February 27, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Buffalo Sabers center Taj Thompson (72) shoots the puck while Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad (5) defends during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images The Buffalo Sabers went all in at Friday’s trade deadline to prepare for the postseason, and went on to win in the process.
They, who have an NHL-high winning streak of six, opened a five-game homestand with a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday night after adding to their roster.
The Sabers will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night in the third meeting between the Atlantic Division foes, with the visitors sitting 82 points atop the standings each with two games in hand. They split the previous two games and are scheduled to close the season series at Buffalo on April 6.
The franchise welcomed four players via trades on Friday, but only center Sam Carrick made his Buffalo debut. Logan Stanley, Luke Schenn and Tanner Pearson, acquired from the Winnipeg Jets, were all scratched.
Carrick, acquired from the New York Rangers, anchors the fourth line between Jack Benson and Beck Malenstine as the Sabers moved to 12-2-1 in their last 15 contests with Saturday’s win.
Josh Doan scored the game-winning goal with his 19th point to put the Sabers up 3-1 early in the third quarter, but pointed to Carrick’s late defensive play and two faceoffs as key.
“I really liked the last 30 or 40 seconds,” Doan said after Nashville scored one goal with 3 minutes, 52 seconds left. “Obviously for (Sam) to win his last faceoff is big for us. That’s unbelievable for him and part of why he’s such a good hockey player.”
Tage Thompson continued his blistering pace on the offensive end.
The Team USA gold medalist (team-highs with 34 goals and 66 points) reached a career-high 10-game scoring streak, becoming just the third Buffalo player to reach that span in 15 years.
Jack Eichel (17 games, 9 games) and Sam Reinhart (11 games) also did it.
The Lightning added their own snarl to the lineup on Friday with the addition of Corey Perry. Corey Perry was acquired from the Los Angeles Kings for a second-round pick. This is the second career stop with the Lightning for the veteran.
“He has the ability to bring people into the fight,” Lightning GM Julien BriseBois said. “He knows when and how to raise the temperature on the ice.”
Perry, 40, also knows how to find the net, which he showed in his Tampa Bay debut in Saturday’s 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Playing primarily on a grinding line with Scott Sabourin and Conor Geekie, Perry was later part of a group of forwards along with Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli in an explosive first period, scoring his first goal for the Lightning on a pass from Hagel.
That tally was one of four in the first period that put the Lightning ahead 4-1.
It was Hagel’s 200th assist in his career, but Perry received attention afterwards.
“I’m very excited to come back and be a part of this team,” Perry said after the Lightning’s 5-2 win. “It’s like coming home, especially when you know a lot of the guys in that room.”
In his fourth straight start, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy improved his record to 29-10-3 with 27 stops.
But the 2019 Vezina winner has made four starts in eight days and could be handed the net to Buffalo’s Jonas Johansson.
The backup netminder is resting well, having appeared just five times (three as a starter) in 22 games since the start of the new year.
Nikita Kucherov reached 100 points for the sixth time with four assists.
–Field level media
