The Buffalo Sabres will return to the KeyBank Center on Tuesday to face the Vegas Golden Knights at 7 p.m., following an extended break for the Olympics. The Sabres recently completed a successful road trip, defeating the New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers, and Tampa Bay Lightning in regulation over four days.
Their most recent game was a 6-2 victory against Tampa Bay, where Buffalo built a 5-0 lead in just over 22 minutes, prompting Lightning coach Jon Cooper to pull goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy from the game. Cooper described it as a “mercy pull.”
Buffalo has shown strong performance on the road since December 9, with a record of 16-2-1. At home, their .661 points percentage (17-8-3) is tied for sixth best in the NHL this season.
The team will honor forward Tage Thompson and Team USA during Tuesday’s game for their Olympic gold medal win. Thompson contributed three goals during the Olympics in Milan and continued his strong play by collecting four points during Buffalo’s recent road trip.
“I’m excited to see those towels being waved,” Thompson said. “I heard it’s already sold out, so (the) place will be rocking. Boys are playing good hockey right now, too, so I think everyone’s excited.”
Pregame coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m. on MSG for viewers in the Sabres broadcast market. Streaming options include Gotham Sports App and ESPN+ for out-of-market fans. Radio coverage is available on WGR 550 and through the Buffalo Sabres App.
Based on Monday’s practice, Buffalo is expected to use similar line combinations as Saturday’s win against Tampa Bay, with Alex Lyon starting in goal.
Several players have contributed notable performances this season:
– The team has a record of 16-6-0 when Josh Norris plays and is undefeated (6-0-0) when he scores.
– Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch both have 12 goals each in 21 games since January 1.
– Zach Benson has tallied ten points over his last fourteen games; Buffalo is 18-2-1 when he records a point.
– Rasmus Dahlin achieved his twelfth multi-point game of the season last Saturday; Buffalo is 10-1-1 in those games.
– Zach Metsa leads all NHL players with fewer than 600 minutes played this season with a plus/minus rating of plus-15.
The Golden Knights remain atop the Pacific Division despite losing seven of their last thirteen games (4-7-2), including consecutive losses such as Sunday’s shutout defeat in Pittsburgh. Their goaltenders Adin Hill and Akira Schmid have posted an .861 save percentage during this stretch—third lowest in the league since January 19—while Buffalo leads all teams with a .924 save percentage over that same period.
Vegas forward Mark Stone will not play Tuesday after leaving Sunday’s game due to injury. He has recorded sixty points (twenty-one goals and thirty-nine assists) in forty-three games this season.
Thompson noted that he hopes to involve Golden Knights players Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin—his teammates from Team USA—in pregame ceremonies, similar to what Jack Hughes did for him last week in New Jersey.
