Connection is a word that resonates in Buffalo Sabres history. We saw it again Thursday night in a season opener that was nothing short of stunning.
A few hours before the faceoff of the final Opening Night game he would call, Rick Jeanneret gave voice to a stylish video the team tweeted on its feed.
The Sabres rode a 30-save performance by 40-year-old goalie Craig Anderson to a 5-1 season-opening win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Rene Robert, honored in a lovely pregame video tribute of his own, passed away this summer and only Gilbert Perreault is left of the French Connection. The torch of the Sabres has long been passed through the decades since the glorious 1970s and even through the failed years of Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart.
Now there's a new generation, as evidenced by the video's glimpses of the likes of Dylan Cozens, Casey Mittelstadt and Rasmus Dahlin interspersed with shots of the Connection and its statue on Alumni Plaza. What fans are left of this team sure hope this group will grasp what the logo means in ways Eichel and Reinhart never seemed to.
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"Many have worn that crest before you," Jeanneret intoned. "They fought for it, bled for it. Around here, that symbol is a way of life. People fly it from their homes, pin it on their walls, etch it on their skin."
Dare greatly.Fight for it.This thing of ours, is forever.#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/WxfcRhfwTg
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) October 14, 2021
Yes, people are desperate to love their hockey team again. But so many are fed up by a decade of losing, so they sent Terry and Kim Pegula a message in the only way they knew how: By not showing up.
The announced attendance of 8,467 was the smallest for an opener in the building's history. But props to those of you who came. You made such a difference and you got rewarded with a 5-1 crunching of shell-of-itself Stanley Cup finalist Montreal.
The fans cheered hits. They had goals to celebrate. Players now have personal goal songs (props to Anders Bjork for Prince's "Let's Go Crazy"). There were standing ovations after the first and second period and a prolonged one over the final 30 seconds. The crowd sang and chanted, even did the Wave. This was no KeyBank Library.
The building was alive. And it was less than half full. Amazing.
When Kyle Okposo scored the game's first goal on a power play, he went ballistic like a teenager and the place exploded. The 33-year-old just about did a Lambeau Leap into the side glass and the fans were pounding it on the other side.
"Just having the people right there. You don't have those tarps anymore," Okposo said, recalling the stark atmosphere of last season's pandemic hockey. "People are right there and you could see their faces and the energy that they had. I was fired up. I think everybody was fired up tonight to play in front of a normal building."
Goalie Craig Anderson spent a lot of nights here with the Ottawa Senators. He knows what the place is like full. Truth be told, sometimes it can be pretty quiet. But the 40-year-old was thrilled to be in the midst of a raucous crowd for his first game with the Sabres.
"That was an exciting building to be a part of," said Anderson, a rock with 30 saves. "Obviously with it being half full, the energy that was still there was outstanding. The fans were into it. They were energetic. They were loud and proud tonight and that was awesome to be a part of it."
“I think as you watch us, you'll see that night to night we'll be getting better and more efficient in different areas, and eventually it will all start to add up,” Granato says.
Coach Don Granato wanted the Sabres to attack the game and not tip-toe into the game. Did they ever. They piled up seven of the game's first eight shots on goal and never gave back their lead. They never stopped attacking. They went 3 for 6 on the power play and 4 for 4 on the penalty kill. On Tage Thompson's power-play goal in the third period, the puck was on a string and it looked like a Globetrotters-Washington Generals act.
Skating and hitting and effort really resonate in this town. Imagine that.
"That energized our players, there's no question," Granato said of the fans. "They felt they were playing for more than just the 20 guys on the bench so that was kind of cool."
You never make any blanket judgments on one game but it's been obvious to anyone watching training camp how much different Granato approaches the game than Ralph Krueger, who was proven to be a coaching dinosaur last year. The idea that this Eichel-less outfit is some AHL team put out to tank for yet another No. 1 pick is flat-out silly.
For all the talk about young players, you had to love what the Sabres got from their veterans. Okposo looked faster and leaner and meaner than at any point in the last three years. Jeff Skinner, Zemgus Girgensons and Colin Miller had multi-point nights. Robert Hagg, acquired from Philadelphia in the Rasmus Ristolainen deal, was a beast blocking shots on the penalty kill and led the team with six.
Young and old, the fans loved them all. At least for the first night. Let's see how many more nights like this we get this season.
"The men in this arena play for more than glory," Jeanneret voiced in the dramatic close to the club's video. "They play for those who wait for winter. For those attending for the first time. And for those who have made that coooold march down Washington (Street) time and time again.
"And if you earn it, they'll stand alongside you. On bad days. And better days. So dare greatly. Fight for them. This thing of ours is forever."
