Not just the hottest streak currently in the NHL, but in the history of the NHL!!
All those years of high and early round draft picks are finally getting it together
The goaltending of Alex Lyon and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been as good as Ryan Miller and Martin Biron were 20 years ago. But what is making the current run of dominance by the Buffalo Sabres so special is the complete buy-in to defend and do lots of little things all over the ice.
Tage Thompson said the catch phrase in the dressing room is "Everybody ropes, everyone rides."
Goals are splashy. They make the highlight tapes and spice up social media. But they don't always mean you win.
You win when you do everything else.
In addition to getting saves, you win when your defense is impeccable at breaking the puck out of its zone. When your forwards track back to make sure odd-man rushes get killed. Or when they work the wall to dominate a puck battle and create scoring chances.
Buffalo Sabres center Sam Carrick, second from left, is greeted by teammates after scoring the go-ahead goal
in the third period of a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, March 21, 2026. AP Photo/William Liang
Most of all, you have to stay patient when the game calls for it. The Buffalo Sabres did all of those things in Saturday's 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto Arena. The result gave them a 3-0 record on their Western road trip, a four-game winning streak overall, a 12-1 mark since returning from the Olympic break, and a 33-6-2 outburst since early December, signifying a full half-season of hot hockey.
The Sabres won this one with three goals in the final 8:48 to snap a 1-1 tie. Sam Carrick's fifth since joining the club at the trade deadline proved to be the game-winner, and the veteran center used a nifty backhand to cut in from the left of goaltender Anton Forsberg and give the Sabres the lead.
But the play was made a few seconds earlier by nose-to-the-grindstone winger Zach Benson, who gave up 6 inches and 43 pounds to take a big hit from 6-foot-5 Los Angeles defenseman Joel Edmundson along the right boards. But while taking the hit, Benson also kept the puck moving forward, and Carrick capitalized on the play.
The admiration for Benson's well-earned assist was unanimous in the dressing room.
Coach Lindy Ruff: "A big-time play. He took the hit, kind of controlled the puck a little bit, and allowed Carrick to come in and grab it and take it to the net. And (Carrick) took it to the net with authority."
Carrick: "Guys seem to want to take runs at him. It's part of his MO, I guess. He's good at that. He draws guys into him. That's a couple of times now he's drawn guys into him and made a little 'slip' play to me. It's fun to play when you've got guys willing to take hits like that."
Thompson: "Those are the plays that add up over the course of the game. That's the type of group we have, selfless guys that put their bodies on the line for the betterment of the team. He sees he's going to get crushed there, takes the hit, makes the play, and results in the game winner. Awesome play by Benny."
The Kings challenged the play, saying Benson struck the puck with a high stick as he entered the Los Angeles zone before taking the hit. They might have had a point, but their challenge was inconclusive, and the goal stood. The Sabres got a power play for a missed challenge, and Rasmus Dahlin scored 59 seconds later on a puck deflected in by Kings defenseman Cody Ceci, and that was that.
Buffalo lost its shutout streak at 174 minutes, 55 seconds on Artemi Panarin's power-play goal at 10:48 in the first period. But Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen wasn't beaten again in making 27 saves. The Sabres have given up just one goal on this trip and only five goals in the last five games.
"There's no job that's too big or small for you to do out there," Thompson said. "When everyone out there is doing those little things that aren't very pretty but that show the guy next to you that you care about winning, it's infectious. I think everyone in the room is doing it, and that just bleeds throughout the lineup."
"I don't think they created that many scary chances other than on their power play," Luukkonen said of the Kings. "It's how well our 'D' corps is playing but it's how well our forwards are tracking back and helping the core. Goalies too. It's a full team effort."
"It's less Xs and Ox and more will and determination," Thompson said. "You go over the boards, and it's not letting that line that you're out there against generate anything. It's just maturity in our game with the puck."
"You'd like to score and put up points, but I thought the process of the game, the defensive side of the puck and things that don't show up on the stat sheet, I still liked about my game," Thompson said. "And when you're getting chances, you're doing stuff right."
"You're always looking to score, but first and foremost, we want to be a tough line to play against, defensively responsible," Carrick said. "We're not going to be a run-and-gun line. We've got offensive weapons on our team we'll rely on for a lot of that stuff, but if it we can just do our job, shut down other teams and chip in offensively, that's great too."
All those years of high and early round draft picks are finally getting it together
The goaltending of Alex Lyon and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been as good as Ryan Miller and Martin Biron were 20 years ago. But what is making the current run of dominance by the Buffalo Sabres so special is the complete buy-in to defend and do lots of little things all over the ice.
