March 3, 2026; Buffalo, New York, USA; Buffalo Sabers goalkeeper Alex Lyon (34) celebrates the victory with center Josh Norris (9) during the game against the Vegas Golden Knights at Key Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Image No matter what kind of game you throw at the Buffalo Sabres, they won’t panic.
Whether they’re high-scoring or tight, ahead or behind, they’re comfortable with their game, and that’s helped them become one of the best teams in the NHL over the past three months.
The Sabers, looking for first place in the Atlantic Division, will aim to make it five straight wins when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. The win combined with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s loss in regulation to Winnipeg would tie Buffalo on points, but the Lightning would have two games in hand.
“It’s just a struggle every day,” goalkeeper Alex Lyon said. “Obviously winning gives you confidence, right? So I’d be lying if I said that had nothing to do with it, but the way this group works, each person gives a lot of credit to that person.
“… If our details can be better, if our work can be better, it’s a zero-sum game. You have to constantly think about it and constantly focus on it, and we did a good job of that after the break. But the East is so strong this year that we can’t take anything for granted.”
The Sabers cruised to a 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, building a 3-0 advantage before Vegas tallied a pair less than two minutes apart.
“We’ve been through a lot and we’ve learned a lot,” Sabers coach Lindy Ruff said. “I think the best way to learn is through hardships, and we suffered through them. If you look at a lot of situations last year where we said we needed to be a better team, it gave us more leeway.”
Consistency on the power play, which ranks 17th in the NHL at 19.9%, has been an issue for Buffalo for most of the season, although the team has scored on the power play in eight of its last 10 games, going 8-for-32 (25%).
Meanwhile, the Penguins are looking to bounce back from Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to the Boston Bruins. Pittsburgh scored just 42 seconds into the game, but Boston counterattacked with two goals in less than a minute in the middle of the first period to take the lead, ultimately turning the game around.
“We gave ourselves chances throughout the game and both goalkeepers made great plays and made saves when they needed to,” defender Erik Karlsson said. “It’s unfortunate we couldn’t have had a better (first) five minutes, but it wasn’t our best effort tonight. We still did enough to give us a chance to tie the game, but it wasn’t our night.”
The Penguins are in second place in the Metropolitan Division with 75 points. This ties in with the New York Islanders, but the Penguins are taking the game. Pittsburgh has lost four of its last seven games (3-2-2) after a six-game winning streak from January 19-31.
“We’re coming out of here with no points, and at this time of the year you can’t walk away and say, ‘OK, that was a good effort,’” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. “…games that we check closely are going to get more and more difficult from now on, so I think we need to take some things from this game and work on them and move forward quickly.”
–Field level media
