Mike Harrington: Creaky Atlantic Division full of struggling teams is exactly what Sabres need
When you look at this division entering Saturday's play, it's crumbling before our eyes. And that's exactly what the Sabres need.
The Buffalo Sabres went to bed Friday night in a playoff spot. Yes, you can't get carried away with that nugget when it's a week before Halloween. And we all remember how they were third in the Atlantic last year a week before Thanksgiving and the wheels completely came off the bus for the next 13 games.
That season was toast. This one sure feels different.
For one thing, this team has goaltending. Alex Lyon has been a rock. With the game on the line Friday night, he stoned Toronto's Maccias Maccelli on a power play late in the third period. It set the stage for Alex Tuch's clinching short-handed goal off an Owen Power pass a few seconds later in a 5-3 win over the struggling Maple Leafs.
Buffalo Sabres right wing Alex Tuch (89) celebrates his goal against Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41)
in the third period of their game at KeyBank Center on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. Joed Viera/Buffalo News
The Sabres are better defensively too. Ex-Leaf Conor Timmins, who played 23:37 Friday night, has been a revelation. Mattias Samuelsson is downright rejuvenated. Two goals, plus-4 and four blocks? That's a career night.
Tuch and Tage Thompson both scored in a game for the first time this season, with Thompson breaking a four-game dry spell.
The Sabres sparked panic in their fan base with their 0-3 start, not only because of the record. Totaling just two goals in that span had folks howling about the absence of the gone-to-Utah JJ Peterka.
Buffalo has 22 goals while going 4-1 in the five games since. When you average 4.4 goals per night, you're going to win most of the time. You don't need No. 77 cheating for offense and floating all over the ice.
"We're really trying to play with a lot of pace," said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. "A lot of our focus is moving the puck quicker, forwards getting out of the zone quicker and ready to go north. We scored I thought a couple of really pretty goals, but we still had lots of opportunities around the net front."
Thompson admonished the media and, by extension, the fans that the world wasn't ending when the Sabres slipped to 0-3. Turns out the skeptical public should have listened to him but Thompson isn't taking any victory laps.
"It's a two-way street though, right?" Thompson said. "We can't get too down on our ourselves when we're 0-3 ... and you can't get too high on yourself and forget what made you successful. So I think for us, the message is to stay on even keel, continue to do things that are a recipe for winning hockey
"We're a fast group. We can get on teams quick, and I think as of late, we've kind of started to gain traction with that. Now we're feeling it a little bit and we've just got to ride that wave."
All eight teams in the Atlantic were slated to play Saturday, including the Sabres-Leafs rematch in Scotiabank Arena that is the only head-to-head matchup of Atlantic teams.
When you look at this division entering Saturday's play, it's crumbling before our eyes. And that's exactly what the Sabres need.
The Boston Bruins are who we thought they are, losers of six straight after a 3-0 start. At 1-4-2, Tampa Bay is completely aging out (Andrei Vasilevskiy is at 3.41 and .885 in net). Ottawa has the worst defense in the league and will be without Brady Tkachuk for several weeks while old friend Dylan Cozens is one off the worst plus-minus in the league at minus-8.
The Florida Panthers are 1-4 on the road, riddled by injuries and forced to wait for Matthew Tkachuk's return around Christmas. But how do they overcome Sasha Barkov's seasonlong absence?
The Leafs look disjointed in multiple areas. Bobby McMann is not a top line player and certainly not one when the other two guys are Auston Matthews and William Nylander, who need to be on separate lines. They have injuries on defense (Morgan Rielly and Chris Tanev both sat Friday), and Nylander was banged up and missed the last six minutes.
Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) gets the plaudits fron his bench after scoring in the first period
against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. Joed Viera/Buffalo News
Now, Nylander and Matthews had the Leafs goals, the latter on an absolute howitzer from the right circle during a first-period power play. But you hardly noticed either much at 5 on 5.
They miss Mitch Marner just a wee little bit.
"It will be weird for sure," Power said before the game when asked about Marner's absence from the lineup. "And I think it will probably even be weirder when we see him with Vegas."
"They still have a great lineup and they still have some superstars, but he was a big piece of their lineup," said Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin. "I remember it was always scary to play those three guys in Toronto, and now he's gone. So it's good for us."
Detroit is a fraud. The Wings came to town 5-1, got burned by the Sabres in the third period Wednesday and got boatraced the next night on Long Island, 7-2.
The most impressive team thus far has been Montreal, which took it to the Sabres in the first period Monday in Bell Centre and looked like it was going to be 7-2 when it took a 5-3 lead early in the third period Wednesday in Edmonton. But that advantage went poof in the Alberta night in a 6-5 loss that will cause the Habs to undergo temperature checks in upcoming games.
Who are you scared of in this division? Nobody.
