Sabres Hope To Sweep Florida With A Win Over First-Place Tampa Bay

2/3/26 - 7:30pm at Benchmark International Arena, in Tampa, FL

Buffalo – 32-18-5 | - 69  points – 4th place in the Atlantic Division

Tampa Bay  – 35-14-4 | - 74 points – 1st place in the Atlantic Division

Special Teams

Buffalo

Power Play – 19.9% (18th)

Penalty Kill – 82.6% (8th)

Tampa Bay

Power Play – 22.0% (12th)

Penalty Kill - 84.2% (3rd)

Top Scorers

Buffalo

Tage Thompson: 55 GP, 29 G, 28 A, 57 PTS

Alex Tuch: 54 GP, 22 G, 26 A, 48 PTS

Rasmus Dahlin: 51 GP, 11 G, 35 A, 46 PTS

Tampa Bay 

Nikita Kucherov: 49 GP, 28 G, 58 A, 86 PTS

Jake Guentzel: 53 GP, 24 G, 33 A, 57 PTS

Brandon Hagel: 48 GP, 26 G, 26 A, 52 PTS

Starting Goalies(projected)

Buffalo – Colten Ellis (7-4-0, 3.05 GAA, .898 Sv %)

Tampa Bay  –  Andrei Vasilevskiy (25-7-3, 2.12 GAA, .919 Sv%)

Other Sabres Stories

Six Former Sabres Who Signed Elsewhere

Sabres Line Combinations and Pairings (projected)

Forwards

Zach Benson - Tage Thompson - Alex Tuch

Jason Zucker - Ryan McLeod - Jack Quinn 

Josh Doan - Peyton Krebs - Noah Ostlund 

Isak Rosen - Tyson Kozak - Beck Malenstyn

Ex. Jordan Greenway, Konsta Helenius 

Defense

Mattias Samuelsson - Rasmus Dahlin

Bowen Byram - Owen Power

Zach Metsa -. Michael Kesselring

Ex. Jacob Bryson

Goaltenders

Colten Ellis

Alex Lyon

Injuries

Justin Danforth (lower body, Oct. 18; injured reserve)

Jiri Kulich (blood clot, Nov. 4; injured reserve) 

Conor Timmins (broken leg, Dec. 20; injured reserve)

Josh Dunne (mid-body, Jan. 14; injured reserve)

Josh Norris (ribs, Jan. 16, week-to-week)

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (lower-body, Jan 27, day-to-day)

Notes

With a win tonight, Buffalo would have 22 wins in a 27-game span for the first time in franchise history.

The Sabres have recorded at least one point in 22 of their last 26 games (21-4-1), including wins in five of their last six games. Their 21 wins and 43 points in that span (since Dec. 9) are the most among 

all NHL teams. This stretch marked the second time Buffalo had recorded 43 or more points in a 26-game span, and the first time since Oct. 17 to Dec. 8, 1974 (20-2-4).

With a win tonight, the Sabres would have earned 45 or more points in a 27-game stretch for the first time in franchise history.

Mattias Samuelsson has recorded nine points (1+8) in his last nine games.

In his last 13 contests, Jack Quinn has recorded 13 points (5+8).

Ryan McLeod has recorded 17 points (4+13) in his last 15 games.

Alex Tuch has recorded at least one point in five straight games and he has tallied seven points (5+2).

With his two assists last night, Rasmus Dahlin (312 assists) surpassed Don Luce and gained sole possession of seventh place all-time in franchise history. Dahlin has recorded 17 points (7+10) in his last 12 games, including at least one point in five straight games. Dahlin has notched 10 points (3+7) in 10 career games in Tampa, including multi-point efforts in four of his last five road games against the Lightning.

Tage Thompson has recorded 36 points (17+19) in his last 30 games, 

including 26 points (11+15) in his last 20 games. Thompson has 16 points (10+6) in 17 career games against the Lightning, including seven points (5+2) in his last six games in Tampa

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