I went through this as a manager. Once they let up, it's hard to get them back on track
asmus Dahlin liked what he saw out of the Buffalo Sabres in the third period of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins.
But the Sabres captain made it clear: Those few minutes of extra effort weren’t enough. At this point in the season, the Sabres need a full, 60 minutes of competitive, consistent hockey to complete the chase for a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and prepare for the postseason.
That was absent in the first two periods of the loss to the Bruins.
Buffalo Sabres left winger Jason Zucker (17) looks at a replay of a goal scored by Boston Bruins right winger
David Pastrnak (88) during the first period at KeyBank Center on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
“This was a learning game for us,” Dahlin said. “We have to really go through what happened. We can’t play this way for two periods, today. We lost too many battles. We weren’t skating out there. We made it way too easy for them to play against us. That’s not how we should play.”
Pavel Zacha’s goal 38 seconds into overtime helped the Bruins rally for the win, and Zacha’s game winner negated the Sabres’ efforts in a game in which Jason Zucker scored a pair of power-play goals. His second goal, less than six minutes into the third period, gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead and followed Zach Benson’s goal, which tied the game at 2-2 at 5:21 of the third.
“That’s how we should play the whole game,” Dahlin said of the third period. “We came out way better in the third. We started keeping it simple. Started winning battles. We started to play our game.”
The Bruins, though, stormed back with six minutes left in regulation, as Casey Mittelstadt picked up a shot that bounced off the glass behind Luukkonen, and caught the goalie out of position to tie the game on a shot from directly in front of the crease.
Then, Zacha ended the game in overtime, on a pass from David Pastrnak (one goal, two assists), who deked against Ryan McLeod as he entered the zone, then threaded the puck past an outstretched Alex Tuch to Zacha, who beat Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on a wrist shot from the left circle.
The Sabres earned a point by going to overtime against the Bruins and begin Thursday tied with Carolina, idle on Wednesday, for first in the Eastern Conference, each with 96 points.
But the Sabres lamented knowing that they only put in 20 minutes of true work, which wasn’t going to cut it in a 60-minute game, and one that may have been a preview of a first-round matchup in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Puck decisions, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said, weren’t good against a team that’s fighting to earn a playoff berth; the Bruins entered the game in the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and played with more urgency than the Sabres.
The Bruins outshot the Sabres 24-19 in the first two periods and took a 2-1 lead at 9:45 of the second on Viktor Arvidsson’s goal, which suddenly created the same sense of urgency for the Sabres.
“We went back to simple,” Ruff said. “We went back to working harder. Those first two periods are probably our poorest periods of the last three months.”
But, as Ruff said, it was as if Timmins hadn’t missed a beat, or, in reality, 38 games.
“We gave him a little extra time,” Ruff said of Timmins. “I thought he skated well. Every puck decision he made, I thought, was real good. Got the puck down the ice. Penalty killing, made the right play. Got pucks out of the zone.”
Timmins played on the Sabres’ third defensive pairing with Logan Stanley, replacing Zach Metsa. Timmins had 15 minutes, 30 seconds of ice time against the Bruins, including 2:17 of shorthanded ice time, put two shots on goal, had two hits and blocked two shots.
“Rock solid,” Ruff said of Timmins’ return to the penalty kill, which was 2 for 2 against Boston, after finishing 1 for 4 Sunday at Anaheim. “And our penalty killing has been hurting now, for a little bit.”
She was introduced in the KeyBank Center Jumbotron during the first period Wednesday night.
“Unbelievable,” Dahlin said of KeyBank Center’s welcome for Matovac. “The support we’ve had for a long time now, and she getting this today, it was special, for sure.”
Matovac’s arrival in the United States, Dahlin said, was a recent development; he explained that she had to go through “a lot” of medical testing before traveling.
asmus Dahlin liked what he saw out of the Buffalo Sabres in the third period of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins.
But the Sabres captain made it clear: Those few minutes of extra effort weren’t enough. At this point in the season, the Sabres need a full, 60 minutes of competitive, consistent hockey to complete the chase for a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and prepare for the postseason.
