Eichel Scores But Sabres Drop Opener 3-1 to Senators

October 8, 2015 · No Comments

Final Score

	1st	2nd	3rd	OT	SO	Final	SOG
Senators (1-0-0)	1	1	1	–	–	3	22
Sabres (0-1-0)	0	1	0	–	–	1	27

Game Summary

Event Summary

Top Notes

Nine players made their Sabres debuts tonight: Carlo Colaiacovo, Jack Eichel, Cody Franson, Chad Johnson, Evander Kane, David Legwand, Robin Lehner, Jamie McGinn, Ryan O’Reilly
- According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this the most players the Sabres have ever had make their debuts in a season-opener and the most since seven did so in 1986-87 (Christian Ruuttu, Clark Gillies, Jim Korn, Ken Priestlay, Scott Arniel, Shawn Anderson, Wilf Paiement).
- Eichel became the eighth 18-year-old ever to dress for the Sabres and the fifth to do so in a season-opener. The Sabres have no had an 18-year-old in the opening day lineup in four straight seasons (2014-15: Sam Reinhart; 2013-14: Rasmus Ristolainen; 2012-13: Mikhail Grigorenko).
With his goal, Eichel became the second-youngest player in Sabres history to score in his debut and the youngest player ever to score in a Sabres season-opener.
The Sabres have now had a newly acquired player score in four of the last five season-openers (2013-14: Zemgus Girgensons, 2012-13: Steve Ott, 2011-12: Ville Leino).
Starting goaltender Robin Lehner left tonight’s game with a lower-body injury.
With the loss, the Sabres fell to 24-17-4 in season-openers and 10-7-1 all-time in the team’s first game with a new head coach.
An explanation of the coach’s challenge that overturned the Sabres’ second goal can be found here: http://www.nhl.com/ice/blogpost.htm?id=41758
Tonight’s Attendance: 19,070