Tage Thompson said the catch phrase in the dressing room is "Everybody ropes, everyone rides."
Goals are splashy. They make the highlight tapes and spice up social media. But they don't always mean you win.
You win when you do everything else.
In addition to getting saves, you win when your defense is impeccable at breaking the puck out of its zone. When your forwards track back to make sure odd-man rushes get killed. Or when they work the wall to dominate a puck battle and create scoring chances.
Buffalo Sabres center Sam Carrick, second from left, is greeted by teammates after scoring the go-ahead goal
in the third period of a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, March 21, 2026. AP Photo/William Liang
Most of all, you have to stay patient when the game calls for it. The Buffalo Sabres did all of those things in Saturday's 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto Arena. The result gave them a 3-0 record on their Western road trip, a four-game winning streak overall, a 12-1 mark since returning from the Olympic break, and a 33-6-2 outburst since early December, signifying a full half-season of hot hockey.
The Sabres won this one with three goals in the final 8:48 to snap a 1-1 tie. Sam Carrick's fifth since joining the club at the trade deadline proved to be the game-winner, and the veteran center used a nifty backhand to cut in from the left of goaltender Anton Forsberg and give the Sabres the lead.
But the play was made a few seconds earlier by nose-to-the-grindstone winger Zach Benson, who gave up 6 inches and 43 pounds to take a big hit from 6-foot-5 Los Angeles defenseman Joel Edmundson along the right boards. But while taking the hit, Benson also kept the puck moving forward, and Carrick capitalized on the play.
The admiration for Benson's well-earned assist was unanimous in the dressing room.
Coach Lindy Ruff: "A big-time play. He took the hit, kind of controlled the puck a little bit, and allowed Carrick to come in and grab it and take it to the net. And (Carrick) took it to the net with authority."
Carrick: "Guys seem to want to take runs at him. It's part of his MO, I guess. He's good at that. He draws guys into him. That's a couple of times now he's drawn guys into him and made a little 'slip' play to me. It's fun to play when you've got guys willing to take hits like that."
Thompson: "Those are the plays that add up over the course of the game. That's the type of group we have, selfless guys that put their bodies on the line for the betterment of the team. He sees he's going to get crushed there, takes the hit, makes the play, and results in the game winner. Awesome play by Benny."
The Kings challenged the play, saying Benson struck the puck with a high stick as he entered the Los Angeles zone before taking the hit. They might have had a point, but their challenge was inconclusive, and the goal stood. The Sabres got a power play for a missed challenge, and Rasmus Dahlin scored 59 seconds later on a puck deflected in by Kings defenseman Cody Ceci, and that was that.
Buffalo lost its shutout streak at 174 minutes, 55 seconds on Artemi Panarin's power-play goal at 10:48 in the first period. But Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen wasn't beaten again in making 27 saves. The Sabres have given up just one goal on this trip and only five goals in the last five games.
"There's no job that's too big or small for you to do out there," Thompson said. "When everyone out there is doing those little things that aren't very pretty but that show the guy next to you that you care about winning, it's infectious. I think everyone in the room is doing it, and that just bleeds throughout the lineup."
The defensive yield
The Sabres have allowed just 25 goals in 13 games since the Olympic break, an average of 1.92, which is second in the NHL and by far the best mark in the Eastern Conference. Lyon is at 1.81/.931 since the break, while Luukkonen is at 2.01/.935"I don't think they created that many scary chances other than on their power play," Luukkonen said of the Kings. "It's how well our 'D' corps is playing but it's how well our forwards are tracking back and helping the core. Goalies too. It's a full team effort."
"It's less Xs and Ox and more will and determination," Thompson said. "You go over the boards, and it's not letting that line that you're out there against generate anything. It's just maturity in our game with the puck."
Thompson connects again
After five games without a goal, Thompson has scored in back-to-back games to push his season total to 36. His goal at 4:05 of the second period was nifty stickwork to get the puck around Forsberg below the goal line and then move it back into the crease to jam it home."You'd like to score and put up points, but I thought the process of the game, the defensive side of the puck and things that don't show up on the stat sheet, I still liked about my game," Thompson said. "And when you're getting chances, you're doing stuff right."
Fourth-line magic
Carrick has five goals in eight games with Buffalo after scoring just four in 60 games with the New York Rangers. Carrick, Peyton Krebs, and Beck Malenstyn play with an edge but are able to make plays with the puck, too."You're always looking to score, but first and foremost, we want to be a tough line to play against, defensively responsible," Carrick said. "We're not going to be a run-and-gun line. We've got offensive weapons on our team we'll rely on for a lot of that stuff, but if it we can just do our job, shut down other teams and chip in offensively, that's great too."