BUFFALO, N.Y. — With a 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, the Buffalo Sabres have their first three-game winning streak of the season. That wouldn’t normally be much of a milestone, but last season, the Sabres didn’t get their first three-game winning streak until Feb. 25 after there had already been 113 different three-game winning streaks across the league.
That this version of the Sabres strung three wins together four months and 49 games quicker is a sign that they might be able to shed the maddening inconsistency that prevented them from being a playoff contender last season.
“I think every team puts runs together of some distance, whether it’s three to eight to 10, whatever it is,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. “If you can catch momentum, there’s things that catch your fire. Your top line can catch fire. Your special teams catches fire. There’s different areas of your game that can really help you push. I think right now we’ve got a top line that’s really been doing it. If our power play can gain a little traction, it will help us continue on this run. But you do need it during the year, because you know there’s going to be a time where you’re playing good, you run into a hot goaltender, you don’t put the puck in the net like we had at the start of the year. So take advantage of it when you get on a run.”
That’s what the Sabres did against the Red Wings. Earlier in the week they earned a convincing win against the Dallas Stars, one of the best teams in the NHL. With three days off between games, the Sabres came out flying, outshooting the Red Wings 13-2 to start the game and taking a 2-0 lead. But as Ruff alluded to, it was Buffalo’s top line carrying the play.
Tage Thompson got an assist on the team’s first power-play goal of the season that gave the team a 1-0 lead. He just put a puck on net, and Jason Zucker got the rebound behind Red Wings goalie Alex Lyon. Later in the period, Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin managed to keep the puck in the zone, and Dahlin set up a quick passing play from Peterka to Thompson, who blasted a shot into the net.
The Sabres had 86 percent of the expected goals when Thompson, Peterka and Alex Tuch were on the ice at five-on-five with a 20-4 advantage in shot attempts and an 11-3 advantage in scoring chances. Thompson now has seven goals and 11 points in nine games. He leads the NHL in five-on-five goals. Thompson also had a 104.9 mile-per-hour shot in this game, according to NHL Edge date, which is the hardest shot the league has recorded since 2021. With the injuries behind him, Thompson has been dominant, and the Sabres are a different team when he’s going like this.
“Just the desperation coming into each night, trying to will our team to win, trying to lead by example and doing the right thing on both sides of the puck,” Thompson said. “I’m not worrying about the goals or the points. Those things will take care of themselves as long as I’m playing hard and doing things that are going to help our team win and set an example for guys to follow, that’s been my mindset.”
Tage Thompson doubles up! ⚔️#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/R5FFkG7SmW
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) October 26, 2024
Thompson would score a second goal on another wicked shot from the slot. That started what was otherwise a sloppy second period for the Sabres. But even after allowing the Red Wings to tie the game at three, the Sabres got a funky goal from Bo Byram that deflected off a Red Wings player and then locked the game down in the third period to win 5-3. All of a sudden, after a 1-4-1 start, the Sabres have a three-game winning streak and are back to .500.
“I think sometimes we’ve gotten caught in the trap of playing a good game or two and feeling good about ourselves and letting the habits slip and forget what got you those results,” Thompson said. “I think so far everyone in the room has been doing a good job of not worrying about the results and just worrying about what’s going to get those results, the process. Kind of enjoying that grind.”
Examples of that were everywhere. At the end of the first period, Beck Malenstyn sold out for a blocked shot with the Sabres protecting a 2-1 lead. Late in the game, Zucker noticed the Sabres making a lot of simple plays. Peterka chipped a puck into the zone instead of carrying it and created some more work for the Red Wings in the defensive zone. Jordan Greenway used his reach and strength to get a puck out of the defensive zone at the blue line. Dylan Cozens blocked a shot before the Sabres scored an empty net goal.
“There’s a lot of little plays that helped us do that,” Zucker said. “From talking to some of the guys, last year, those plays were missing. Getting rewarded for making those plays goes a long way.”
Zucker also added, “There’s a different belief that we deserve to win these games.”
Now we’ll see if the Sabres can keep the streak going against the Panthers on Monday.
Here are some other takeaways from the streak-building win.
1. Rasmus Dahlin had a lot going on the last few weeks. He left the first practice of training camp with a mid-body injury. When he came back, Dahlin had an abbreviated camp, was named captain and then jumped into the regular season to handle his typical workload. As a result, he wasn’t playing up to his $11 million contract early. The last few games have provided some glimpses of the old Dahlin. Ruff said he’s still not 100 percent, but Dahlin had assists on each of Buffalo’s first three goals and was consistently driving play for the Sabres. But Dahlin ended up giving back what he generated. On Detroit’s second goal of the game, Michael Rasmussen won a net-front battle against Dahlin and was able to score on a rebound. Later in the game, Dahlin made a bad decision to pass to Thompson on the power play, and it resulted in a two-on-one the other way. Lucas Raymond scored on a shot Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen should probably stop, but the play never happens without Dahlin’s pass.
“He’s getting close to where he needs to be,” Ruff said.
2. In the first period, the Sabres scored their first power-play goal after starting the season 0-22 on the power play. The goal wasn’t fancy, either. Thompson got a shot on net, and Zucker put the rebound behind Lyon. That net-front presence has been missing from Buffalo’s power play over the last two seasons. That goal did not open the floodgates for the power play, though. The Sabres’ next attempt with the man advantage was a mess. Failed zone entries and sloppy passing led to zero shots on goal for Buffalo. The Sabres’ third power play was even worse, as Dahlin made an ill-advised pass to Thompson that resulted in an odd-man rush the other way and Raymond scored to tie the game at three. Their fourth power play also came up empty. So the Sabres no longer need to hear or think about how they haven’t scored on the power play this season, but the issue isn’t fixed. They’ve still allowed more goals than they’ve scored while on the power play this season, giving them a negative net power play percentage.
Jason Zucker’s first goal as a Buffalo Sabre comes on the power play‼️#LetsGoBuffalo | RYSE Energy Drink pic.twitter.com/O87apClGLM
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) October 26, 2024
3. Jack Quinn’s first goal of the season was a big one for the Sabres. The Red Wings were applying a ton of pressure late in the game with an extra attacker. Patrick Kane rang a shot off the crossbar, and it went right to Quinn’s stick. He turned and shot the puck down the ice clean into the empty net. Given the slump he’s been in to start the season, Quinn will take that goal. And the fact that Ruff trusted him to be on the ice late in a one-goal game is telling, too.
4. Ruff shuffled the lines to start the game, putting Zucker with Cozens and Quinn and shifting Jiri Kulich to the line with Ryan McLeod and Greenway. But he ended up going back to Zucker, McLeod and Greenway, which has been a solid line for Buffalo all season. Kulich also played only two shifts in the third period while the Sabres were protecting a one-goal lead. Owen Power also had only one shift in the third period, but that may have been injury-related as he left the bench at one point and then returned. Power’s been off to a strong start to the season and playing a ton of minutes, so that’s a situation to monitor.
(Photo: Timothy T. Ludwig / Imagn Images)
