Sabres look to strike again in massive battle vs. Lightning
Both teams enter the game with 82 points so the winner is going to be in first place in the Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay is 39-18-4 after Saturday's waxing of
How long has it been since we've had a hockey game as big as the one we will see Sunday night in KeyBank Center?
From this view, Easter Sunday of 2011 would be the answer. Game 6 of the first-round playoff series between the Sabres and Philadelphia, with Buffalo looking for the series clincher. Ville Leino had other ideas in overtime, the teams headed to Philly for Game 7 and the postseason hasn't been back since.
It appears we're just over a month from that changing. And Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning is going to be one heck of a playoff preview. These teams won't meet in Round 1 but they could be a collision course for the second round.
Buffalo Sabres left wing Jason Zucker (17) celebrates his goal against the Nashville Predators during the second period
of the game at KeyBank Center on Saturday, March 7, 2026. (Derek Gee/Buffalo News) Derek Gee/Buffalo News
Both teams enter the game with 82 points, so the winner is going to be in first place in the Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay is 39-18-4 after Saturday's waxing of tumbling Toronto while the Sabres improved to 38-19-6 after holding off Nashville, 3-2, on Saturday.
The Sabres have won six in a row. They're 12-2-1 in their last 15 and an unfathomable 27-5-2 since the history of this franchise suddenly changed with the December overtime win in Edmonton.
The Sabres got three out of four points in their two games at Tampa Bay in February and every single person in their dressing room thinks it should have been four of four. Buffalo won, 6-2, on Feb. 28 but that 4-3 overtime loss on Feb. 3 still irks the Sabres, who gave up a tying goal in the final seconds of regulation and got burned by Jake Guentzel's breakaway goal with 15 seconds left in OT.
"I think we're going to have incredible energy," promised coach Lindy Ruff. "Two teams get to play that are right next to each other in the standings, and we had a heck of a game down there. They're going to want to come back at us for the way that game ended up. So this is really what you would ask for. ... I'm looking forward to it."
There were lots of shenanigans and message sending going on over the final minutes of the most recent meeting.
"It was obviously a game that got a little bit rough towards the end with some turmoil there," said Sabres forward Josh Doan. "That's what's going to happen here when two teams are competing for the top of a division, and they obviously know now what to expect from us. We know to expect from them."
"They're a phenomenal team and I don't think last week has anything to do with it," added Buffalo winger Jason Zucker. "I think it's two teams at the top of the division right now coming into playoffs down the stretch here. Everybody's just looking to play playoff hockey right now and play hard and play their game."
The Sabres are 3-1-1 in Tampa Bay's last five trips to Buffalo and the Bolts haven't been here in nearly a year, since Buffalo's 3-2 shootout victory on April 5, 2025.
The Sabres will have their 14th sellout of the season and their eighth in a row on Sunday. What an atmosphere it should be.
Buffalo battled itself for much of the first 30 minutes Saturday before finding its groove and then holding on to win.
The Sabres survived a trap game and now get to the main event. By the end of Sunday night, they could be in first place in their division later than any point of the season since they closed their Northeast Division championship in 2010.
"It was good for us to to have a tough period and have to respond to it," Zucker said. "The little bit of adversity is great for us, especially this time of year. Come playoff time, the stretch, whatever we have, teams are making adjustments. They're going to play hard. Everyone's in playoff mode right now. So it was good for us to be able to regroup after a tough first period and come out and play our game in the second and third."
Lessons learned. Let's see if the Sabres can come with full intensity right from the opening faceoff. Should be a fascinating night.