At The Final Horn | Subban leaves debut early as Sabres fall to Canes

Malcolm Subban's debut for the Buffalo Sabres ended prematurely Saturday night.
The goaltender, acquired in a trade with Chicago on Thursday, left the 6-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena midway through the third period. During a stoppage in play, he headed to the dressing room with the team's trainer.
He had stopped 19 of 25 shots to that point and was replaced by Aaron Dell, who stopped four shots in the game's final 10:03.
Henri Jokiharju and Zemgus Girgensons scored for Buffalo.
Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen scored twice while Martin Necas, Ian Cole, Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederreiter potted goals as well. Antti Raanta stopped 32 of 34 shots.
Buffalo was 1-for-3 on the man advantage and did not have to kill a penalty, although they did give up a shorthanded goal during a five-minute power play.
Carolina has now won its last 11 games against Buffalo. The Sabres are 0-7-4 against the Hurricanes in that span.

How it happened

Carolina opened the scoring 2:16 in when Teravainen scored on the team's second shot of the game, one-timing in a shot from the slot.
Then with 5:58 left in the first, Necas cashed in on a wraparound that, at first looked like a tremendous paddle save by Subban. But upon review, it was determined that Subban's stick was over the goal line, so when the puck made contact, it was already in the back of the net. That made it 2-0 Hurricanes.
Buffalo got on the board with 31.3 seconds remaining in the opening frame when Jokiharju's point shot made it past Raanta.
However, the good vibes wouldn't last long for Buffalo as Carolina scored three goals to open the second period.
Carolina regained their two-goal edge early in the second period and quickly made it three. Off a faceoff, Cole scored 3:44 in and then Trocheck pounced on a loose puck to beat Subban to make it 4-1.
Niederreiter scored on a breakaway with 9:18 remaining in the period.
With 2:13 left in the second, Trochek hit Thompson along the boards and was assessed a five-minute boarding penalty and a game misconduct. Thompson had to be helped off the ice after hitting his head against the ledge on the boards and headed to the dressing room. Thompson returned to start the third period.
Buffalo capitalized with 25.6 remaining in the period when Girgensons deflected in Jacob Bryson's shot from the point.
Carolina scored shorthanded when Teravainen notched his second of the night off a rebound 1:09 into the third.
With 10:03 remaining in the game, Subban left for the locker room after calling over a trainer during a stoppage in play. He was replaced by Dell, made saves on all four shots he saw.

Roll the highlight film

Here's the power-play goal from Girgensons:

Worthy of a mention

Kyle Okposo extended his point streak to six games with a secondary assist on Girgensons' goal. He has two goals and five assists during the streak. He now leads the team with 17 points.

Coming up

The Sabres return home for a game against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday at KeyBank Center. Faceoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now.
To watch the game from home, you'll need a subscription to ESPN+ or Hulu.