Earlier this year, at the convergence of Lake Erie and the Erie Canal, arrived new imports to the Buffalo Sabres.
On Tuesday night, several of the new arrivals made lasting impressions on Sabres fans with excellent performances on the ice.
Former St. Louis Blues tendy Carter Hutton made 14 saves on the 14 shots faced in his forty minutes of work.
Hutton signed as an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Hutton's former Blues teammate Vlad Sobotka scored a power play goal and added an assist for the Buffalo Sabres in a 3-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Sobotka skated 14:50 TOI, landed three shots on goal. Sobotka added speed and skill to Buffalo's third line with youngsters Justin Bailey and C.J. Smith.
Sobotka, Patrik Berglund, Tage Thompson, first and second round draft choices were acquired from the St. Louis Blues foor center Ryan O'Reilly. Berglund scored a goal in Buffalo's 4-1 win in Columbus on Monday night while Thompson added two assists.
To my eyes, Sobotka has already unseated incumbent third line center Johan Larsson.
Blues and Gold make green.
Oh yeah, some kid called Rasmus Dahlin skated 21:32 in his NHL debut.
After the game, Dahlin admitted he was nervous at the beginning of the game. Coulda fooled me. The kid was fantastic in all three zones. He finished the night with a +1 rating.
Sabres veterans Jake McCabe and Jack Eichel also scored for the Sabres. Eichel's goal came in the second period while his team was shorthanded.
Penguins defensemen Will O'Neill and Juuso Riikola scored 38 seconds apart late in the third period. Casey DeSmith made 26 saves.
Scott Wedgewood relieved Hutton at the start of the third period and allowed two deflection goals on the 10 shots he faced.
The Sabres are now 2-0 in their forst two exhibition games. Next up is a home and home with the Toronto Maple Leafs this weekend.
Join the Discussion:
»