Still, the Sabres managed their share of chances. Hofer made a quick glove save on Michael Kesselring in the final seconds of the first period to hold the score at 1-0. He stopped a point-blank attempt from Alex Tuch in the second period.
When the Sabres did beat Hofer, he had help from the iron surrounding him. Rasmus Dahlin sent one shot off the post midway through the second period, then another off the crossbar in the third. Tuch also ripped a shot off the post as the Sabres pushed for a late comeback.
“I hate to talk about luck and (being) unlucky,” Dahlin said. “You got to earn your goals, and today it wasn’t going in. So maybe some more guys hit the net, distracting the goalie a little bit more. Yeah, should’ve scored a couple more.”
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made his third start of the season and allowed two goals on 16 shots faced. Nick Bjugstad extended the St. Louis lead to 2-0 on a shot from atop the left faceoff circle early in the second period. Luukkonen said he lost the puck as Dahlin extended his stick to defend the shot.
“I’ve got to save that,” Luukkonen said. “I don’t know what the right word for it is, but I didn’t catch it or didn’t see it clean. Our D-man’s stick was there, he played it right, that’s how you have to play it. But sometimes that fools you and it kind of handcuffed me, so, not happy about it. I guess it’s not as easy a situation as it looks.”
Buffalo outshot St. Louis 12-5 in the third period, but the Blues sealed the win with an empty-net goal from Justin Faulk.
The Sabres were missing five opening night starters at forward for the second straight game. The list of absentees included their top-line center (Josh Norris), their assist leader (Zach Benson), and two of their top goal-scoring threats (Jason Zucker and Jiri Kulich).
None of the five players are expected back in time for Saturday’s game in Carolina, when the Sabres will be tasked with earning a road win against one of the league’s premier defensive teams.
“[The Hurricanes] don’t give up a lot, so when we get our opportunities, we’re gonna have to bear down and we’re gonna have to put some in the back of the net,” Tuch said.