and .915 save percentage last season, when he showed signs he’s ready to take the next step. Ullmark and veteran Carter Hutton, who returns as the backup, are a combined 62-67-17 with a 2.99 GAA and .907 save percentage over the past two seasons.’

‘”When they walk by it to get their blood drawn, they’ll look over and say ‘Wow, that’s really cool,'” Roswell Park physician Dr. Philip McCarthy said. “I mean, these people are fighting to get control of their lives back. And to see their reaction when they see it, it gets their spirits up.”‘

‘”Whenever you can add people like Taylor Hall and Eric Staal and Cody Eakin to your roster and the locker room, they not only bring talent to the ice but also veteran presence to the locker room,” he said. “In a situation like ours where we’re trying to find a winning culture with a young group and trying to figure out the right way to do things at times, I think having older guys can help you out especially during periods of adversity.’

‘”We know that we haven’t been good enough,” general manager Kevyn Adams said. “We have to go and get better every day and work to become the team that all of us want to become.”‘

‘The Sabres are hoping Staal, a center and Skinner’s former teammate with the Carolina Hurricanes who was acquired in a trade from the Minnesota Wild on Sept. 16, can help him regain his scoring touch.’