In a new, season-long series here on TheHockeyNews.com, we’re going to be analyzing each Buffalo Sabres game in 2026-27. We’ll be focusing on a few things: firstly, the Best Thing: the player, statistic, comment or other elements that are good for Sabres fans. Conversely, the Worst Thing from every game is something that Buffalo fans should be happy with. Then, we’ll wrap things up and prepare you for the next Sabres game.

With that said, let’s get to it:

Best Thing: Owen Power

Two assists, Two points. A Plus-2 in the plus/minus category. All those things are what Power did in his first game of the season. And Power essentially was tied with captain Rasmus Dahlin  in time-on-ice, logging 25:25 of ice time in Buffalo’s first game of the season.  

On a night where there weren't many good things for the Sabres to boast of, Power’s strong play could be a harbinger of what’s to come from him this season, and the 23-year-old is looking for a bounce-back season on offense. So getting off on the right foot for Power is a terrific development. Now Power just has to consistently produce positive results – at both ends of the ice.

Worst Thing: The Goaltending

Okay, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, you’ve got some explaining to do. Surrendering just five goals on 22 Blue Jackets shots meant your save percentage was an abysmal .772 – and that’s just unacceptable. Yes, Luukkonen didn’t get a lot of help from his Sabres teammates, but he can’t give up five goals in any game and expect Buffalo’s skaters to come up with six.

Luukkonen’s consistency has been questioned over the years, and he’s got a considerable amount of pressure on him to be at least as good as he was last year, when he posted a sparkling .910 SP in 35 appearances. The Sabres will almost certainly want to use him more than 35 times, but if he keeps laying eggs like this one, Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff will turn to youngster Colten Ellis and/or veteran Alex Lyon and staple Luukkonen to the bench.

The Wrap-Up: The Sabres tried to go punch-for-punch with the Blue Jackets Thursday, but it turns out the Jackets have some pretty hard punchers – most notably, the newly-acquired star winger Matthew Knies, who put up a pair of goals and three points in his Blue Jackets debut. And veteran Charlie Coyle also put up a game-high three assists and three points. The Jackets were amped up and ready to go, and every time Buffalo punched at the Blue Jackets, the Jackets punched back.

Overall, the Sabres were sloppy, and you can blame that on the lack of a pre-season if you want, but the bottom line is they’re in the loss column. But they’ll have a chance to win Saturday when they host the Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago doesn’t have star Connor Bedard, so there’s no excuses for Buffalo if they can’t earn the ‘W’.