Баффало Сэйбс өнгөрсөн улирлын амжилтаа ахиулахын тулд энэ удаад илүү сайжирсан Нью-Йорк Рейнжерс багтай хүч үзэхээр бэлтгэж байна.
Баффало Сэйбс 2025-26 оны NHL-ийн улирлыг Атлантик дивизионы тэргүүн байрт дуусгаж, плэй-оффийн эхний шатанд Бостон Бруинсийг хожсон амжилттайгаар өндөрлүүлсэн. Энэхүү амжилтын дараа багийн удирдлага болон хөгжөөн дэмжигчид дараагийн улирлаас өндөр хүлээлттэй байна. Баффало Сэйбс болон Нью-Йорк Рейнжерс багуудын хувьд 2026-27 оны улиралд нийт гурван удаа учраа тааран тоглохоор хуваарьлагджээ.
Нью-Йорк Рейнжерс багийн ерөнхий менежер Крис Друри сүүлийн хоёр жилийн хангалтгүй үр дүнг засахын тулд бүрэлдэхүүндээ томоохон өөрчлөлтүүдийг хийлээ. Багийн шинэ бүрэлдэхүүнд Павел Дорофеев, Жоонас Корписало, Маркус Петтерссон, Шон Дурзи, Оливер Бьоркстранд болон Жо Велено нар нэгдсэн байна. Ялангуяа хамгаалалтын шугамаа бэхжүүлсэн нь хаалгач Игорь Шестеркиний тоглолтод эерэгээр нөлөөлөх хүлээлттэй байгаа юм.
Өнгөрсөн улирлын тухайд Баффало Сэйбс Нью-Йорк Рейнжерсийн эсрэг гурван тоглолтоос хоёр хожил авсан үзүүлэлттэй байв. Гэвч энэ удаагийн шинэчлэгдсэн бүрэлдэхүүнтэй Нью-Йорк Рейнжерс багийг хожихын тулд Баффало Сэйбсээс илүү их хүчин чармайлт, тогтвортой тоглолт шаардагдах болно. Багуудын анхны тулаан 11 дүгээр сарын 25-нд Баффало хотод болох хуваарьтай байна.
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By-and-large, the Buffalo Sabres had a great 2025-26 season, finishing atop the Atlantic Division, then beating the Boston Bruins in their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series. That was manna from heaven for Sabres fans – and now, their appetite has been whetted.
Meanwhile, here at TheHockeyNews.com, we’re analyzing the Sabres’ Eastern Conference opponents in an online series called “Know Your Enemy”. In each file in this series, we’re breaking down how Buffalo played against each East team, in addition to how they’re likely fare against the team this year. And in this file, we’re turning our attention to the New York Rangers.
The Rangers have one of the biggest markets in the league to try and satisfy, but there’s no assurance they’ll be better enough this year to challenge for a playoff position. Here’s this writer’s perspective on how the Sabres will do in their three regular-season showdowns this year:
NEW RANGERS PLAYERS: Pavel Dorofeyev (RW), Joonas Korpisalo (G), Marcus Pettersson (D), Sean Durzi (D), Oliver Bjorkstrand (RW), Joe Veleno (C)
2025-26 SERIES: Sabres 2-1-0, Islanders 1-2-0
2026-27 GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER: November 25 at Buffalo; February 15 at Rangers; March 6 at Buffalo
CAN THE SABRES BEAT THIS TEAM? The Sabres took two out of three games against the Rangers last season, but this is a significantly-changed Blueshirts roster, as GM Chris Drury is under all sorts of pressure to get his team back into the post-season after two calamitous years of constant letdown. And by THN.com’s standards, the Rangers did have one of the better off-seasons of any NHL team.
So, the Rangers team Buffalo takes on this year will be considerably different than the one they saw last season. And the biggest area of improvement – other than adding former Vegas Golden Knights sniper Dorofeyev – is on defense, where Drury picked up Pettersson from the Vancouver Canucks, and Durzi was acquired from Utah in the trade that sent veteran center Vincent Trocheck to the Mammoth.
That improvement will almost certainly help star goaltender Igor Shesterkin, but if Shesterkin is injured for any significant stretch, and the Sabres are playing the Blueshirts during one of those stretches, the Rangers’ new backup – former Bruins and Ottawa Senators veteran Korpisalo – Buffalo will need to take advantage of that matchup.
Otherwise, the Rangers will be a tougher opponent for the Sabres than they’ve been for a while now. Drury still desperately needs some internal improvement and young players to step up and evolve into difference-makers, but he’s been given a mandate by Rangers ownership to retool instead of rebuild. That may be a decision the Blueshirts come to regret, but for now, at least, the Rangers will be harder to knock around for Buffalo.
And while we still expect the Sabres to win the season series against the Rangers this season, it’s going to take a stronger effort, and a consistent thrust from Buffalo to get the job done and keep the Rangers out of the playoff picture yet again.
