The Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils start the 2024-25 NHL regular season, with the very first game being played in Prague, Czechia on Friday, October 4 (10/24/2024).
How to watch: Stream Buffalo Sabres hockey on fuboTV (free trial).
Here’s what you need to know:
What: NHL Global Series
Who: Devils @ Sabres
When: Friday, Oct. 4, 2024
Time: 1 p.m. EDT
Where: O2 Arena, Prague, Czechia
TV: NHL Network, MSG
Channel finder: DirecTV, Verizon Fios, Cox, Xfinity, Spectrum, Optimum
Live stream: fuboTV (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial), Sling (half off first month), Hulu + Live TV (free trial)
The 2024 Buffalo Sabres are back under the direction of Lindy Ruff for his second tenure as head coach in Buffalo. Ruff previously coached from 1997 to 2013, before stints with the Dallas Stars, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils. Now, he’s back in Buffalo on a mission to bring accountability to a team that has not reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2011.
Last season was challenging for the Sabres, who finished 39-37-6 with 84 points, and sixth in the Atlantic Division, missing out on the postseason entirely for the 13th season in a row. Ultimately Buffalo finished going 4-3 to wrap the season in April.
The Sabres have talent at forward with Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozen and JJ Peterka, and on defense with Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power and Bowen Byram. It will be down to Ruff to see if he can build cohesion where Don Granato couldn’t.
They’ll open against one of their Eastern Conference rivals, the New Jersey Devils, who are coming off a 38-39-5 season that also saw them miss the Playoffs.
Both games take place in Prague. Here’s the series schedule:
- Devils @ Sabres, Friday, October 4, 1 p.m. on NHLN (STREAM)
- Sabres @ Devils, Saturday, October 5, 10 a.m. on NHLN (STREAM)
Can I bet on the game?
Yes, you can bet on the Sabres from your phone in New York State, and we’ve compiled some of the best introductory offers to help navigate your first bets from BetMGM, FanDuel, DraftKings, Bet365 and more.
The Devils are -148 to win, according to DraftKings.
Here’s a recent NHL story by The Associated Press:
PRAGUE (AP) — Ondrej Palat has won the Stanley Cup twice. He’s won a gold medal with the Czech Republic at the world championships.
This week, the forward will check another item on his bucket list when his New Jersey Devils and the Buffalo Sabres open the NHL regular season with two games in Prague.
“I have been fortunate enough to realize many of my dreams in hockey,” Palat said. “But to play an NHL hockey game in my beloved Czechia is something I’ve never imagined.”
The NHL global series games on Friday and Saturday will bring the number of regular season games hosted by Prague to nine. Stockholm, Sweden, is the only location outside North America that has had more.
Two more international games will be played in Tampere, Finland, on Nov. 1-2 when defending Stanley Cup champion Florida face the Dallas Stars.
Palat said traveling together for overseas games can be a good team-building experience. Five years ago, he was part of the Tampa Bay Lightning who swept a two-game series against the Sabres in Stockholm. The team went on to win the Stanley Cup in 2020 and again the following year.
“With Tampa, the trip to Stockholm was great for us,” Palat said. “We had some fun and it translated on the ice and we played great. We need to do (something) a little bit similar. We’re going to have some fun but also it’s a business trip and we need to start good the season.”
Hockey-crazed Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic have been the go-to destinations for NHL regular season games overseas in recent years. Together with Russia, those countries account for the bulk of the European players in the league.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in August that the league wants to expand to other markets and mentioned Germany, Switzerland and Britain as possibilities. London had two regular season games in 2007 and Berlin one in 2011. Switzerland has never hosted a regular-season game.
The Devils have previously played in Europe; in 2018 they beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The Sabres have played four. Before the losses to Tampa in 2019, they won twice in 2011 against the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 in Helsinki and the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 in Berlin. They played an exhibition game in Munich last week.
Czech NHL players are hugely popular at home and the presence of Palat and Sabres rookie forward Jiri Kulich ensures that Prague’s O2 Arena will be packed this weekend. Palat was on the Czech team that beat Switzerland to win the worlds in the same arena in May.
The Devils signed Palat, who has 101 career postseason points, to a five-year, $30 million contract in 2022, eager to tap his playoffs experience. However, they failed to make the playoffs last spring for the 10th time in 12 seasons.
Sheldon Keefe, who coached the Toronto Maple Leafs to the playoffs in five consecutive seasons, was hired by the Devils to make a difference.
“We’re still learning for sure, but guys want to learn, get better and want to build something sustainable here, recognizing it’s not going to happen overnight,” Keefe said.
The Sabres hope to end a 13-season playoff drought. Coach Lindy Ruff, who guided them to their last postseason in 2011, is back after he was fired by New Jersey. During his previous stint from 1997-2012, Buffalo advanced eight times and reached the Stanley Cup final in 1999.
Ruff needs to improve the offense that produced 2.98 goals per game — 23rd in the league.
The good news for the Sabres is that Jack Quinn is fit after injuries limited him to 27 games last season, and nine goals and 10 assists.
“With the injuries and everything I just haven’t been able to take the steps I’ve wanted as a player yet,” Quinn said. “I feel like last year I would have been able to if I wasn’t injured, so I’m on a mission to do that this year.”
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