Buffalo Sabres Week in Review (Mar. 2 - Mar. 10)

Photo Credit: Buffalo Sabres Multimedia Photo Galleries

For the first time since the 2009-10 season, the Buffalo Sabres find themselves atop the Atlantic Division with 86 points, riding an eight-game win streak. It’s a stunning turnaround for a team that sat at the bottom of the division just a few short months ago. Now, one of the NHL’s most compelling storylines is unfolding in Buffalo, as the Sabres continue to surge up the standings and capture the attention of hockey fans across the league. With momentum firmly on their side, the Sabres currently have a better chance of winning the Stanley Cup than missing the playoffs, and they remain the only team in the NHL that has yet to lose a game since returning from the Olympic break.

Trade Deadline Additions & Subtractions:

Additions:

• Logan Stanley, D (Acquired from the Winnipeg Jets)

• Luke Schenn, D (Acquired from the Winnipeg Jets)

• Tanner Pearson, F (Acquired from the Winnipeg Jets)

• Sam Carrick, F (Acquired from the New York Rangers)

Subtractions

• Jacob Bryson, D (Traded to the Winnipeg Jets)

• Isak Rosen, F (Traded to the Winnipeg Jets)

• 2026 third-round pick (Traded to the New York Rangers)

• 2026 fourth-round pick (Traded to the Winnipeg Jets)

• 2026 sixth-round pick (Traded to the New York Rangers)

• 2026 seventh-round pick (Traded to the Winnipeg Jets)

• 2027 second-round pick (Traded to the Winnipeg Jets)

Upcoming Schedule: 

• Mar. 12 – Washington Capitals 

• Mar. 14 – Toronto Maple Leafs

Below is a detailed look at the last five games:

Buffalo Sabres vs. Vegas Golden Knights – Mar. 3, 2026

Final: 3 (BUF) - 2 (VGK)

The Buffalo Sabres extended their winning streak to four games with a 3-2 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights as the team returned home to the KeyBank Center on Tuesday.

Between the pipes, Alex Lyon made 27 saves in the victory. 

Jason Zucker gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 4:02 of the first period after Ryan McLeod’s attempt at a cross-ice pass deflected off Eichel’s skate to Zucker at the right post.

Owen Power scored 46 seconds into the second period to make it 2-0. He took the puck off a face-off win by Noah Ostlund and walked to the middle of the blue line for a fluttering wrist shot that beat Schmid over his glove.

Not long after, Tage Thompson received a backhand pass from Alex Tuch at the right circle and beat Schmid bar down to push it to 3-0. 

However, though Vegas would get on the board less than two minutes later, Ivan Barbashev made it 3-1. When Lyon went to his left for a save, Barbashev collected the rebound and scored on a wraparound at the opposite post, with the puck deflecting in off Lyon’s pad. 

Quickly, Pavel Dorofeyev would narrow it to 3-2 after capitalizing on a breakaway.

In the third period, the Sabres failed to get the insurance marker late in the frame but would hold off the Golden Knights' comeback attempt, including getting lucky as Vegas fired the puck off the crossbar in the last few seconds of the game. 

Three Stars:

#1. Tage Thompson (BUF) – 1G

#2. Alex Lyon (BUF) – .931 SV%

#3. Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) – 2A

Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh Penguins – Mar. 5, 2026

Final: 5 (BUF) - 1 (PIT)

The Buffalo Sabres scored three goals in the second period en route to extending their winning streak to five games with a 5-1 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.

Tage Thompson had an assist to extend his career-high point streak to nine games, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves for the Sabres, who have outscored their opponents 19-8 during the streak.

Ryan McLeod put Buffalo ahead 1-0 on a breakaway in the first-period with his NHL-leading fifth short-handed goal of the season. 

Bryan Rust then tied it 1-1 later in the period during a Sabres power play, marking two shorthanded goals scored in the opening frame. 

