Buffalo Sabres Week in Review (Mar. 8 - Mar. 22)

Photo Credit: Buffalo Sabres Multimedia Photo Galleries

The Buffalo Sabres enter the final stretch of the regular season as one of the NHL's hottest teams, sitting atop the Atlantic Division with 95 points and one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the Eastern Conference. Buffalo had its eight-game winning streak snapped early on, then reeled off four straight wins on a demanding West Coast road trip before dropping the finale in overtime. Through it all, the Sabres have won 12 of their last 13 games and extended their franchise-record road point streak to 14 games (12-0-2), becoming the 16th team in NHL history to accomplish that feat.

With a playoff berth nearly secured, Sabres fans, who have waited 14 long years for this moment, are on the edge of their seats as the clinch inches closer with every passing game.

Upcoming Schedule:

• Mar. 25 – Boston Bruins

• Mar. 27 – Detroit Red Wings

• Mar. 28 – Seattle Kraken

• Mar. 31 – New York Islanders

Below is a detailed look at the last six games:

Buffalo Sabres vs. Washington Capitals – Mar. 12, 2026

Final: 2 (WSH) - 1 (BUF)

Jakob Chychrun scored the go-ahead goal at 18:27 of the third period, and the Washington Capitals rallied to end the Buffalo Sabres' eight-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory at KeyBank Center on Thursday.

Sam Carrick gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 6:02 of the first period. Beck Malenstyn looped around the back of the net to the left circle and sent a no-look backhand pass to Carrick on the back door for the tap-in.  

The Sabres dominated the opening frame, outshooting Washington 15-3, and Charlie Lindgren had to be sharp throughout, including making three saves in a 10-second span on consecutive one-timers from Tage Thompson on the power play with less than a minute remaining.

Washington, however, clawed back in the second period when Ryan Leonard, scoring for a third straight game, intercepted a pass intended for Logan Stanley at the left point and snapped a shot past Luukkonen inside the far post to tie it 1-1.

The teams played a tightly contested final 40 minutes before Chychrun settled it. He beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with a snap shot from the right circle off a backhand pass from Aliaksei Protas, who was below the goal line on the opposite side, for the 2-1 final.

Three Stars:

#1. Jakob Chychrun (WSH) – 1G

#2. Ryan Leonard (WSH) – 1G

#3. Sam Carrick (BUF) – 1G 

Buffalo Sabres vs. Toronto Maple Leafs – Mar. 14, 2026

Final: 3 (BUF) - 2 (TOR) – SO

Jack Quinn scored the game-tying goal in the second period and added the decisive shootout marker as the Buffalo Sabres bounced back with a 3-2 shootout win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

Owen Power gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead just 2:01 into the first period. Zach Benson one-handed a pass from behind the net out to the slot, and Power put a wrist shot off the left post and in. Toronto responded when Nicholas Robertson blocked Luke Schenn's clearing attempt, and Dakota Joshua gathered it and lifted it over Alex Lyon's glove to tie it 1-1. Max Domi then put the Leafs ahead 2-1 just 53 seconds into the second, finishing off a 2-on-1 with William Nylander from the left circle.

Quinn tied it 2-2 on the power play at 11:21 of the second period. Noah Ostlund, on the doorstep, turned and sent a no-look backhand pass under Woll's stick to Quinn in the right circle, where he quickly put it under Woll's right arm.

Neither team scored in the third or overtime, sending the game to a shootout. Quinn started wide to the right before cutting to the middle and putting a wrist shot under Joseph Woll's blocker, and Alex Tuch also converted while Lyon made one save and forced another attempt wide to seal it. Lyon finished with 16 saves for the Sabres, who are 9-1-0 in their past 10 games and extended their lead in the Atlantic Division to four points over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Three Stars:

#1. Jack Quinn (BUF) – 1G

#2. Alex Tuch  (BUF) – SO Winner

#3. Owen Power (BUF) – 1G

Buffalo Sabres vs. Vegas Golden Knights – Mar. 17, 2026

Final: 2 (BUF) - 0 (VGK)

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen earned his first shutout of the season and eighth of his NHL career, making 29 saves as the Buffalo Sabres blanked the Vegas Golden Knights 2-0 at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

Josh Doan gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 18:02 of the first period in opportunistic fashion. Hill went to play a dump-in behind the net but couldn't control the puck, and before he could get back into his crease, Doan banked a shot in off his right pad. 

Josh Norris then added an empty-net goal at 19:02 of the third for the 2-0 final.

The result moved Buffalo into a tie with the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the Eastern Conference, as Carolina fell 5-1 to the Columbus Blue Jackets the same night. 

Three Stars:

#1. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (BUF) – SO

#2. Adin Hill (VGK) – .958 SV%

#3. Josh Doan (BUF) – 1G

Buffalo Sabres vs. San Jose Sharks – Mar. 19, 2026

Final: 5 (BUF) - 0 (SJS)

Alex Lyon made 23 saves for his 10th straight road win, and the Buffalo Sabres scored three times in a span of 1:43 in the second period en route to a dominant 5-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Thursday for their second consecutive shutout.

