The Buffalo Sabres completed a successful road trip with a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena on Saturday. This win marks their third consecutive victory and places them in second place in the Atlantic Division, four points behind the Lightning, who have two games in hand. The teams are scheduled to meet twice more this season, both games taking place in Buffalo.
Rasmus Dahlin reflected on the team’s mindset following his Olympic run with Sweden, emphasizing the significance of these late-season games. Josh Norris described these matchups as some of the most important of his career.
“We don’t get too high, we don’t get too low,” Dahlin said. “We just stick with it and work really hard. There was a lot of goals today, but we had a lot of blocked shots, a lot of good box outs. We’re playing the right way and it’s hard to play against us right now.”
Coach Lindy Ruff urged his players before the game to start strong against Tampa Bay, and they responded by scoring four goals in the first period. Dahlin and Norris scored within 50 seconds of each other early on; Norris added another goal minutes later, followed by Tage Thompson’s goal late in the period. Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made key saves during this stretch.
Zach Metsa capitalized on a turnover for Buffalo’s fifth goal early in the second period, leading Tampa Bay to pull goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy from play. Vasilevskiy had been unbeaten in regulation over his previous 18 starts.
Tampa Bay entered this game with more wins than any other NHL team since December 9th and an 11-game home winning streak—both streaks ended with this result.
“It just shows that we’re a really good team,” Norris said. “We’ve known that for a while now. But we just reset and today’s a new game. We just go out there and do our thing. I think we just have a lot of belief in ourselves right now. It’s a lot of fun playing.”
“We just took it to another level, which was unreal,” added Dahlin.
Dominic James scored for Tampa Bay late in the second period but did not spark a comeback effort. Alex Tuch restored Buffalo’s five-goal lead early in the third period with a power-play goal.
As physical play increased from Tampa Bay after falling behind, rookie Noah Ostlund responded after Brayden Point slashed Dahlin without escalating into penalties or risky situations.
“The boys were fired up,” Norris said. “That was awesome. I don’t know if he was throwing the left, the right or what. But at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.”
Buffalo previously lost to Tampa Bay earlier this month after allowing a tying goal late in regulation time before losing in overtime—a result still fresh for many players ahead of Saturday’s rematch.
“We knew coming into this game this was going to be playoff-type hockey, a division game, and it was two really important points here,” Dahlin said. “We know we’re gonna play them two more times and hopefully we can keep doing what we’re doing.”
Josh Norris scored twice—the first time since January 10—after returning from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for over one month: “It’s something I’ve done quite a bit,” he commented regarding his opening goal move past Vasilevskiy.
Zach Metsa recorded his first multi-point NHL performance by assisting on Norris’ first goal then scoring himself after intercepting an attempted breakout pass: “Feels pretty good… Just trying to play the right way and good things have always happened for me.”
Metsa began this season undrafted on an AHL contract before joining Buffalo midseason: “I’m really close with everyone there (in Rochester)… So it’s kind of a win-win for me.”
Zach Benson returned from injury to log nearly fourteen minutes on ice with an assist during Saturday’s contest.
The Sabres are now 8-0-1 across their last nine road games; Tage Thompson extended his point streak to seven games; Buffalo has scored at least one power-play goal in eight out of its last nine contests.
The Sabres will next host Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday at KeyBank Center where fans will receive rally towels as part of Gold Medal Homecoming festivities honoring Thompson.
Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m., puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
