Buffalo Sabres Week in Review (Jan. 6 - Jan. 18)

Photo Credit: Buffalo Sabres Multimedia Photo Galleries

The Buffalo Sabres ended their homestand with a 3-1-1 record, picking up seven of ten possible points. They currently sit in the second wildcard with two games in hand on most teams. The upcoming schedule for the rest of the month will be massive, with big conference matchups on the horizon. 

Additionally, head coach Lindy Ruff coached his 1,900th career NHL game, becoming the third head coach in league history to reach that mark. 

Upcoming Schedule:

• Jan. 19th – Carolina Hurricanes

• Jan. 20th – Nashville Predators

• Jan. 22nd – Montreal Canadiens

• Jan. 24th – New York Islanders

Below is a detailed look at the last seven games:

Buffalo Sabres vs. Vancouver Canucks – Jan. 6th, 2025

Final: 5 (BUF) - 3 (VAN)

The Buffalo Sabres held on for a 5-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night to snap a brief skid and get back into the win column.

Tage Thompson opened the scoring just two minutes into the first period, collecting a loose puck in the slot and beating Thatcher Demko inside the left post. Later in the frame, with Vancouver on the power play, Ryan McLeod finished a short-handed 2-on-1 rush, burying a wrist shot off a feed from Alex Tuch to make it 2-0.

Alex Tuch extended the lead to 3-0 in the second period, taking Bo Byram’s backhand cross-crease pass at the back door and quickly putting it past Demko.

Zach Metsa scored his first NHL goal early in the third, jumping into the right circle and snapping a wrist shot far side in his 12th career NHL game.

Vancouver mounted a late push, beginning with Jake DeBrusk’s power-play goal from the doorstep to end Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s shutout bid. Elias Pettersson followed with a spinning wrist shot from the slot, and Liam Ohgren pulled the Canucks within one just 39 seconds later, beating a screened Luukkonen through the five-hole.

Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff called a timeout to settle things down, and the Sabres responded. Josh Doan sealed the win with an empty-net goal with just over a minute remaining.

Three Stars:

#1. Alex Tuch (BUF) – 1G, 1A

#2. Bo Byram (BUF) – 2A

#3. Zach Metsa (BUF) – 1G

Buffalo Sabres vs. New York Rangers – Jan. 8th, 2026

Final: 5 (BUF) - 2 (STL)

Mattias Samuelsson recorded a short-handed goal and an assist as the Buffalo Sabres won their 12th game in 13 outings, defeating the New York Rangers 5-2 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.

It marked Buffalo’s first 12-in-13 stretch in more than 20 years.

Josh Doan opened the scoring early in the first period, stuffing home a one-timer from the slot off a pass from Samuelsson behind the goal line. Alex Tuch made it 2-0 in the second with a shot from above the right hash marks off a drop pass from Bo Byram.

Mika Zibanejad cut the deficit to one, but Buffalo restored its two-goal cushion later in the frame when Jason Zucker scored on the power play.

Vincent Trocheck scored 51 seconds into the third period to pull New York within one again, but goaltender Colten Ellis turned aside nine shots after the goal. Samuelsson then delivered a highlight-reel short-handed tally just 14 seconds after Peyton Krebs was assessed a double-minor, giving Buffalo a 4-2 lead.

Ryan McLeod added an empty-net goal late to seal the win.

Three Stars:

#1. Jason Zucker (BUF) – 1G, 1A

#2. Mattias Samuelsson (BUF) – 1G, 1A 

#3. Colten Ellis (BUF) – .938 SV%

Buffalo Sabres vs. Anaheim Ducks – Jan. 12th, 2026

Final: 5 (BUF) - 3 (ANA)

Jack Quinn scored twice as the Buffalo Sabres held on for a 5-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks at KeyBank Center on Saturday night.

Quinn opened the scoring early, finishing a 2-on-1 by taking a feed from Ryan McLeod and lifting the puck high over Lukas Dostal’s glove from the right circle. Tage Thompson doubled the lead in the second, finishing from the doorstep after Josh Doan forced a turnover high in the zone to spark the sequence.

Bo Byram made it 3-0 in the third period, jumping into the slot and snapping a shot off the right post and in after a pass from Thompson behind the net.

Anaheim responded late, with Olen Zellweger slipping a backhand through Luukkonen’s pads to make it 3-1. Quinn struck again just 44 seconds later to restore the three-goal cushion, but the Ducks weren’t done.

Leo Carlsson pulled Anaheim within two after his wrist shot deflected off Rasmus Dahlin’s stick, and Mason McTavish made it a one-goal game with the goalie pulled, beating Luukkonen glove side.

Josh Norris iced the game with an empty-net goal at 19:49.

Three Stars:

#1. Jack Quinn (BUF) – 2G

#2. Tage Thompson (BUF) – 1G, 1A

#3. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen – .917 SV%

Buffalo Sabres vs. Florida Panthers – Jan. 12th, 2026

Final: 4 (FLA) - 3 (BUF)

Anton Lundell scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period as the Florida Panthers snapped the Buffalo Sabres’ win streak with a 4-3 victory at KeyBank Center.

Former Sabre Sam Reinhart opened the scoring with a power-play goal, but Jacob Bryson tied the game by snapping a shot through traffic and past Sergei Bobrovsky.

