Jan 20, 2013; Buffalo, NY, USA; Buffalo Sabres left wing Thomas Vanek (26) and Philadelphia Flyers right wing Scott Hartnell (19) fight for position during the first period at the First Niagara Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

With the NHL lockout finally over, the long awaited start of this year’s hockey season is finally here. As a Sabres fan, it’s been a difficult wait to see them play with the amount of young talent and unanswered questions about their roster coming into this year. The Buffalo Sabres opened up their season today against the Philadelphia Flyers at the First Niagara Center. The Flyers entered the game with a loss yesterday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Coming into this game, all eyes were focused on Mikhail Grigorenko, the 18-year-old Sabres prospect. Throughout training camp this week, his expectations continued to rise and he was announced as a part of the Sabres roster for the start of the season, although there wasn’t much to be said about him in today’s matchup.

Marcus Foligno established his physical style of play early on by throwing his body around and stirring up some action on the ice by dropping the gloves against Luke Schenn. He received 2 roughing penalties within the first 7 minutes of the game.

Steve Ott made his presence felt in Buffalo by smoking a one-timer past Ilya Bryzgalov on the Sabres power play. Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville both received an assist on the play.

The flyers appeared to tie the game late in the first period, but Ruslan Fedotanko got called for goaltender interference after pushing Miller back into his own net allowing the puck to get by.

Buffalo got caught in a bad change early on in the second period, and the Flyers tied it up on a deflection by Couturier that got by Miller. Philadelphia then took the lead shortly after on the power play with a hard slap shot from Claude Giroux beating Miller glove side.

The Sabres capitalized on another power play late in the second period on a breakaway goal by Thomas Vanek, making Bryzgalov look absolutely foolish with a quick move.

The Sabres play was noticeably physical throughout the game, trying to send a message to the league early on that they wont be pushed around anymore. The pressure has been on for Buffalo for their lack toughness, and with their redesigned team it looks like their days of being labeled as a “soft” team are in the past.

Tyler Myers got the go ahead goal in the third period on yet another Sabres power play on a shot that got deflected by a Flyer defensemen.

Cody Hodgson’s aggressive style of play in front of the net and awareness on the ice generated several scoring chances for Buffalo, and he finally found the back of the net to make the game 4-2 late in the third period. Look for him to be a play-maker for Buffalo as the season progresses.

The story of the game today was penalties, with a total of 20 in the game. The Sabres made the most of their power play opportunities going 3 for 6, while the Flyers struggled only getting one goal on the man up advantage.

Thomas Vanek got the empty net goal that put the game out of reach for Philadelphia to secure the W for Buffalo. He was a key component in the Sabres win today with a total of 5 points in the game consisting of 2 goals and 3 assists.

Miller turned away a total 27 of 29 shots and looked solid in net for Buffalo.

The Sabres take on the Maple Leafs tomorrow night in Toronto.

Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

There may still be no joy in Mudville, but there will be plenty to talk about in Buffalo as the Buffalo Sabres finally get to open the 21012-2013 NHL seaso.  While the only idle team in the Eastern Conference on opening night, they get to open their NHL season on prime time NBC and have the national spotlight.

While yesterday’s marathon of channel flipping and hockey watching left fans with whip lash on how many games were being played at once, the Buffalo Sabres are the only team playing early afternoon, and their are only a few games slated for this evening.

Buffalo should have fresh legs – their opponent not so much.  The Philadelphia Flyers played last night, and they couldn’t rekindle the fire and emotion they had in last years playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins.  While Claude Giroux showed fans he hasn’t forgetten how to put the puck in the net – Pittsburgh cruised to a 3-1 victory – without the help of goals by Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby.

What should have been an emotionally charged night turned into disappointment for the fans of the Broad Street Bullies – you always want to win your home opener.  Things good go South quickly for the Flyers, with the fast turn around and the afternoon game against the Buffalo Sabres – who are itching to get back on the ice in front of their fans.

I am not saying that the Buffalo Sabres will have an easy time making the Flyers tuck tail and run – the Buffalo Sabres need to attack offensively early – and keep up the pressure.  The Flyers legs will have to give out eventually – especially with the severely shortened training camp.

If you are lucky enough to have a ticket for opening night – you will most likely get to see the professional debut of Mikhail Grigorenko – the highly touted offensive first round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres.  While the team was tight lipped about his status throughout training camp – the kid gets five games to prove his worth.  Darcy Regier has left the opening night roster spot on the table, labeling it a coaching decision on who players or not, Lindy Ruff would have to be having an absent minded professor moment not to give the kid a look at the ice tonight.

Top three lines for tonight should look like:

Thomas Vanek – Cody Hodgson – Jason Pominville

Marcus Foligno – Tyler Ennis – Drew Stafford

Steve Ott – Mikhail Grigorenko – Ville Leino

Your fourth line will probably be John Scott – Jochen Hecht – Patrick Kaleta.

Defensive pairs on the ice should be:

Tyler Myers – Robyn Regehr

Christian Ehrhoff – Alexander Sulzer

Jordan Leopold – T.J. Brennan

Andrej Sekera – Mike Weber

Ryan Miller will get the nod in goal.