Buffalo Sabres: Finally a glimmer of hope for a desperate franchise

2) Connor Sheary announces his arrival to Sabres fans

Hutton wasn’t the only reason for Sabres fans to cheer on Saturday night. Conor Sheary earned the Second Star of the night, after scoring two goals for the home team.

No doubt the Sabres’ management were hoping Sheary would reproduce his form of two seasons ago, when they traded for him back in June. And he started to repay this faith against the Rangers, with both of his goals coming on the power play and the second one offering an exquisite display of team passing:

It’s a good sign for the Sabres, when all three of the game’s stars go to their players. It’s also a positive when Jack Eichel is “only” the Third Star, giving you some indication of the potential strength of this roster.

Eichel finished the night with an assist and the calmly finished open-net goal which clinched the 3-1 win. He also played a career-high 25:45, proving that as the captain he is prepared to lead by example.

The soon-to-be 22-year-old was understandably delighted with the win, but knows the team can still do more. Again reported by Harrington, he said:

"“I thought we stuck with it as a group. We were desperate and won battles when we needed to. It was great to see us get a team win like that and know we can still play better.”"