With the win, Lyon became just the fifth goaltender in NHL history to record a 10-game road winning streak. 

Noah Ostlund opened the scoring at 9:05 of the second period when Josh Doan's shot bounced off the end boards right to him, and Ostlund tucked it in from a sharp angle. Sam Carrick made it 2-0 at 9:41, burying a wrist shot from above the right circle off a drop pass from Rasmus Dahlin. 

Just 1:07 later, Dahlin extended the lead to 3-0 as Jason Zucker shielded a defender on the rush and sent a cross-crease pass for Dahlin to tap in past the right pad.

Tage Thompson extended it to 4-0 just 40 seconds into the third with a wrist shot from the right circle, and Carrick sealed it at 16:54 when Logan Stanley's shot deflected off him in front and trickled in off a San Jose defenseman's skate. It was Carrick's second goal of the night and fourth in five games.

Three Stars:

#1. Alex Lyon (BUF) – SO

#2. Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) – 1G, 1A

#3. Mattias Samuelsson (BUF) – 1A

Buffalo Sabres vs. LA Kings – Mar. 21, 2026

Final: 4 (BUF) - 1 (LAK)

Sam Carrick scored the go-ahead goal and continued his red-hot stretch as the Buffalo Sabres extended their winning streak to four games with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

Artemi Panarin gave Los Angeles a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 10:48 of the first period, one-timing an Anze Kopitar backhand pass from the left circle under Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's stick.

Tage Thompson tied it 1-1 early in the second, collecting the rebound off Peyton Krebs' point shot, patiently stick-handling around Forsberg, and tucking it in at the left post.

Carrick put Buffalo ahead for good at 11:12 of the third. With Kings defenseman Joel Edmundson going for a hit on Zach Benson along the wall, Carrick moved into the slot alone and lifted a backhand past Forsberg's blocker for his fourth goal in five games. Los Angeles challenged for a high stick on the zone entry, but the goal was upheld on review. 

On the ensuing power play, Rasmus Dahlin made it 3-1 at 12:11 when his wrist shot from the right circle was stopped by Forsberg, only for defenseman Cody Ceci to knock the puck out of the air and into his own net. 

Benson added an empty-net goal at 17:35 for the 4-1 final.

Luukkonen made 26 saves. Buffalo now leads the Atlantic Division by six points over Tampa Bay and remains tied with Carolina for first in the Eastern Conference.

Three Stars:

#1. Tage Thompson (BUF) – 1G

#2. Sam Carrick (BUF) – 1G

#3. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (BUF) – .963 SV%

Buffalo Sabres vs. Anaheim Ducks – Mar. 22, 2026

Final: 6 (ANA) - 5 (BUF) – OT

Troy Terry scored at 1:29 of overtime to give the Anaheim Ducks a 6-5 win over the Buffalo 

Sabres at Honda Center on Sunday, ending what had been a thrilling comeback effort by Buffalo. 

Tage Thompson turned the puck over at center ice to Terry, who skated in and put a backhand shot top shelf over Alex Lyon's blocker for the winner.

Alex Tuch opened the scoring at 3:36 of the first period when Owen Power made a no-look backhand pass from the end boards to Tuch at the bottom of the right circle for a snap shot finish. 

The Ducks, however, responded with two power-play goals in a 2:56 span. Chris Kreider tied it and Jackson LaCombe put Anaheim ahead 2-1 with a wrist shot from just inside the blue line. Josh Doan tied it 2-2 late in the first, finishing off a feed from Noah Ostlund on a 2-on-1.

Despite being heavily outshot in the second period, Anaheim scored twice to take a two-goal lead. Beckett Sennecke cut down the left side for a wrist shot to make it 3-2, and Terry, retrieving the puck off the wall, cut through three Buffalo defenders before scoring with a backhand from the slot to push it to 4-2.

Buffalo mounted a stirring third-period comeback. Jack Quinn cut it to 4-3 with a snap shot off a rush, Owen Power tied it 4-4 by going bar down off a face-off win by Ryan McLeod, and Zach Benson tapped in a backhand dish from Rasmus Dahlin to put the Sabres ahead 5-4, which marked three goals in a span of seven minutes. However, with 2:34 remaining and the Ducks pulling Husso for a 6-on-4 advantage on a late Tuch tripping penalty, Mikael Granlund tied it 5-5 with 1:44 left, and then Terry delivered the dagger in overtime.

Despite the loss, Buffalo's lead at the top of the Atlantic Division remained at four points, as Tampa Bay also fell in overtime to Calgary on Sunday. Anaheim went 3-for-4 on the power play and killed all three of Buffalo's man-advantage opportunities. Lyon made 27 saves for the Sabres.

Three Stars:

#1. Troy Terry (ANA) – 2G

#2. Mikael Granlund (ANA) – 1G

#3. Zach Benson (BUF) – 1G, 1A

Notable Injuries:

• Tanner Pearson (F): Day-to-day (Lower Body)

• 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