A successful coach's challenge negated what would have been a tying goal and the Sabres couldn't recover, falling 3-1 to Ottawa.
It was more than a new season for the Buffalo Sabres, tonight was the beginning of a new era. The Jack Eichel era, the Tim Murray era, the anti-tanking era - whatever you wanted to call it, the season opener for Buffalo was supposed to mark the start of somethihng new, and something different.
Unfortunately, for the first 40 minutes, it looked like more of the same.
The Sabres struggled out of the gate, getting outshot by Ottawa 18-13, and none of their 13 shots looked very dangerous as they fell behind 2-0 though two periods.