The Sabres would get a five-minute power-play opportunity in the second period as Evgeni Malkin was ejected just 38 seconds into the frame after being assessed a game misconduct for a slash to the head of Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. 

Josh Norris scored on the ensuing power play, giving Buffalo a 2-1 lead with a wrist shot just outside the crease on the rebound of a point shot from Bowen Byram that deflected off Josh Doan.

Pittsburgh challenged the play for goaltender interference, but it was upheld after a video review. 

Alex Tuch made it 3-1 with a short-handed goal during a delayed penalty, tipping a point shot from Power for his 25th of the season. 

Owen Power then extended the lead to 4-1 on a wrist shot from the left face-off circle that went in off Silovs’ blocker. Capping off the three-goal period for Buffalo. 

Mattias Samuelsson would score an empty-net goal with a spinning shot from the other end in the last few minutes of the third period for the 5-1 final.

Three Stars:

#1. Owen Power (BUF) – 1G, 1A

#2. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (BUF) – .964 SV%

#3. Bryan Rust (BUF) – 1G

Buffalo Sabres vs. Nashville Predators – Mar. 7, 2026

Final: 3 (BUF) - 2 (NSH)

Tage Thompson scored to extend his career-high point streak to 10 games, and the Buffalo Sabres won their sixth straight game, 3-2 against the Nashville Predators at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

Alex Lyon, who is 14-0-2 in his past 16 games, made 23 saves. 

After a scoreless first period, Zachary L'Heureux's first of the season gave the Predators a 1-0 lead early into the second period.

Tage Thompson, however, would tie the game later on in the frame after the puck deflected in off Tyson Jost’s stick to get by Saros. 

Jason Zucker put Buffalo ahead 2-1 not long after when he banged the puck in after a shot from Jack Quinn squeaked through Saros and rolled towards the goal line.

Josh Doan then made it 3-1 just 16 seconds into the third period, taking a Josh Norris saucer pass from the goal line and beating Saros with a snap shot from the low slot inside the left post.

With Saros pulled for the extra attacker and the Predators on the power play, Wood tipped Roman Josi's slap shot past Lyon with just over four-minutes left to cut the lead to one. The Sabres, however, would hold on for the 3-2 final.

Three Stars:

#1. Alex Lyon (BUF) – .920 SV%

#2. Josh Doan (BUF) – 1G

#3. Tage Thompson (BUF) – 1G

Buffalo Sabres vs. Tampa Bay Lightning – Mar. 8, 2026

Final: 8 (BUF) - 7 (TBL)

In one of the most entertaining and chaotic games in recent years, with first place in the Atlantic Division on the line, the Buffalo Sabres won their seventh straight game with an 8-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at KeyBank Center on Sunday.

It was a physical affair between the division rivals, who faced each other for the second time in eight days after the Sabres defeated the Lightning 6-2 in Tampa on Feb. 28. They combined for 70 penalty minutes in the first period, with scrums developing after nearly every whistle. By the end of the game, the teams totalled 102 penalty minutes.

Josh Doan opened the scoring for Buffalo, giving the Sabres a 1-0 lead on the power play in the first period after taking a pass from Tage Thompson along the goal line and lifting it short side over Jonas Johansson.

Jason Zucker extended the lead to 2-0 early in the second period with another power-play goal.

Alex Tuch then scored Buffalo’s third consecutive power-play goal to make it 3-0 at 5:10, tipping Thompson’s shot from the left circle past Johansson glove side while stationed in front of the net.

Tampa Bay responded midway through the period when Corey Perry cut the deficit to 3-1 at 7:55, taking a pass from Nikita Kucherov at the top of the crease and lifting a backhand over Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

Tuch restored Buffalo’s three-goal lead at 11:07, breaking in short-handed and sliding a backhand through Johansson’s pads to make it 4-1.

