It's hard not to feel bad for Buffalo Sabres fans. They have the longest playoff drought in North American sports history, and they can't seem to get themselves out of a rebuild that feels like it's been going on for a decade. The 2025-26 season presented a possible chance to break through in the Atlantic Division, finally, but a series of injuries has put their season off to a bad start.
Owen Power and Zach Benson missed the Sabres' first game, which they lost 4-0 to the New York Rangers in a game that was closer than the score showed. Power has a chance to get back in the lineup for Saturday night's game against the Boston Bruins, but Benson didn't make the trip as he ended up hospitalized after suffering a facial cut at Wednesday's practice.
While the Sabres allowed three goals in the final five minutes of Thursday's game to lose to the Rangers, the biggest loss in those final five was Josh Norris. Norris took a seemingly normal faceoff in the neutral zone and immediately collapsed to the ice in pain, holding what looked to be his surgically-repaired shoulder.
The Sabres acquired Norris from the Ottawa Senators last season, knowing about his extensive injury history in that shoulder. It was a risk to take, and the risk hasn't paid off, as Norris only appeared in four games for the Sabres since that trade, and in two of those, he didn't finish the game because of an injury. There comes a time when Norris might have to consider his future, and suffering an injury when trying to snap back a faceoff isn't great news.
Bruins vs. Sabres on Saturday night
The Bruins have proven some of the doubters wrong by winning their first two games of the season. Extending that to 3-0 on Saturday night would get people hopping back on the bandwagon, and with the question marks surrounding Buffalo, there is no reason why Boston can't do that.
Saturday night will tell us a lot about this year's Bruins team. A top-half, contending team would find a way to win at all costs. That is what the good teams do when they face bad opponents who are struggling through injuries. If the Sabres keep pace with the Bruins, it might show that, despite the 2-0 start, Boston is one of those bad teams.