The Buffalo Sabres extended their winning streak to five games with a 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. The win puts the Sabres in a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division, matching them in points with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have two games in hand and two head-to-head matchups remaining.
Josh Norris commented on the atmosphere within the team after the game. “It’s a lot of fun,” Norris said. “The most fun I’ve ever had playing hockey. We get to listen to music on the plane after, always makes it a little bit better going home after a win.”
This latest road win marks ten consecutive road games with at least one point for Buffalo (9-0-1), tying franchise records set during the 1983-84 and 2006-07 seasons. Additionally, this season is notable as it is the first time since 2005-06 that Buffalo has achieved three separate winning streaks of five or more games.
Norris described his experience with the team: “It’s hard to describe, really,” he said. “It’s such a fun group and authentic and just guys being themselves, really. You can’t really ask for much more. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Thursday’s game featured an unusual number of special teams situations. Both teams scored shorthanded goals in the first period—Ryan McLeod for Buffalo and Bryan Rust for Pittsburgh. The second period saw further penalties following an altercation between Rasmus Dahlin and Evgeni Malkin, resulting in Malkin receiving multiple penalties including a game misconduct and a five-minute major for slashing.
With an extended power play opportunity, Norris scored to give Buffalo a 2-1 lead after a video review upheld the goal despite goaltender interference claims from Pittsburgh. This led to additional power play time for Buffalo due to Pittsburgh’s failed challenge.
During continued special teams play, Alex Tuch scored what was officially ruled as a shorthanded goal while both teams had five skaters on the ice due to overlapping penalties and delayed calls.
“That’s crazy,” McLeod said about Tuch’s unusual goal sequence. “Good for him.”
Owen Power added another goal later in the second period, extending Buffalo’s lead before Mattias Samuelsson sealed the win with an empty-net goal late in regulation.
McLeod reflected on the team’s current mindset: “We’re a confident group right now, just taking it one day at a time, enjoying the ride,” he said. “Not trying to get too high or too low, but definitely enjoying it.”
After this stretch of road games, Buffalo returns home for five consecutive matches at KeyBank Center, where they have recently enjoyed six straight sellouts.
Following Malkin’s ejection for slashing Dahlin, both Dahlin and head coach Lindy Ruff addressed questions about potential league discipline against Malkin.
“Emotions out there,” Dahlin said. “Stuff happens.”
Ruff added: “I think it’ll definitely be something that’ll get looked at for sure,” he said. “That’s something that you don’t want to see happen, but the league will deal with it.”
McLeod continues to lead all NHL players this season with five shorthanded goals—a mark reached only ten times by individual Sabres players historically—and shares eight shorthanded goals since last season with Tuch.
“I think you’ve got Tuch who’s got incredible reach and read,” Ruff said. “You’ve got Clouder who’s got great speed and if he gets a step on anybody, you’ve seen him create a lot of breakaways shorthanded… Those guys have had good chemistry, they’ve had a lot of good kills for us and scoring shorthanded is basically the little extra.”
Dahlin also spoke positively about his experience playing in Buffalo when asked how he would encourage other players to join: “Because we’re a good team,” he said. “We’re winning right now and we play fun hockey. And Buffalo is a hell of a city. We know that. I love it and all the guys in the locker room love to be here.”
Tyson Kozak missed Thursday’s game due to injury; Josh Dunne replaced him in the lineup.
Buffalo begins its upcoming homestand against Nashville on Friday at KeyBank Center.
