The Buffalo Sabres will have a new banner awaiting them when they take the ice for their home opener against the Chicago Blackhawks tonight at KeyBank Center. A “2025-26 Atlantic Division Champions” banner will be hanging in the rafters, a reminder of last year’s drought-ending run and the work it took to get there.
“I think it will be a good reminder for us of how hard it was to get to that point,” Tage Thompson said. “It’s not going to be an easy ride this year by any means just because we made it last year. It will be even harder. I think the group’s excited and ready for the challenge ahead. Just take it a game at a time. ”
The Sabres are looking for their first win after opening the season with a 6-3 loss in Columbus on Thursday. What’s sure to be a raucous KeyBank Center atmosphere should help; the team went 26-10-5 on home ice last season. Tonight’s game opens a five-game homestand for Buffalo, one of two such stretches this season. “We’ll take it one game at a time, but obviously an important stretch for us,” coach Lindy Ruff said. Here’s what you need to know ahead of the 7 p. m. puck drop.
Defenseman Olen Zellweger will make his Sabres debut after missing the opener with a concussion, which he sustained during the Sept. 22 preseason game. Zellweger, acquired from Anaheim in June, is expected to start on a pair with Owen Power. The forwards lines are the same from Thursday’s loss in Columbus, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen gets another start in net. Luukkonen is 6-0-0 with a . 928 save percentage in his career versus the Blackhawks.
Chicago Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill ruled out top defenseman Bowen Byram from playing at Buffalo on Saturday night because of a family matter. Byram’s absence comes as he was preparing to face his former team for the first time since the Sabres traded him to Chicago in a multiplayer deal in June. The 25-year-old Byram subsequently signed a six-year, $75 million contract with the Blackhawks in becoming the team’s top-paid defenseman. The offensive-minded player had 21 goals and 89 points in 182 games with Buffalo. He’s yet to register a point this season, with Chicago opening with two straight losses.
Greenway will make his return to KeyBank Center. It will also mark the first game against the Blackhawks for Louis Crevier, who came to Buffalo in the Byram deal. The 6-foot-8, right-shot defenseman impressed in camp and signed a four-year extension on Thursday.
The Sabres will be looking to improve on their special teams, which may have been the difference in their loss in Columbus. Buffalo went 0-for-5 on the power play and 1-for-3 on the penalty kill against the Blue Jackets. The numbers on the power play don’t paint the entire picture – Konsta Helenius scored a goal seconds after one man advantage expired, and Jack Quinn sent a backhand shot off the post on another. “We had our looks for sure,” Thompson said of the power play. “I would say capitalize on them would be the number one thing. … You look at the analytics, we had 12 grade-A chances on our power play, more than Columbus had. They just capitalized on them. So, it’s just putting them in the back of the net. ”
The Blackhawks are off to an 0-2-0 start after lopsided losses in Vegas and Utah in which they were outscored 11-2. Chicago is without star forward Connor Bedard, who is expected to miss at least the first month due to an offseason shoulder injury. Still, the Blackhawks boast a wide cast of young players who, like Bedard, were selected near the top of the draft in forwards Frank Nazar and Anton Frondell and defenseman Artyom Levshunov. The Blackhawks supplemented that young core with the offseason acquisition of Byram and forward Patrick Kane, who returned to Chicago on a two-year deal in free agency. Kane has one of Chicago’s two goals scored thus far. After playing Buffalo, the Blackhawks open their home schedule hosting St. Louis on Tuesday.
