The Buffalo Sabres ended their schedule before the Olympic break with a 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at KeyBank Center on Thursday. Despite this defeat, the Sabres remain in a playoff position, holding the first Eastern Conference wild card spot with 70 points, five points ahead of Columbus and Washington.
Since December 9, Buffalo has compiled a record of 21-5-2 but enters the three-week break after dropping three of its last four games. Coach Lindy Ruff addressed the team’s performance following the game. “We picked the wrong time to kind of pitch a dud,” Ruff said. “… Our passing definitely wasn’t crisp. I think you look at our power-play entries, they struggled. I think we missed the net on five of our first six real good opportunities, another sign that you’re not quite on your game.”
The Sabres missed the net 22 times during the game and failed to capitalize on several quality scoring chances. Forward Tage Thompson noted similar issues: “A lot of missed nets, missed passes,” Thompson said. “Obviously, looked like we were fighting it a little bit. I think when that happens, you’ve just got to simplify your game until you feel it, and then if you’re not feeling it, just keep it simple the whole game and wear them out. I thought we did the opposite and kind of fueled their offense.”
Buffalo took an early lead with Jason Zucker scoring less than two minutes into play. However, Pittsburgh responded with two goals from Avery Hayes in his NHL debut during the first period and added another from Ben Kindel in the second period.
Defenseman Jacob Bryson was involved in key plays leading to Pittsburgh’s first and third goals but did not return to play after those mistakes. This was Bryson’s first appearance since recovering from an upper-body injury.
“That pair had a tough night. That was part of it,” Ruff said about Bryson and Michael Kesselring’s defensive pairing. He added: “We didn’t make [Pittsburgh] pay for some of their mistakes, but they made us pay on the big mistakes we made.”
Thompson scored his 30th goal early in the third period during a power play, marking six consecutive games with a power-play goal for Buffalo’s special teams unit. Still, Tommy Novak restored Pittsburgh’s two-goal lead late in regulation.
With nearly three weeks until their next contest, players are focused on regrouping for a final push toward postseason qualification.
“I talked to the team after the game about this how incredibly tight it’s gonna be,” Ruff said. “You really can’t have games like we had. We weren’t sharp.”
Goaltender Alex Lyon commented on using this loss as motivation: “It’s going to put a bitter taste in my mouth, and I hope it puts a bitter taste in everybody’s mouths, because the last 25 games is going to be a dogfight all the way down to the wire. … We have to be prepared and use the break the right way and come back at the top of our game.”
Some Sabres players will participate in international competition as part of their national teams at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. The team returns to NHL action on February 25 against New Jersey Devils; their next home game is scheduled for March 3 versus Vegas Golden Knights.
