Mike Harrington: Lots of good feelings suddenly surround Sabres. Signing Alex Tuch would add to them
While the sides agreed a couple weeks back to put this on the back burner, you wonder if that flame on the Alex Tuch contract negotiations is going to get
The tide started to turn Saturday in Detroit, when captain Rasmus Dahlin returned after a week away tending to his fiancee's medical appointments in Sweden and the Buffalo Sabres rallied from a 4-1 deficit to stun the Red Wings in overtime.
The Sabres were in crisis mode in a way only they seem to enter, and a loss there to cap an 0-4 road trip almost assuredly would have put their status at DEFCON 1. As in highest alert for immediate action.
There's nowhere to go in the standings but up and perhaps their best comeback in the two years of Lindy Ruff, Chapter 2 will prove to be a badly-needed tipping point to their season.
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram (4) celebrates his goal in the second period against the Edmonton Oilers at KeyBank Center on Nov. 17, 2025.
Joed Viera/Buffalo News
Monday dawned the start of a four-game homestand and the morning skate carried a couple of big surprises with the return to practice of Josh Norris and Jason Zucker. They both need practice time to get back in game shape but it's reasonable to think Zucker could be back in games by the weekend after enduring a severe viral illness and Norris is in the final two weeks of his recovery from the oblique problem that felled him on opening night.
Then came the game, a full-marks 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers that gave the Sabres their first two-game winning streak in nearly a month and sets a super tone for this run at home.
Sure seemed like the end of the Detroit game had staying power into this one.
"I totally agree," said Ruff. "You can look at that period too to carrying that momentum over to this game. Even how important it was to win it in overtime because it's been frustrating to get to overtime and not win. To have (Mattias) Samuelsson score in overtime, I think you saw how excited everybody was about it, players, coaches, everybody. It was just a good feeling and I think that really did carry over to tonight's game."
The Sabres were dominant all over the ice in this one, limiting Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to a combined three shots on goal and one assist. For whatever reason, Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon and Carolina's Sebastian Aho make things look like a video game against Buffalo but McDavid and especially Draisaitl often look utterly pedestrian in games here, where the Sabres have won five of the last six meetings with Edmonton.
A huge advantage was in net, where Colten Ellis stopped 32 of 33 shots to badly outplay Edmonton's Stuart Skinner and continues to stake a claim as the team's No. 1 goaltender. Ellis stoned Zach Hyman eight seconds into the game on a shot right down the gut and did a great job managing situations, killing plays when his team needed him to and keeping the puck moving at other times when that was a prudent choice.
That's 3-1 in four games for Ellis, a win total that's one shy of the combined figure of Alex Lyon (3) and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (1).
There was the first two-goal game of Noah Ostlund's career, the second straight two-assist game for Dahlin and 20 shot attempts by Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson. They only scored on Thompson's empty netter but the two big guns were fully engaged.
There's a big off-ice item looming too that can add to the happy feelings. Los Angeles forward Adrian Kempe, the top comparable domino that Tuch and his representatives were waiting to fall, signed an eight-year extension that was officially announced Monday. The $85-million deal has an average annual value of $10.625 million, a big jump from his current $5.5 million AAV.
Tuch is currently playing at $4.75 million and you would think it would be prudent for the Sabres to double that to $9.5 million and see if that can call it a day.
The word around the league, however, is Tuch and his reps are looking for something that starts with a 10. Only Buffalo can give him an eight-year deal and while the sides agreed a couple weeks back to put this on the back burner, you wonder if that flame is going to get lit again now that Kempe has signed.
Tuch is four months older and their numbers are starkly similar. In 555 career games, Tuch has 174 goals, 224 assists and 398 points. Kempe has played 649 games with 200 goals and 220 assists.
Sabres winger Alex Tuch and Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid follow the puck in the third period at KeyBank Center on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025.
Joed Viera/Buffalo News
Tuch has downplayed any contract talk, but you can be assured it's on teammates minds. Thompson said starkly during training camp how a deal needed to be reached to help morale in the locker room. It's time for Kevyn Adams and Terry Pegula to get the deal done. Kempe is signed. You now know what it's going to cost. Tuch has all the leverage here. Pay the man.
Imagine what a boost progress on that front would be in the locker room.
Especially when you look at the opportunity ahead on the ice. The next two games are both against teams coming in on the second half of back-to-backs. Last-place Calgary hits town Wednesday off Tuesday's game in Chicago and the Blackhawks are here Friday off a home game Thursday against Seattle. The Sabres will be rested in both instances, so they have to take advantage.
Last week's road trip felt like a season-killer, even though there were good moments in Utah and Colorado. Now this team is slowly moving again.
"Throughout that time, there were definitely positives in those games," insisted winger Beck Malenstyn, a beast at both ends and a Lambeau Leaper into the glass after his first goal of the season. "I thought we've done a really good job on the season as a whole being able to not weigh too much on the negatives and pull those positives. I think we've really shown that the last two games and hopefully, we can stick to that game plan and keep moving forward."
