Spread the Christmas cheer: OT win in Ottawa sends Sabres into break as NHL's hottest team
Alex Tuch: "It's winning hockey. This is what we've been building towards, and this is the type of hockey we're going to have to continue to play if we want
Pour out some spicy egg nog and let visions of playoff springs past dance in your heads. The Buffalo Sabres have hit the holiday break driving the NHL's hardest-charging sleigh.
A season that seemed lost yet again just two short weeks ago when the team was 2,100 miles from home in Calgary is now filled with wonderment, a present to its long-suffering fan base about the future finally not being far off.
The Sabres have won seven games in a row after Tuesday's 3-2 overtime thriller over the Ottawa Senators in Canadian Tire Centre. Bowen Byram's second goal of the game, a one-timed knuckleball 31 seconds into the extra session, was the decisive tally to push the Sabres within two points of an Eastern Conference wild card slot.
Ryan McLeod, who made the pass to earn the assist, celebrates with Bowen Byram (4) after Byram's overtime goal gave the Buffalo Sabres
a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP)
The season seemed lost when the Sabres were burned by the Flames, 7-4, on Dec. 8 in Calgary to fall to 11-14-4. They were last in the East by four points and 30th overall in the NHL.
But better defensive play, timely scoring and clutch goaltending has thrust Buffalo into the thick of the playoff race in the East. When the schedule resumes Saturday night in KeyBank Center against the Boston Bruins, you can count on a rabid full house getting jazzed up for a massive Buffalo sports weekend.
Sabres-Bruins on Saturday. Bills-Eagles on Sunday.
The hockey fans might not even recognize this team from the one that aimlessly started the month with three straight dreary losses on a road trip that marked the end for general manager Kevyn Adams.
"It's winning hockey," said Sabres winger and massive Bills fan Alex Tuch. "This is what we've been building towards, and this is the type of hockey we're going to have to continue to play if we want to make a push. You see maturity. You see each individual sacrificing and just doing the right thing. And it's fun. I'm proud of this group."
The streaks are everywhere for the Sabres:
- The seven-game run is Buffalo's longest since its 10-gamer in 2018 and hits the holiday break as the longest in the NHL.
- The Sabres have won six in a row over Ottawa, a key Atlantic Division rival they figure to battle for a playoff spot through the second half of the schedule
- Buffalo has won five straight on the road after starting the season 2-9-2 on foreign ice.
- The Sabres are 4-0 under new general manager Jarmo Kekalainen.
The Sabres never trailed in this one. Byram equaled his career high with his first three-point night with Buffalo, taking a Jordan Greenway pass to score at 15:22 of the first and firing a shot that Noah Ostlund tipped home at 6:11 of the second.
The Sabres killed off a Tuch hooking penalty that came with 1:51 left in regulation and the OT winner came with teams playing 4 on 4 after Buffalo eliminated the final nine seconds of the penalty to start the extra session.
The goal came after a great back pass from Ryan McLeod. Byram partially fanned on it while skating through the right circle and it floated into the net past a stunned Ottawa goalie Linus Ullmark.
"I was just trying to find some ice to get open and 'Clouder' made a good pass," Byram said. "I guess it wasn't the hardest shot in the world, but yeah, lucky enough to go in, so it felt good."
"A rocket of a shot, huh?" joked Tuch. "Great game. Honestly, he was our best player by far. He was unbelievable all night, the way he was possessing the puck, just breaking the pucks out, moving in through the neutral zone."
Byram leads the Buffalo defense with eight goals and is on his way to shattering his career high of 10 set with Colorado in 2022-23. Byram had seven for the Sabres last year in playing all 82 games.
"Sometimes the puck just seems to find you, or situations open up that you can join," Byram said. "That's just how it worked tonight. I'm just trying to help the team any way I can."
Key moments
Alex Lyon made 24 saves, none biggest than one sprawled flat on his back off Ottawa's Drake Batherson with 2:04 left. Lyon's stats during the winning streak: He's 6-0 with a 2.25 goals-against average and .922 save percentage.He wasn't really tested on the late penalty kill as McLeod won a big faceoff and the Sabres were able to get multiple clears of the puck.
"We just have a good plan in place," Byram said. "I feel like whenever you have that, guys know where to go, where to be, and usually it works out."
Around the boards
- The Senators honored Josh Norris with a tribute video in his first game back in Ottawa. It was a quiet night for Norris, who had no points or shots on goal and was 9-8 on faceoffs.
- Norris on the return: "I’m super happy in Buffalo. I love Buffalo. ... I never really got to say thanks to all the (Ottawa) fans. A lot of mixed emotions when I left, so just kind of left quiet. They were always great to me, and really felt like they had my back."
- Defenseman Michael Kesselring was in and out of the lineup due to a lower-body issue and played just over seven minutes over the final two periods.
- With minutes limited for Kesselring and Zach Metsa, the Sabres relied heavily on their top four defenseman. Mattias Samuelsson was at 26:39, Owen Power played 25:11, Byram played 24:18 and Rasmus Dahlin, who Ruff said was having skate issues, was at 22:48.