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Eichel Scores; Sabres Lose Lehner |
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Jack Eichel's first of many hundreds of NHL goals. A beauty!
His first NHL goal in his first NHL game.
Rob Ray and Alex Mogilny also scored their first NHL goals in their first NHL games with the Sabres.
Sabres lost 3-1 to Ottawa.
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It didn't take long for the buzz to dissipate into a heavy sigh in Buffalo.
Kyle Turris scored just 30 seconds into the game. Talk about a buzz kill. The Sabres fans went from euphoric to silent in a matter of moments
Sabres starting goalie Robin Lehner injured himself. He left the game with an upper body injury and would not return.
At the 12:30 mark of the second period, Lehner went behind his net to play a puck then he skated to his crease where he went down in his butterfly. Harmless, right? Lehner had trouble getting to his feet and asked the referee for timeout. The Buffalo team trainer inspected Lehner who appeared to be in obvious pain. The decision was made to pull the big Swede from his first ever game as a Buffalo Sabre. It's too bad that Lehner had to leave the game early against the NHL team that drafted him and where he played for four years.
Lehner made 11 saves on the 12 shots he faced.
It looked to me like Lehner injured his left leg when in fact he was seen after the game with a walking boot oin his right foot. As you see in th epicture above, Lehner left the building on crutches. Not a good sign.
Dan Bylsma said that Lehner's injury is "not short term.
Tim Murray traded the 21st pick in the 2015 NHL Draft to Ottawa for Lehner and David Legwand. Now, Lehner is on the shelf.
Chad Johnson came out of the runway to take the net from Lehner.
The biggest question in Buffalo right now is what will happen if Lehner's injury keeps him out of the starting lineup for a period of time?
The Sabres host the Tampa Lightning at 1pm EDT on Saturday afternoon. They then host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Columbus Day in Buffalo.
Will Tim Murray be forced to recall Andrey Makarov or Nathan Lieuwen from the Rochester Amerks? Or, will he look outside the Buffalo system for a replacement goalie?
What if Johnson were to develop a sickness or a fluke injury? What then?
Didn't Johnson suffer a knee in
The Edmonton Oilers waived Ben Scrivens earlier this week. Would Murray go there?
It's interesting to note that the Calgary Flames are presently carrying three starting goaltenders. Jonas Hiller, Karri Ramo and Joni Ortio are all on the Flames roster right now. Hiller led the playoff charge for the Flames last season with his 26-19-4 record. However, Ramo (15-9-3 last season) is the starter for the time being. Ramo lost the Flames' season opener to Vancouver. Ortio was 4-2 last season.
Hiller and Ramo will be UFA July 1. Ortio will be RFA next summer.
Might Tim Murray be interested in a Calgary goalie?
Murray and Hiller are familiar with one another from the Anaheim Ducks. Hiller, 33, will earn $4.5 million this season. He won 26 games last season and that's good enough for me.
I realize that it's not time to mash the panic button. There are 81 games left in the Next Chapter. However, does Dan Bylsma want to throw Makarov or Lieuwen to the wolves against the defending Eastern Conference champs led by Steven Stamkos and The Triplets? Is Murray eager to let an AHL call up get lit up by the Columbus Blue Jackets, a team that many prognosticators are picking to represent the East in the Stanley Cup Finals?
Johnson injured his knee last March in pregame warmups in Toronto. He never saw the Buffalo net until Thursday night.
Do the Sabres want to roll the bones and risk starting the season 0-3. Three home losses?
Calling up Makarov or Lieuwen is a plausible solution. It's the path of least resistance. However, when have you ever know Murray to take a short cut or make a conservative decision regarding players?
Interestingly enough, Calgary's assistant general manager is watching the game in Buffalo right now.
Food for thought.
More to come on Lehner's status.
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Tonight, the new history will be written for the Buffalo Sabres. The past two and a half seasons of tank mode are dead and buried in the Model City landfill.
I never want to sit in the same room as "fans" who knowingly and willingly cheer for their hometown Sabres to lose games.
Thank the hockey gods that those days are in the rearview mirror.
My blood pressure has been 190/100 since the NHL lock out ended in January 2013.
I give a personal thank you to The Pegulas and Tim Murray for their aggressive, surgical re-purposing of the Sabres. I've been a fan of the team since 1972. I, like you, could not endure another season of 30th place hockey.
Did you know that of the twenty skaters to suit up for the Sabres tonight that only eleven of them suited up and played in games for the Sabres last season?
Those with Sabres experience include Mark Pysyk, Mike Weber, Johan Larsson, Samson Reinhart, Matt Moulson, Zemgus Girgensons, Jake McCabe, Nic Deslauriers, Rasmus Ristolainen, Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno.
In the past ten months, Tim Murray has added Evander Kane, Ryan O'Reilly, Jack Eichel, Cody Franson, Robin Lehner, David Legwand, Jamie McGinn, Carlo Colaiocovo, and Matt Donovan.
Dan Bylsma, Dave Barr and Terry Murray are now the stewards of the Sabres. I like this coaching staff because they are all teachers. They are not yellers and screamers. They are mentors. The Sabres enter tonight's game with Ottawa as the youngest team in the NHL. The youngsters will need strong coaches to settle them down and guide them in times of turbulence. I like Bylsma's style. He is a Stanley Cup winning head coach who has coached generational players. He relates well to the young guys as well as the veterans. Bylsma has a steady hand and is going to need to draw on his previous successful experiences from his Cup-contending days in Pittsburgh.
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