Locked On Sabres - Daily Podcast On The Buffalo Sabres

On the road against the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Buffalo Sabres got off to a terrible start, down two goals early. Then, Lindy Ruff rallied the troops, kicked their butts into gear, and came back to win. Led by a three-point night by Peyton Krebs, one of the best games of his entire career. The Sabres again proved they're a team that is not going to take an entire night off, even if they do fall asleep for a period here and there. With the win, the Sabres playoff odds have skyrocketed, as they have at least an eight-point lead on all non-playoff Atlantic teams, and the odds of being caught by a Metro team continue to decrease. Is winning the division in play? With four games left against the Lightning, it would take a lot, but it's not over yet. Starting with a tough tough game in Tampa on Tuesday night. 
 

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Following a loss to Montreal, the Sabres find themselves in the final spot in the East playoff picture. BUT NO NEED TO FEAR! The standings are still looking good both above and below them. However, this has become a big week with the Olympic break coming after just three more games. The Sabres have three tough opponents coming up to try and, at least, keep the cushion at six points between themselves and the first teams out. A preview of Sabres-Panthers shows a winnable game, with a lot of injuries still going on, on the Florida side of things. And changes to the lineup, Isak Rosen is likely to go in for Konsta Helenius, with more injury news on Jordan Greenway.

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Alex Tuch is in the final year of his contract with the Buffalo Sabres, while being the team's second leading scorer, following a hat-trick in the Sabres win over the LA Kings. As the Sabres continue to solidify their position in the playoff picture, and the trade deadline rapidly approaching, Sneaky Joe believes trading Alex Tuch away would be malpractice and the idea is a complete non-starter. Whether he leaves for nothing in free agency or not. Tuch continues to be a consistent offensive weapon for the Sabres at even-strength and on the penalty kill. What would it take to make a Tuch trade a good idea? Unless there's a better player in the deal, like potentially Elias Pettersson, the Sabres should hang up the phone on any Tuch trade.

Plus, Alex Lyon sets the franchise record with a tenth win in a row, in a game where he stood on his head. The Sabres goalie stats continue to be the best of the entire playoff drought, even with the injuries they've dealt with. And CAN ANYONE IN THE ATLANTIC DIVISION LOSE A GAME!?!? A bad night on the out of town scoreboard featured just one bit of good news, the Panthers losing in St. Louis.

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The Buffalo Sabres walked into Toronto, looking to put the Maple Leafs down in the playoff race, and they did exactly that with a 7-4 win. The hero of this game? Rasmus Dahlin gets his first career hat-trick and two assists to go with it, as he took the game over. Dahlin, who has dealt with so much personally, showing up for the Sabres has been one of the best stories of the season. A look at his goals shows the strength of the Sabres, their defensemen getting into the offensive game. Mattias Samuelsson adds to that with a three-point night himself.

Plus, Colten Ellis comes in for an injured Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and performed very well, turning away 16 of 18 shots. How much can the Sabres trust Ellis going forward? With UPL's injury timeline being cloudy, but only five games to go until the Olympic break, the Sabres may not need Ellis to start more than one game coming up.

Also, big losses by the Red Wings and Panthers, but Montreal and Boston keep pace with the surging Sabres.

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For the first time in a very long time, the Buffalo Sabres are a better hockey team than the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Sabres have been getting great goaltending, scoring from their blueline, and a consistent effort from all four lines. Their results have followed suit. Meanwhile up in Toronto, the Leafs are giving up more goals than anyone, can't score on the powerplay, and are sorely missing Mitch Marner. What is wrong with Auston Matthews, who is under a point per game for the first time since his rookie season. Numbers back up that the Sabres are the superior team in almost all aspects. Plus, the Leafs will be without William Nylander and Chris Tanev, good news for the Sabres chances on Tuesday night.

