Rangers vs. Sabres: Lineups, storylines, how to watch 1st road game
The New York Rangers know all too well what it feels like to lose a season opener in front of your home fans. And they’d enjoy nothing more than to make the Buffalo Sabres share in that same misery when the teams meet Thursday at KeyBank Center.
The Rangers (0-1-0) were shut out 3-0 by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, putting a damper on the start to what they hope is a redemptive season after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs a year ago.
Playing their first road game Thursday, the Rangers have the opportunity to turn the tables on the Sabres, who open their 2025-26 schedule in front of their home fans.
“It’ll be emotional, just like the one was [Tuesday] night for us,” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said following practice Wednesday. “So, we have to try and use that energy in a positive way.”
The Rangers are uniquely positioned to cause trouble for the Sabres on Thursday, and not just because Buffalo’s in a non-stop cycle of rebuilding after failing to reach the postseason 14 straight seasons.
Since 2021-22, the Rangers are one of the best road teams in the NHL. They rank second in points (206) and third in wins (94) on the road in that span. Even during an overall downturn last season, the Rangers managed to win 20 games on the road (20-17-4).
The Sabres, though, had their best home record (23-15-3) in 15 years last season, despite finishing 14th out of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference and 26th overall in the NHL with 79 points.
The Rangers lost two of three (1-2-0) to the Sabres last season; they were shellacked 6-1 at The Garden on Nov. 7 and 8-2 in Buffalo on Feb. 22, sandwiched around a 3-2 road win at KeyBank Center on Dec. 11. The Sabres are 5-2-3 in their past 10 games against the Rangers.
3 storylines when Rangers visit Sabres
1. Will Borgen milestone takes place where it all started
Rangers defenseman Will Borgen plays his 300th NHL game Thursday. Coincidentally, it comes against the Sabres, who selected Borgen in the fourth round (No. 92 overall) in the 2015 draft. He made his NHL debut with the Sabres on March 26, 2019, at the age of 23, and played 14 games with them before he was taken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft by the Seattle Kraken.
Acquired last December by the Rangers in the Kaapo Kakko trade, Borgen’s been a nice second-pair fit on Broadway. He opened this season with Carson Soucy as his partner, reprising their pairing from when they were Kraken teammates.
Borgen and Soucy each had a team-high three blocked shots against the Penguins, and Borgen was credited with two hits in 17:53 TOI. The Rangers had an expected goal share of 68.49 percent with Borgen on the ice 5v5 on Tuesday, per Natural Stat Trick.
Though not a major point producer, Borgen does have three assists in six career games against the Sabres.
2. Rangers coach seeks ‘conviction’ with on-ice decisions
Sullivan admitted that the Rangers appeared “disconnected” in some areas of their game against the Penguins — new systems, new line combinations, first time this specific group played in a game together this season. So, it’s understandable, if not acceptable.
But here’s what the Rangers coach singled out as something he wants to see from his players in Buffalo.
“Making decisions with conviction,” Sullivan explained Wednesday. “I think if we make decisions with conviction, even if they’re wrong, it gives us an opportunity to react to it away from you. When there’s hesitation, I think all the reads and decisions away from you become more difficult.”
That leads to more predictability and trust between the players. In turn, that helps build the on-ice structure, as defined by the coaching staff. That’s building a foundation.
Sounds simple. But as the season opener proved, it isn’t such an easy thing to do when everyone is still adjusting to a slew of changes. Let’s see if it all looks better against the Sabres in Game 2.
3. Injury, lineup updates for Rangers and Sabres
The Rangers will go with the same lineup as Tuesday, with Igor Shesterkin starting in goal again after a terrific 27-save performance in the opener. J.T. Miller didn’t look quite right against the Penguins in his first game back after sustaining a lower-body injury in training camp. But Miller will be back in there Thursday, as will Artemi Panarin, who played his first game of any kind in six months Tuesday after a pair of injuries kept him out of preseason action.
There was recent concern in Buffalo that the Sabres would be without two of their top defensemen to begin the season. But Owen Power (undisclosed injury) practiced in full Wednesday and is expected to be activated off IR in time to play against the Rangers. And Mattias Samuelsson (undisclosed) practiced three straight days and should also be in the opening-night lineup after he was sidelined Sept. 26.
Three key Sabres begin the season on IR: goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (lower body), forward Jordan Greenway (middle body) and defenseman Michael Kesselring (undisclosed).
In addition, former Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev was placed on waivers Tuesday after the Sabres claimed rookie goalie Colten Ellis off waivers from the St. Louis Blues. Ellis will back up Alex Lyon against the Rangers.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Artemi Panarin — Vincent Trocheck — Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle — J.T. Miller — Mika Zibanejad
Conor Sheary — Noah Laba– Taylor Raddysh
Adam Edstrom — Sam Carrick — Matt Rempe
Vladislav Gavrikov — Adam Fox
Carson Soucy — Will Borgen
Urho Vaakanainen — Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Rangers vs. Sabres: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Buffalo Sabres
When: Thursday Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: KeyBank Center
How to watch: MSG
