Sabres reach consistency level not seen in franchise annals
The Sabres have won eight straight games for the second time this season, and that's never been done in franchise history in the same year.
The Stanley Cup finalists of 1975 and 1999 never did this. Neither did the beloved 2006ers, the Presidents' Trophy group of 2007, or Scotty Bowman's first team of 1979-80 that lost to the New York Islanders' initial championship team in the Cup semifinals.
The Buffalo wagon of 2026 just keeps rolling along.
Buffalo Sabres winger Beck Malenstyn (29) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the second period at KeyBank Center on
Tuesday, March 10, 2026. Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
After a 6-3 skewering of the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday in KeyBank Center, the Sabres will host Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Thursday night, riding an unbelievable wave.
They have won eight straight games for the second time this season, and that's never been done in franchise history in the same year. The first stretch ended Jan. 3 in Columbus after 10 wins in a row, and the end of this one is still very much up in the air.
With all the East contenders off on Wednesday, the Sabres were able to sit on their sudden four-point lead in the Atlantic Division that emerged after the Tampa Bay Lightning lost at home to Columbus, 5-2. The Sabres remained just two points behind Carolina for the conference lead after the Hurricanes' shootout win over Pittsburgh.
Coach Lindy Ruff expressed concern about the visit by the Sharks as soon as Sunday's classic against Tampa Bay was over. How do you come down from that kind of high and be ready to play a team you haven't seen in more than a year?
It turned out to be no problem.
"That's just the character in this room," said nightly gnat Zach Benson. "We're a pretty confident bunch and competitive too. Every day we come to the rink, we know we can beat that other team. It's just a matter of putting in the effort and the work."
As it turned out, Ruff had no worries. The Sabres roared out of the first period starting gate with goals by Jack Quinn at 4:12 and Alex Tuch at 5:39 and the Sharks never caught up. Buffalo was too loose with the puck at times with plays that will get the Sabres burned in the playoffs, but still always had an answer to maintain its lead.
It's been that way since the Sabres returned from the Olympic break: eight straight wins, an NHL-high 36 goals for and only 20 against.
"There's a level of consistency we've played with and that's the reason you can win that number of games," Ruff said. "We've won games in a lot of different ways but I think the overall consistency from line to line and buying into how we need to play allows you to get to that point."
Out of town, Tuesday was a ridiculously fortunate night. Tampa Bay lost at home to Columbus, 5-2. Florida's Carter Verhaeghe scored twice in the last 90 seconds − including the game-winner with 14 ticks left on the clock − as Florida pulled out the rug from Detroit to win, 4-3. And Montreal beat the Falling Leafs, 3-1, to hand Toronto its eighth straight loss (0-6-2).
A juicy aside: If the Sabres beat Washington here Thursday and the Leafs keep skidding at home against Anaheim, what a mind-boggling scenario we could have downtown on Saturday. The Sabres would be once again going for a 10th straight win − looking to become just the fifth team in NHL history to do that twice in the same season − while the Leafs could hit their first 10-game winless streak since 2015.
Memo to Leafs fans: There's going to be lots of Sabres fans looking to take your tickets off your hands.
As for Tuesday's affair, Quinn had his first career hat trick in the game, and there was plenty to like elsewhere as well.
There was more backing up of teammates, with Benson jumping in on San Jose defenseman Dmitri Orlov after a scummy hit on Tage Thompson that was scary close to giving the Buffalo star a wounded knee.
Logan Stanley, the 6-foot-7 behemoth acquired from Winnipeg, got his visa issues settled, and the decision was made a scant four hours before faceoff to throw him in the lineup. He threw down with San Jose's Zack Ostapchuk, and that got the sellout crowd in a lather as if they're already preparing for Stanley to settle some business with Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel during the teams' final meeting on April 6.
Beck Malenstyn came close to a Gordie Howe hat trick, taking on Barclay Goodrow in a spirited bout while answering a clean hit on Sharks wunderkind Macklin Celebrini and scoring on a tremendous solo effort as he walked San Jose defenseman Sam Dickinson. Just needed the assist for the Howe but added five hits too.
Buffalo Sabres winger Beck Malenstyn (29) throws a punch at San Jose Sharks center Barclay Goodrow (23) during the first period at KeyBank Center on
Tuesday, March 10, 2026. Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
Following the pregame skate, Malenstyn and I were bantering about the Tampa Bay game, and we both quickly acknowledged the question the Sabres had to answer in the wake of the 8-7 thriller.
"I don't know if you can match that kind of energy again. That was a pretty special three-hour hockey game," Malenstyn said. "It's just being able to turn the page on it. There's obviously going to be some great stories that circulate about it, but for us it's on to the next challenge, and that's what has made us successful."
Ruff loves talking about one game at a time. And while it's the classic coach's cliche, I'll be darned if it really means something for this club.
I wish I had a dollar this year for every time Ruff has talked about just winning the next game. He's always looking ahead and doesn't want to look back much. And I bet he would demand a dollar back from me if I dared to talk about the Leafs before Friday.
All these one-game-in-a-row tricks sure make a nice pile of history. Onward.