Buffalo Sabres have no excuse but to set an early tone for the 2024-25 season

This time last year, every fan of the Blue and Gold was pumped up and ready to roll for what was supposed to be an exciting start to the 2023-24 season. The Buffalo Sabres only needed to beat their cross-state rival, even if both teams play in different divisions, the New York Rangers. 

The Blueshirts, as you may recall, were coming off of a sour ending to their 2022-23 campaign when the upstart New Jersey Devils upset them in the postseason. We know what happened. The Sabres found themselves outclassed after the first 20 minutes of play and set the tone for what was a flat 82-game outing. 

Meanwhile, the Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy and embarked on a deep playoff run that nearly landed them in the Stanley Cup Final. Throughout October 2023, Buffalo never seemed to get their act together, and they let the entire fanbase down following what was a major regression campaign. 

So, these two meetings against head coach Lindy Ruff’s former team, the New Jersey Devils, have some high stakes. And yeah, I know, you might scoff and say otherwise since it’s only two games, but let’s buckle down and learn from recent history. 

Buffalo Sabres have no choice but to set the tone early vs. the Devils

The Blue and Gold will face the Devils in a back-to-back, and even if they don’t win both games, they must skate away with the W in at least one of them and play respectable hockey in the other. They also can’t go into this game and get bullied, as general manager Kevyn Adams spent an entire offseason making sure that didn’t happen yet again. 

We also know that physicality is the key ingredient to success in the Eastern Conference, and judging from Adams’ recent signings, it looks like he realized that too, among other factors, for bringing in Sam Lafferty, Beck Malenstyn, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Ryan McLeod, and Jason Zucker. 

We need to see a hard-hitting bottom six, an aggressive defensive rotation led by Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson, and the playmaking return to 2022-23 levels. That must happen in this back-to-back series in Prague, which should be more than enough for the Sabres to set the tone early and go into their matchup with the Los Angeles Kings full of optimism. 

But they control their destiny, not us. We can just sit beyond the glass or behind our TV screens, phones, and computer monitors and hope they’re up for the challenge under a coach who has become something of a legend in Sabres circles.