That was absent in the first two periods of the loss to the Bruins.
Buffalo Sabres left winger Jason Zucker (17) looks at a replay of a goal scored by Boston Bruins right winger
David Pastrnak (88) during the first period at KeyBank Center on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
“This was a learning game for us,” Dahlin said. “We have to really go through what happened. We can’t play this way for two periods, today. We lost too many battles. We weren’t skating out there. We made it way too easy for them to play against us. That’s not how we should play.”
Pavel Zacha’s goal 38 seconds into overtime helped the Bruins rally for the win, and Zacha’s game winner negated the Sabres’ efforts in a game in which Jason Zucker scored a pair of power-play goals. His second goal, less than six minutes into the third period, gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead and followed Zach Benson’s goal, which tied the game at 2-2 at 5:21 of the third.
“That’s how we should play the whole game,” Dahlin said of the third period. “We came out way better in the third. We started keeping it simple. Started winning battles. We started to play our game.”
The Bruins, though, stormed back with six minutes left in regulation, as Casey Mittelstadt picked up a shot that bounced off the glass behind Luukkonen, and caught the goalie out of position to tie the game on a shot from directly in front of the crease.
Then, Zacha ended the game in overtime, on a pass from David Pastrnak (one goal, two assists), who deked against Ryan McLeod as he entered the zone, then threaded the puck past an outstretched Alex Tuch to Zacha, who beat Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on a wrist shot from the left circle.
The Sabres earned a point by going to overtime against the Bruins and begin Thursday tied with Carolina, idle on Wednesday, for first in the Eastern Conference, each with 96 points.
But the Sabres lamented knowing that they only put in 20 minutes of true work, which wasn’t going to cut it in a 60-minute game, and one that may have been a preview of a first-round matchup in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Puck decisions, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said, weren’t good against a team that’s fighting to earn a playoff berth; the Bruins entered the game in the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and played with more urgency than the Sabres.
The Bruins outshot the Sabres 24-19 in the first two periods and took a 2-1 lead at 9:45 of the second on Viktor Arvidsson’s goal, which suddenly created the same sense of urgency for the Sabres.
“We went back to simple,” Ruff said. “We went back to working harder. Those first two periods are probably our poorest periods of the last three months.”
Timmins’ return
Conor Timmins played his first game since Dec. 18, when he sustained a broken leg in the late minutes of a 5-3 loss against Philadelphia at KeyBank Center.But, as Ruff said, it was as if Timmins hadn’t missed a beat, or, in reality, 38 games.
“We gave him a little extra time,” Ruff said of Timmins. “I thought he skated well. Every puck decision he made, I thought, was real good. Got the puck down the ice. Penalty killing, made the right play. Got pucks out of the zone.”
Timmins played on the Sabres’ third defensive pairing with Logan Stanley, replacing Zach Metsa. Timmins had 15 minutes, 30 seconds of ice time against the Bruins, including 2:17 of shorthanded ice time, put two shots on goal, had two hits and blocked two shots.
“Rock solid,” Ruff said of Timmins’ return to the penalty kill, which was 2 for 2 against Boston, after finishing 1 for 4 Sunday at Anaheim. “And our penalty killing has been hurting now, for a little bit.”
Welcome back
Dahlin’s fiancée, Carolina Matovac, was in the building Wednesday, her first trip to Buffalo since she underwent a heart transplant last summer in France. Dahlin has taken two separate leaves of absences to return to Sweden to be with Matovac and their families. She has been recovering in Europe since she underwent the transplant and recently traveled to the United States.She was introduced in the KeyBank Center Jumbotron during the first period Wednesday night.
“Unbelievable,” Dahlin said of KeyBank Center’s welcome for Matovac. “The support we’ve had for a long time now, and she getting this today, it was special, for sure.”
Matovac’s arrival in the United States, Dahlin said, was a recent development; he explained that she had to go through “a lot” of medical testing before traveling.