Sabres forward Tage Thompson is pleased with how Buffalo has bounced back after losses this season. The next challenge for a team that is in the middle of an NHL-record 13-season playoff drought is how they handle success.
While Buffalo’s three-game winning streak, which included a 3-2 shootout win over the Calgary Flames on Saturday, may seem modest, the Sabres now have a chance to win four in a row for the first time in 21 months when they play Montreal on Monday.
“It gives you some confidence. It’s nice to see you get rewarded for the process that you put forward,” Thompson said, pointing out that Buffalo’s past problems were partly caused by straying from the right approach.
“It’s easy when things don’t go your way to try to do individual stuff out there, myself included,” he added. “I think we’ve learned, obviously, the hard way. You just have to commit to playing the game the right way and trusting even when you’re not feeling great or things aren’t bouncing your way.”
The win over the Flames was a good example of this, following a 5-1 win against Ottawa on Tuesday and a 6-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday.
Against Calgary, the Sabres stayed calm after giving up a 2-0 lead, with Mikael Backlund tying the game late to force overtime. After killing off a too-many-men penalty during the final 80 seconds of overtime, JJ Peterka scored the only goal in the shootout, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped all three shootout attempts to secure the win.
“It wasn’t our prettiest game by any means, but we found a way to get the job done,” Thompson said.
This three-game win streak is Buffalo’s second of the season, matching the team’s total from last year. The Sabres haven’t won four straight since a five-game streak from January 19-26, 2023.
Though the Sabres have the same 7-7-1 record through 15 games as they did last year under coach Don Granato, the team has shown more promise under Lindy Ruff, who returned for a second stint after being hired in April.
Slow starts are no longer a problem. After ranking 27th in the NHL last season for allowing the first goal of the game 46 times, Buffalo is now tied for second, having fallen behind 1-0 only four times. The team’s scoring has also improved, with Buffalo tied for eighth in the league with 49 goals after being 23rd last year.
Special teams have also improved. After starting the season 0-for-22 on the power play, the Sabres are 7-for-23 over the past seven games. Additionally, the team has successfully killed off 10 straight power plays and hasn’t allowed a power-play goal in its past six wins.
Ruff has also brought a sense of accountability to the team, something several players said was missing under Granato before he was let go.
After a three-game losing streak, Buffalo’s winning streak began after Ruff made changes to his lineup, including benching defensemen Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju, as well as fourth-line forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel.
“I’ve probably been more patient than I’ve ever been just trying to figure these guys out. But there’s a standard you have to play to, and the standard, it hasn’t been good enough,” Ruff said, referring to the benched players.
“I like the way the group has played, but knowing that we’re going to need the other guys, too.”
The key for Ruff and the Sabres now is to keep doing what’s been working.
“Every team finds pockets of the schedule where they gain momentum. We’ve put two nice games together, and we’d like to continue that,” Ruff said before Saturday’s game.
After the win, Ruff’s message stayed the same: “When you get on a roll, you want to stay on a roll.”
