NHL Game of the Week: New York Rangers vs. Buffalo Sabres

The NHL season is officially in full swing as we head into a major New York State showdown between the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET.

Each team is in a very different state in terms of last season’s success and expectations for this year.

Now two years removed from a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Rangers look to bounce back from a disappointing finish in 2022-2023 that ended in a first-round exit at the hands of the division-rival New Jersey Devils.

New York had stretches of dominance last year and seemed primed for another deep postseason run, but the additions of star wingers Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane via trade never seemed to fully click.

The Blueshirts now approach this new season with a different coach and a different approach.

Former Washington Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette is now at the helm replacing Gerard Gallant on the bench for New York.

Laviolette brings over two decades of head coaching experience which includes a Stanley Cup Championship with the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2005-2006 season.

Along with a new head coach comes a different team-building strategy as well.

As opposed to the top-heavy roster the Rangers trotted out last year, they have now opted to rely more heavily on the young, developing players such as Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko along with depth veterans like Blake Wheeler and Nick Bonino.

On the other end, the Sabres have spent recent years in the midst of a rebuilding phase, which came to a head with the trade of now Stanley Cup Champion Jack Eichel two years ago.

This season, however, Buffalo seems primed to finally make a playoff push.

In the forward group, Jeff Skinner and Victor Olofsson highlight the wings while the real strength is their depth down the middle with Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens and Casey Middlestadt.

Defensively, former number-one overall pick Rasmus Dahlin is one of the league’s very best, but he’s not the only standout number-one pick on this team.

Defenseman Owen Power was a strong contender for the Calder Trophy just last season and looks to have the potential to grow into one of the best in the league in the coming years.

However, the cherry on top of all this young talent may just be the man in goal, Devon Levi.

Levi played just seven games towards the end of March into early April.

Touted as one of the best goaltending prospects in the NHL, Levi finished those seven games with a 2.94 GAA and five wins with a .905 SV% as he looks to parlay that into more success this season, starting with a big matchup against the team he debuted against and defeated twice in two meetings.

Jakob Schnur is a fourth year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jks6463@psu.edu