February 28, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Buffalo Sabers forward Josh Norris (9) before the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images After restarting the NHL season with an impressive three-game road trip, the Buffalo Sabers return for their first home game in nearly a month when they host the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
The Sabers, second in the Atlantic Division, four points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, last played at home on Feb. 5, a 5-2 decision loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Not that they’re complaining. Buffalo is 16-2-1 in its last 19 road contests. The Sabers are on a nine-game scoring streak, one game shy of a team record, including an impressive 6-2 win at Tampa Bay on Saturday.
Josh Norris scored twice and Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and two assists on Saturday to lead the Sabres. The Sabers jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first 22 minutes en route to starting the Lightning’s 10-game home winning streak. The win capped a road trip that began with a 2-1 win at New Jersey on Wednesday and a 3-2 win over the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Friday.
Asked what statement the successful trip made, Norris said: “It shows we’re a really good team. We’ve known that for a while.” “We have a lot of faith in ourselves now and I think it’s really fun to play.”
The Sabers, looking to snap a 14-year playoff drought, are 24-5-2 in their last 31 games. They needed just 14 shots to keep up with Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has five goals and leads the league with a goals-against average of 2.22.
“I think we played the right way…and played too fast,” Dahlin said. “I don’t know. Maybe it wasn’t ready yet, or maybe we took it to another level, but it was unreal. It was fun.”
“We don’t get too high, we don’t get too low,” Dahlin added. “We hold on and work really hard. We had a lot of goals today, a lot of blocked shots, a lot of box-outs. We played the right way. It’s difficult to play against us now.”
Vegas is coming off a 6-4 upset at Los Angeles on Friday and Sunday and the fourth of a five-game road trip with back-to-back losses at Washington (3-2) and Pittsburgh (5-0).
Slow starts have become a trademark of Bruce Cassidy’s teams this season. The Golden Knights needed a five-goal third period to pull out a win against the Kings and were outscored 9-1 in the first two periods for the first three games of the trip.
“That’s not a good stat,” Las Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “This issue has been resolved and we must continue to work to resolve it.”
The Golden Knights enter Tuesday’s game with a one-point lead over second-place Anaheim in the Pacific Division and may be without captain Mark Stone.
Stone, second on the team with 60 points, escaped a loss late in the first period on Sunday and did not return after being hit in the upper left arm with a stick during a neutral zone check by Penguins defenseman Chris Letang.
“He’s going to be like that every day,” Cassidy said of Stone after Monday’s optional team practice. “He was scheduled for treatment this afternoon.”
–Field level media
