Buffalo Sabres: Finally a glimmer of hope for a desperate franchise
By Paul Taylor
1) Carter Hutton
The main reason for hope, came courtesy of Carter Hutton between the pipes. He desperately needed a bounce-back performance after his dismal display against the Bruins and duly obliged.
Hutton kept the Sabres in the game early on, when the Rangers dominated and produced 12 of the first 15 shots of the game on goal. He stopped all 14 shots he faced in the first period, finished the night with 43 saves and was deservedly awarded with the game’s First Star.
The 32-year-old also produced arguably the key moment of the night in the second period, with the Rangers down 2-0 and looking to get back into the game. Faced with a 3-on-0 following a turnover by Tage Thompson and Casey Nelson, Hutton stepped up:
The huuuuge @CarterHutton save that literally brought @KeyBankCtr to its feet. pic.twitter.com/BIxWbsaATh
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) October 7, 2018
Hutton led the NHL in goals against average and save percentage last season. If he produces anything close to that again this season, the Sabres will only have themselves to blame if they don’t improve in the win column.
Talking after the game, the Sabres’ new number one goalie was more concerned with the overall performance, as opposed to his own. As reported by Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News, he said:
"“When that first one went in, truthfully for me it was nice to hear the roar of the crowd. Just battling, it was a great hockey game. They had their chances, we had ours and we battled right to the end.”"