The Lightning surged back late in the second period. Kucherov cut the lead to 4-2 on the power play at 12:26 with a wrist shot from the right circle that deflected in off Tuch’s skate. Zemgus Girgensons made it 4-3 at 14:46, beating Luukkonen glove side, and Moser tied the game 4-4 at 17:37 with a shot from the slot.

Tampa Bay carried the momentum into the third period, taking its first lead of the game just 59 seconds in when Kucherov scored on a one-timer from the right circle to make it 5-4.

Brayden Point extended the lead to 6-4 at 5:46 when his centering pass was knocked into the net by Buffalo defenseman Bowen Byram.

The Sabres quickly answered. Sam Carrick cut it to 6-5 at 6:12, scoring from the far side of the right circle, for his first in a Buffalo uniform. However, Brandon Hagel pushed the Lightning lead to 7-5 at 9:48 by one-timing a rebound from the left circle.

Buffalo mounted another comeback shortly after. Rasmus Dahlin cut the deficit to 7-6 at 11:03, driving to the net and beating Johansson blocker side with a wrist shot. Jason Zucker then tied the game 7-7 at 14:29 on a breakaway.

The Sabres completed the comeback late in the third period when Josh Doan scored his second goal of the game – and the eventual winner – with 4:17 remaining. Doan swept in a loose puck after Dahlin’s point shot rang off the post for a power-play goal.

Three Stars:

#1. Josh Doan (BUF) – 2G

#2. Jason Zucker (BUF) – 2G, 1A

#3. Tage Thompson (BUF) – 4A

Buffalo Sabres vs. San Jose Sharks – Mar. 10, 2026

Final: 6 (BUF) - 3 (SJS)

Jack Quinn recorded his first NHL hat trick and added an assist as the Buffalo Sabres extended their winning streak to eight games with a 6-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks at KeyBank Center on Tuesday night.

Between the pipes, Alex Lyon made 17 saves for Buffalo. The Sabres have now recorded multiple eight-game winning streaks in a single season for the first time in franchise history and extended their lead atop the Atlantic Division to four points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Quinn opened the scoring early in the first period, burying a wrist shot under the crossbar from the right circle off a pass from Jason Zucker on a 2-on-1 rush. Just minutes later, Alex Tuch tipped a Rasmus Dahlin point shot past Yaroslav Askarov to give Buffalo a 2-0 lead.

San Jose responded midway through the frame when Macklin Celebrini cut the deficit to 2-1. After Will Smith intercepted Tuch’s clearing attempt, he quickly fed Celebrini alone in front, where the rookie slipped a backhand under Lyon’s right arm.

Buffalo restored its two-goal cushion when Beck Malenstyn made a strong move in front to push the lead to 3-1.

Later in the period, with Askarov scrambling at the left side of the crease following a one-timer from Quinn, Jason Zucker found the loose puck at the back door and backhanded it into the net to make it 4-1.

The Sharks got one back late in the second period when Kiefer Sherwood fired a one-timer from the left circle with under a minute remaining to narrow the score to 4-2.

However, Quinn struck again just 42 seconds into the third period, one-timing a feed from Ryan McLeod to extend the Sabres’ lead to 5-2.

Alexander Wennberg cut the deficit to 5-3 on the power play, backhanding a shot from his knees in the slot past Lyon’s right pad. But Quinn sealed the victory late, completing his hat trick with an empty-net goal for the 6-3 final.

Three Stars:

#1. Jack Quinn (BUF) – 3G, 1A

#2. Jason Zucker (BUF) – 1G, 1A

#3. Beck Malenstyn (BUF) – 1G

Notable Injuries:

• Tyson Kozak (F): Day-to-day (Undisclosed)

• Conor Timmins (D): Day-to-day (Leg)

• Justin Danforth (F): Day-to-day (Lower Body)

• Jordan Greenway (F): Week-to-week (Abdomen)

• Jiri Kulich (F): LTIR – Out for the season (Ear)

Notable Transactions:

• Zachary Metsa (D): Sent back to Rochester (AHL) – Mar. 6