A.J. Greer restored Florida’s lead with a shot from the top of the right circle, before Zach Benson jammed in a rebound late in the second period to tie it 2-2.

Lundell put the Panthers ahead in the third, and Greer added an empty-net goal for his second of the night. Alex Tuch cut the deficit to one with 14 seconds remaining, batting in a rebound with the extra attacker on, but Buffalo couldn’t generate another chance off the ensuing faceoff.

Three Stars:

#1. Anton Lundell (FLA) – 1G

#2. Carter Verhaeghe (FLA) – 3A

#3. Zach Benson (BUF) – 1G

Buffalo Sabres vs. Philadelphia Flyers – Jan. 14th, 2026

Final: 5 (BUF) - 2 (PHI)

Rasmus Dahlin scored twice on the power play as the Buffalo Sabres earned their 14th win in 16 games with a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 20 saves, while Buffalo scored five goals on just 14 shots.

Dahlin opened the scoring with a snap shot from the top of the right circle, and Mattias Samuelsson made it 2-0 after taking a feed from Noah Ostlund in the slot. The play began with Josh Doan intercepting a pass in the neutral zone.

Jack Quinn extended the lead early in the second period, finishing a centering feed from Ryan McLeod. Owen Tippett answered for Philadelphia, but Dahlin restored the three-goal lead with his second power-play marker from the high slot.

Trevor Zegras cut it to 4-2 late, before McLeod sealed the win with a short-handed empty-net goal in the final seconds.

Three Stars:

#1. Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) – 2G

#2. Josh Doan (BUF) – 2A

#3. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (BUF) – .909 SV%

Buffalo Sabres vs. Montreal Canadiens – Jan. 15th, 2026

Final: 5 (BUF) - 3 (PHI)

Tage Thompson recorded five points (3G, 2A) for the Buffalo Sabres in a 5-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.

Cole Caufield gave Montreal a 1-0 lead early in the first period after he scored on the rebound to open the scoring. Just under a minute later, Thompson tied it 1-1 on the power play, firing a snap shot short side. 

On another man advantage, Josh Doan made it 2-1 for Buffalo after he roofed the puck under the bar. However, Montreal would respond before the end of the first, with Ivan Demidov capitalizing on the 5-on-3 to tie the game at two. 

Nick Suzuki put the Canadiens ahead 3-2 with another power-play goal early into the second period, but Alex Tuch answered with a one-timer from the left circle to tie the game at three.

Thompson scored his second of the night, and the 200th goal of his NHL career, in the third period. He completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal to secure the win.

Three Stars:

#1. Tage Thompson (BUF) – 3G, 2A

#2. Josh Doan (BUF) – 1G, 1A

#3. Alex Tuch (BUF) – 1G

Buffalo Sabres vs. Minnesota Wild – Jan. 17th, 2026

Final/OT: 5 (MIN) - 4 (BUF)

Mats Zuccarello scored a power-play goal at 1:46 of overtime to end the Buffalo Sabres win streak on Saturday afternoon.

Marcus Foligno gave the Wild a 1-0 lead in the first period, pushing a pass from Tarasenko past starting goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Ryan McLeod tied it 1-1 under a minute later when Jack Quinn’s centering pass on the rush went off his skate and past Filip Gustavsson.

Ryan Hartman restored Minnesota’s lead in the final seconds of the frame, redirecting Quinn Hughes’ pass through the crease at the back door. Vladimir Tarasenko then made it 3-1 just over a minute into the second period with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle.

Peyton Krebs cut it to 3-2 on a redirection of Mattias Samuelsson’s shot pass from above the left circle, and then Quinn tied it 3-3 after outmuscling Brock Faber to push in the rebound of Rasmus Dahlin’s shot.

Alex Tuch gave Buffalo their first lead of the game on the power play with just under five minutes remaining in the second period. He took a feed from Tage Thompson low in the right circle and beat Gustavsson short side. However, Hughes would knot things back up just 57 seconds after Tuch’s goal. 

In the dying seconds of regulation, Peyton Krebs was whistled for hooking, giving the Wild a power play to start overtime. As the man advantage was winding down, Buffalo iced the puck and attempted a quick line change. Capitalizing on the moment, Filip Gustavsson fired a stretch pass to Kirill Kaprizov, who sent a cross-ice feed to Mats Zuccarello. Zuccarello snapped the puck past a sprawling Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to seal the win.

Three Stars:

#1. Quinn Hughes (MIN) – 1G, 1A

#2. Mats Zuccarello (MIN) – 1G, 1A

#3. Jack Quinn (BUF) – 1G, 1A

Notable Injuries:

• Alex Lyon (G): Day-to-day (Lower Body)

• Josh Norris (F): Week-to-week (Ribs)

• Justin Danforth (D): Week-to-week (Lower Body)

• Conor Timmins (D): Week-to-week (Broken Leg)

• Josh Dunne (F): Week-to-week (Undisclosed)

• Jiri Kulich (F): LTIR (Ear)

Notable Transactions:

• Konsta Helenius (F): Recalled from Rochester (AHL) – Jan. 15

• Zac Jones (D): Sent back to Rochester (AHL) – Jan. 14

• Noah Ostlund (F): Recalled from Rochester (AHL) – Dec. 13

• Zachary Metsa (D): Recalled from Rochester (AHL) – Dec. 7