The dirtiest work on the stat sheet from the Buffalo Sabres' opener? An easy call.
In his debut with the team, defenseman Robert Hagg blocked a game-high six shots and played nearly 3½ minutes of penalty-killing time out of his total of 19 minutes, 41 seconds. Three of his blocks came on one second-period penalty.
"That's what I'm trying to bring every night, play hard, play physical and blocking shots when you have to do that," said Hagg, who played the last four years in Philadelphia and was acquired in July as part of the Rasmus Ristolainen trade. "I think that's something everybody can do. I don't know if I can say I was lucky last night to block a couple but it's part of my game and I tried to do that to help the team win.
"My game without the puck has always been my strength. Right now I want to keep pushing that but I want to still take another step and play with the puck, make plays, the correct plays at the right time. And just evolve as a player."
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Hagg is familiar with KeyBank Center from his days with the Flyers and said he was pumped by the atmosphere he saw here Thursday even though the announced attendance was only a shade over 8,400.
"Last night was amazing," Hagg said. "Especially in the third period, they started singing and cheering. It was unbelievable. A couple of guys came up on the bench and said, 'I haven't seen this for a long time.' Guys were just laughing about it and having fun with it. You're actually sitting on the bench in the third period, having goosebumps when they start singing and clapping and all that, so it was a lot of fun."
Cozens' big backcheck
Another unsung play from the opener? Dylan Cozens' furious backcheck to steal the puck from Montreal's Josh Anderson in the neutral zone and get it going the other way. It never left the Montreal end as Victor Olofsson's power-play goal gave the Sabres a 3-1 lead and put them in charge for keeps. Cozens had been on the bench for several minutes of real time due to penalties that needed to be killed so both he and coach Don Granato were itching to get him back on the ice.
"As soon as I got out again, I wanted to make an impact," Cozens said. "He was skating the puck and I thought he was going to ice, then went to skate the puck, so I just tracked back as hard as I could, stripped the puck from him and we went the other way.
"He backchecked, stripped the puck, created the opportunity for the goal that became a big goal, denied momentum the other way and obviously created momentum our way," Granato said. "So a subtlety but a big play in the game at a big moment. ... He's maturing before our eyes, he really is. He's picking up more detail, playing harder and he's elevating his game and game intensity."
Alumni report
• Two former Sabres will make their first return visits to Buffalo with the Arizona Coyotes for Saturday's game.
Goalie Carter Hutton, who signed a one-year, $750,000 contract with Arizona in the offseason, got the start in Thursday's opener at Columbus but got shelled in an 8-2 loss as he stopped only 18 of 26 shots. In the wake of that one, backup Karel Vejmelka may get his NHL debut in net.
Also returning is center Johan Larsson, who signed a two-year, $2.8 million contract with the Coyotes in 2020. Larsson had eight goals and six assists in 52 games last year, and got an assist on one of the two Arizona goals Thursday.
• Sam Reinhart skated 18:32 but had no points in his first game for the Florida Panthers, a 5-4 overtime win Thursday over Pittsburgh. Another former Sabre, Evan Rodrigues, had a goal and seven shots on goal in the game for the Penguins.
• Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, whom the Sabres traded to acquire Hagg and a first-round pick last July, missed Friday's season opener with Philadelphia against Vancouver with an upper-body injury. Ristolainen did, however, take the morning skate and could play as soon as Monday's game against Seattle.
• Linus Ullmark will be the backup goalie for Boston in Saturday's season opener against Dallas as the Bruins opted to start Jeremy Swayman. The Bruins are here to meet the Sabres Oct. 22. Swayman put up a .932 save percentage in the preseason while Ullmark struggled mightily at .839, the fourth-worst mark among the 27 NHL goalies who played at least 100 minutes in the preseason.
"Just gotta tighten up,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said this week when asked about Ullmark. “Some pucks are finding their way through and for a big man, that’ll be a challenge. That’s how a lot of goalies are judged. Do they get beat with good shots or are they getting through you?"
Saturday's promotions
The game is being billed as "Harvest Fest," with family-themed fall activities being featured. Up to four kids tickets can be purchased at $15 each with the purchase of one regular-priced adult ticket.
There will be a Party in the Plaza beginning at 11 a.m. with music, food and drink as well as activities like a petting zoo and pumpkin-carving demonstration. The first 5,000 kids in attendance will receive Halloween totes. All fans will receive a commemorative magnet schedule.
