In Buffalo Friday night, the Sabres stacked their bench with first-time NHL players. And they paid the price with a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Matt Calvert, Brandon Saad, Nick Foligno, and Dalton Prout scored for the Jackets.
For Saad, it was his 30th goal of the year.
Joonas Korpisalo picked up the win in Buffalo – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“I didn’t know. Actually someone came and told me after it happened, and it’s exciting,” Saad told the Blue Jackets website. “I know when Boone got it, it’s an exciting moment for him, and to get that and then create the history here for the franchise, it’s definitely something I’ll remember forever.”
Joonas Korpisalo made 34 saves for the win.
“One of my objectives for this game was to just enjoy it and get the win and play good,” he said. “That was a great game from the team today.”
Sam Reinhart was the lone goal scorer for the Sabres.
Rookie goalie, Jason Kasdorf, took the loss on 26 in his NHL debut.
“We gave them some opportunities; especially, the second and third ones were golden opportunities that [Kasdorf] wasn’t able to stop,” Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said. “I thought in the first period, with the first [14] shots he faced, I don’t know if he was ever able to get comfortable in net.”
Evan Rodrigues and Cole Schneider were the other Sabres making their NHL debuts Friday.
“I thought they both looked pretty good,” Bylsma said. “Cole looked comfortable with the pace and making plays and made a couple of good ones, had a couple good opportunities around the net. … [Rodrigues] had some great opportunities in the third.”
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