Plus, what both lineups look like tonight. And could the Sabres put Josh Norris on long term injured reserve in order to acquire another great player at the trade deadline? If they're ever going to do it, the Olympic break would be the time, as it's the last year NHL team's can use this trick to create cap space.

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The Buffalo Sabres have not one hot goalie, not two hot goalies, but THREE hot goalies since their winning ways started in early December. Alex Lyon is now tied for the Sabres franchise record for wins in a row with nine, one away from having it all to himself after shutting out the New York Islanders. Numbers show that since the ten-game win streak began, Lyon and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen have been top-10 goalies in the NHL, while Colten Ellis has been a top-20 goalie. It's looking more and more like a three-headed monster that the Sabres will keep going the rest of the season. Going through the 5-0 win on Long Island showed more than just great goaltending, as the Jack Quinn - Ryan McLeod - Jason Zucker line were the heroes of the day. With the win, the standings now show a pack in the middle of the Atlantic. Four teams fighting for three spots. Buffalo, Montreal, Boston, and Florida. 
 

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The Buffalo Sabres had a massive game in the standings against the Canadiens, and they went into Montréal and grabbed two points. Jumping out to another hot start, featuring Jason Zucker, the kid line getting another goal, this time from Zach Benson, and a sixty minute effort from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen got the job done. The win puts the Sabres within two points of Montréal for a top-three spot in the Atlantic Division. However, the win was another game where the Sabres got out to a multi goal lead, that they nearly blew. NEARLY. Once again, after a panicky second period, the Sabres locked it down in the third period, just long enough for Peyton Krebs to ice it with an empty netter. Sneaky Joe has a theory on why the Sabres keep letting teams back into games, and it starts with the Sabres' defensemen. Plus, a preview of Sabres vs. Islanders.

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The Buffalo Sabres and Josh Doan have agreed on a new seven year contract worth $6.95M per year! Doan has been one of the best surprises of the season, adding an offensive element to his incredible effort physically and defensively, for a terrific all around player. At just 23-years old, this feels like a great time to get a deal done. The trade looking back for Doan and Michael Kesselring for JJ Peterka is looking better and better for the Sabres. Will Doan keep up his goal scoring year to year?

With Doan, where do the Sabres now stand with Alex Tuch, given that their cap situation is looking a little dicey for 2026-27 with very little space to sign Tuch, Zach Benson, and Kesselring. The Sabres will likely have to say goodbye to the likes of Jack Quinn and Jordan Greenway, at a minimum, to make room for Tuch.

Also, a look at the matchup with the Montreal Canadiens, which is a massive game in the Atlantic Division standings.

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Lindy Ruff put together a kid line of Zach Benson - Noah Ostlund - Konsta Helenius for the last two games, and in Nashville that line went off in the first period. Two Ostlund goals and a three point effort from Helenius, including his first NHL goal, got the Sabres out to a big lead early that they needed having played the night before. Helenius showed off his amazing shot and the line showed they were the ones that were going to have the energy, despite playing back to back nights. Was the Sabres collapse defendable? Panic play in the second period almost saw a four goal lead become a one goal lead. Nashville did make it a one goal lead, but the Sabres survived, thanks go a very good night from Alex Lyon. However, it was another game where the goalie performed well, but gave up a soft goal to let the opponent back in the game.

Plus, the standings are starting to look better and better for the Sabres with gaps opening between themselves and the Flyers, Capitals, and Devils.

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The Buffalo Sabres went down to Carolina looking for their first win their in a decade, and looked like they were going to pull it off, before Brandon Bussi had something to say about it. The Hurricanes' hot rookie goaltender stood on his head on several occasions to rob Tage Thompson and other Sabres' from at least two, if not three, sure thing goals. Not to mention the Hurricanes being allowed to tackle the Sabres for the entire 3rd period without a penalty and a horrible call on Owen Power for tripping that led to the game winning goal. With there being three losses in five games now, should we be nervous about the Sabres play? Joe believes close games against great teams should not be met with panic... yet.

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