BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — From the top corner of KeyBank Center where Sabres fans have bellowed their frustrations in recent years, a section of jubilant voices chanted “Let’s go Buffalo” on Tuesday night after the first professional hockey exhibition of the season.
The Sabres showed a glimmer of promise in opening preseason with a sweep of the Columbus Blue Jackets on back-to-back nights. The split squad greased out a 2-1 win at home after winning 4-0 on the road Monday night.
Scoring tallies
The Sabres got goals from top wingers Tage Thompson and Jason Zucker in the home victory. Defenseman Bowen Byram scored first at Columbus, followed by Beck Malenstyn, Jack Quinn and 19-year-old Konsta Helenius, who also assisted on Zucker’s winning goal Tuesday night.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff has been impressed so far with the preseason play of Helenius, the Finnish center who played a full season in Rochester after being drafted in the first round by the Sabres a year ago.
“I liked his battle,” Ruff said. “I liked his game. That was one heck of a shift he had on the way to us scoring the second goal. The effort on that shift by him, the stutter step, the couple jukes, a great shift.”
Helenius earned further praise from Ruff for his defensive effort while the Sabres played 5-on-6 at the end of the game, atonement for Helenius’ hooking penalty with 4:40 left in the third that irritated the coach.
Ruff said, “I looked at it two ways: I could’ve sat him, or I could’ve seen what his next shift was going to be like. I liked his answer after he took the penalty. Came out and gave us a heck of a shift. … His stick detail and his battle were very good.”
Close for comfort
Ruff appreciated how tight Tuesday’s game was, with Zucker scoring the go-ahead goal with 8:03 left in the third period, and the Sabres needing to kill a penalty in the closing minutes to hold on for the win.
“I think I mentioned that 78% of the games last year were one-goal or two-goal games that were decided with an empty net,” Ruff said. “I’d rather tonight have been in a close game, which we were in. Because you battle harder. One mistake costs you.”
Goaltending
Alex Lyon stopped 13 of 14 shots he faced in two periods Tuesday, allowing a power-play goal in the second period. Alexander Georgiev, signed on the eve of training camp, made 16 saves in his shutout periods Monday, and Devon Levi has stopped 11 shots in saving both wins in the final period.
Buffalo’s top goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen remains out with a lower-body injury he sustained late in his offseason training. Listed as day-to-day, UPL is “feeling pretty good,” Ruff said over the weekend.
Tuch’s status
Alex Tuch has been practicing since Saturday after he missed the start of training camp with what has been termed a minor injury. Tuch did not play in either of the first two preseason games however. “We’d like to see him skate a little bit more,” Ruff said.
Up next
Some of the Sabres will hit the road for Thursday night’s exhibition game in Detroit. The preseason continues back in Buffalo at 3 p.m. Saturday against the Red Wings.
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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.