Sharpen Up: April 28, 2021 | Sabres practice today before facing Bruins

The Buffalo Sabres wrapped up their season series with the New York Rangers last night. New York won 3-1 and finished 6-1-1 against Buffalo this year. The Sabres earned points in four of those games, going 2-4-2.
The team is in Boston for practice today. Stay tuned to Sabres.com, the team's social media channels and the new Sabres app for the latest news.
Here's what you need to know.

A look back at last night

In the second start of his career, goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen boxed out the pressures of making his first road start at Madison Square Garden and made 38 saves for the Sabres, who were unable to capitalize on their own offensive chances in a 3-1 loss to the New York Rangers.
Sam Reinhart scored the lone goal of the game for Buffalo. He has a team-leading 22 on the season.

You can read all about it in the game recap.
Granato said he could see Luukkonen's confidence in the way he carried himself on the ice. He noted the way the rookie stood his ground amid net-front scrums, battled to see shots through traffic, and aggressively faced shooters.
"That's everything, as we know, to be confident," Granato said. "You can see that in a player's posture and how he carries himself. He was good."

The Sabres pounced on the Rangers during the first 20 minutes, earning a 16-6 edge in the shot column and a 7-0 advantage in high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin kept them off the board long enough for the Rangers to make their push during the second period.
"I think it would have been a different game if we bear down early," Casey Mittelstadt said.
There's more for you in our Postgame Report.
And if you missed it, interim assistant coach Dan Girardi joined Brian Duff and Martin Biron on the pregame show to talk about the positives he's seen in Buffalo's young defensive corps:

What's next

The Sabres face the Boston Bruins tomorrow night at TD Garden to open up a two-game series. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. Catch the action on MSG and WGR 550. Pregame coverage on MSG starts at 6:30.

The finalists for 'The Rico' are…

The final round of voting for the inaugural Rick Martin Memorial Award is now live at Sabres.com/RicoVote.
The finalists for the "The Rico," which will be presented annually to the player whom fans believe best embodies what it means to be a Buffalo Sabre, (in alphabetical order) are:
These five players had the most fan votes after the first round of voting closed on Monday.
Polls for the finals close Friday at 5 p.m.

Tonight: New episode of 'Embedded'

"Buffalo Sabres: Embedded" presented by BlueCross BlueShield will return with a new episode tonight.
"Dylan's Debut" centers on Dylan Cozens' first season in the NHL. The episode will air at 7 p.m. on the Buffalo Sabres' official YouTube channel and Facebook page, and later this evening on Sabres.com.

Produced by Pegula Sports and Entertainment, "Dylan's Debut" tracks Cozens' journey from the Yukon to Buffalo. The episode features never-before-seen interviews with Cozens and his family leading up to the 2019 NHL Draft in Vancouver, where the Sabres selected Cozens seventh overall.

NHL announces new TV/multimedia deal with Turner Sports

The NHL and Turner Sports announced a seven-year media rights agreement Tuesday that will have regular-season, Stanley Cup Playoff and Stanley Cup Final games televised on TNT and TBS starting next season and running through 2027-28.
Turner Sports, a division of WarnerMedia, joins The Walt Disney Co. and ESPN as the NHL's national media rights partners in the United States for the next seven seasons. The NHL, The Walt Disney Co. and ESPN announced a multiplatform media rights deal March 10.
The NHL joins the NBA, MLB and the NCAA men's basketball tournament as partners with Turner Sports.
As part of the agreement, Turner Sports networks will televise the NHL Winter Classic, the annual New Year's Day outdoor game, in all seven seasons of the deal.
It will televise all games in the Stanley Cup Final in 2023, 2025 and 2027, one conference final series each season, and half of the first two rounds of the playoffs, plus 72 regular-season games per season.
Read more here.