Sabres in three-way tie atop Atlantic with four games left
The Sabres, Tampa Bay and Montreal each have two home games and two road contests left on their schedules. The trio is tied with 102 points apiece through 78 games.
There was good news and bad news for the idle Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night's out-of-town scoreboard.
As a result, the Sabres head into Wednesday's game in Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers locked in a three-way tie for the Atlantic Division lead with four games to go.
The Sabres, Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens all have 102 points after Tampa Bay suffered a 6-2 loss at Ottawa while Montreal pulled out a 4-3 shootout victory over the Florida Panthers in Bell Centre.
The Sabres and Lightning have wrapped up a top-3 finish thanks to Boston's 6-5 overtime loss at Carolina on Tuesday. The Bruins can only catch Montreal if the Habs finish 0-4 while Boston ends 3-0.
Buffalo Sabres players celebrate a Jason Zucker goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period at KeyBank Center on Monday, April 6, 2026.
Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
The Canadiens were 21 seconds away from a 3-2 defeat in regulation against Florida before Nick Suzuki scored with rookie goalie Jakub Dobes on the bench for an extra attacker.
There were no goals in overtime, even though Montreal had a power play in the opening minutes, and the Habs quickly won the shootout, 2-0.
Tampa Bay, a 4-2 loser to the Sabres on Monday night in KeyBank Center, gave up five goals in the third period Tuesday. Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk had three of his career-high four assists in the final 20 minutes.
Based on tiebreakers, Tampa Bay is currently first in the division with the Sabres second and Montreal third. The Sabres and Lightning are deadlocked in regulation wins at 39, well ahead of Montreal's 32. But Tampa Bay has the edge in the second tiebreaker over Buffalo, with a 44-42 advantage in combined wins in regulation and overtime.
Here are the remaining schedules for the three Atlantic contenders. Each team has two home games and two road games left.
Tampa Bay: Thursday at Montreal; Saturday at Boston; Monday, Detroit; April 15, New York Rangers.
Buffalo: Wednesday at New York Rangers; Thursday vs. Columbus; Monday at Chicago; April 15, Dallas.
Montreal: Thursday, Tampa Bay; Saturday, Columbus; Sunday, at New York Islanders; Tuesday, at Philadelphia.
Elsewhere in the East, Boston leads the wild card race at 96 points after its loss at Carolina. Ottawa is in the second spot at 92 while Columbus is third at 90 after a 4-3 shootout win at Detroit. The Red Wings and New York Islanders are both at 89 points, three points out with four games to play.
So in potential playoff matchups, it's likely that the Atlantic winner will meet Boston in the first round with Carolina playing the second wild card team (currently Ottawa). The second- and third-place teams in each division will also be playoff foes.
