The head-to-head history of the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres ahead of the 2023-2024 regular season-opening game.
By the Numbers:
Games Played Head to Head: 199
Overall Record: 87-79-33
Goals Scored (NYR): 617, 3.10 goals per game
Goals Scored (BUF): 613, 3.08 goals per game
Shutouts: 10 (NYR/BUF)
1977-1978 Playoffs:
The Buffalo Sabres were only 8 years old when they downed the mighty New York Rangers 2-1 in the preliminary round of the 1978 playoffs.
Led by Gilbert Perreault and Danny Gare, the Sabres posted 4-1 victories in games 1 and 3 to advance to the conference semi-final, where they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers.
The two teams would not play again in the postseason for another 30 years.
2007 Playoffs: The last playoff appearance the Buffalo Sabres made was 12 seasons ago. They defeated the New York Rangers in six games in the Eastern Conference Semi-Final. The club was led by Daniel Briere, Thomas Vanek, and current Rangers General Manager Chris Drury.
The series featured two overtime games and two one-goal games. It was Henrik Lundqvist's first post-season appearance.
The Sabres would lose in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Ottawa Senators, and the next season Jaromir Jagr would depart New York. The Rangers would not win a first-round series until 2012.
2018 Winter Classic: On January 1st, 2018, the two teams met outdoors for the 10th annual Winter Classic in Citi Field, Queens.
The Rangers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Paul Carey and Michael Grabner and surrendered two goals to Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Ristolainen.
The game took extra innings. Jimmy Vesey drew a penalty that led to a powerplay. Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Shattenkirk assisted JT Miller to win the game in overtime.
It would stand as the last bright spot for the club for a period of time, as they entered a rebuild at the 2018 trade deadline.
2021 Division: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL realigned its divisions. Because of the change, the Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers played head-to-head 8 times.
The Rangers won 6 of the 8 contests. Most notably, Alexis Lafreniere scored his first career goal, an overtime winner, on January 28th, 2021.
Notable Players:
Pat LaFontaine: Played for both organizations. He holds a plethora of Sabres franchise records and played one season in Manhattan in 1997-1998.
Dominik Hasek: Arguably the greatest of all-time, "The Dominator" played in 37 games against the Rangers with a record of 17-12-6.
Ryan Miller: Backstopped the Sabres to a series victory over the New York Rangers in 2007. It was his first season as a starter, where he and the club opened the regular season on a 10-game win streak. At the height of his career, the Toronto media nicknamed him "The Leaf Killer." His number 30 is in the Keybank Arena Rafters.
Henrik Lundqvist: "The King" had a career record of 22-13-3 against the Sabres in 38 games played.