Peyton Krebs shines, Sabres pass another big test in win vs. Panthers: 5 thoughts
The Panthers struck first, but the Sabres pulled back control of the game thanks to a sterling performance from Krebs.
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Peyton Krebs took over the game with three points and a new season high in ice time. Sam Navarro / Imagn Images
The Florida Panthers came out swinging against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.
The Eastern Conference’s heavyweight was on the ropes; Matthew Tkachuk has returned to the lineup, but captain Aleksander Barkov is still out. So are Brad Marchand, Anton Lundell and Seth Jones, and some key role players. The back-to-back Stanley Cup champions are banged up and came into this game eight points behind the Sabres in the wild-card race.
They were desperate. And that showed, with a pair of goals in the first six minutes of the game.
First, Sandis Vilmanis snapped a shot over Alex Lyon’s left shoulder 37 seconds into the game. Then Evan Rodrigues banked a puck in off a Sabres defender on a botched play in front of the net. Just like that, the Sabres were down 2-0 in a building in which they had lost five consecutive games dating back to 2023.
During the first television timeout, Lindy Ruff got the group together and made an adjustment to how they were breaking the puck out.
“We talked about a certain scheme we thought we would try,” Ruff told reporters after the game. “We went to a different breakout and I thought that helped our defense a little bit. That relieved some of the pressure. Their D were coming heavy down the walls and a lot of their wall play was really good. I have to give them a lot of credit. They might be the best wall team in the league when they start pouring down the walls on you. We tried to spread the ice out and make the ice bigger, play in the neutral zone and play on a bigger piece of ice.”
That was the exact issue the Sabres had the last time these two teams played, when Florida won a tight game in Buffalo. The Panthers overwhelmed the Sabres along the wall in that game and it made the difference. This time, Ruff’s adjustment helped the Sabres shake loose the rest of the first period and eventually come back to win the game 5-3.
As they’ve done so often throughout this 26-game surge, the Sabres responded. It started, as it often does, with a Tage Thompson goal. Thompson got the puck, crossed the blue line into Florida’s zone and made a great move to buy space before ripping a turnaround shot by Sergei Bobrovsky with just under five minutes left in the first period. With just over 90 seconds left in the period, Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin made a pretty passing play to set up Peyton Krebs with a tap-in goal at the front of the net.
Krebs, who had two points in the first period, was just getting started. He led all Sabres forwards with 17:49 of ice time at five-on-five. He got bumped up to the top line to play with Thompson and Tuch in the first period and helped spark that group to a pair of first-period goals.
Late in the game, after the Sabres clinically killed off a five-on-three Panthers power play, Krebs helped protect Buffalo’s 4-3 lead. He collected a puck in the neutral zone and thought he had a breakaway but didn’t have the angle on Florida’s defenseman. Instead, he held onto the puck for a split second and delivered a perfect pass to Josh Doan, who finished the play with a decisive goal that put the Sabres up 5-3.
“He was incredible tonight,” Tuch said of Krebs. “He was flying. He was winning puck battles. He was good defensively. Good on the draw. I really liked his game tonight. Really well-rounded, had a couple big plays for us offensively. He was definitely MVP in my eyes tonight.”
Krebs finished with 19:27 of ice time, the most he’s had in a game all season long. He also had a team-high seven hits and drew a penalty. Krebs was more than willing to match the intensity and physicality of one of the league’s toughest opponents.
Krebs was a healthy scratch for the first game of the Sabres’ 2024-25 season, which was the first game of Ruff’s second stint as head coach. Since then, he’s played in 136 straight games. He’s filled any role Ruff has asked him to, and he now has 25 points this season, three away from matching a career high.
The Sabres are 21-4-1 in their last 26 games, and they wouldn’t have gotten to that point without getting contributions from all over the lineup. On Monday night, it was Krebs stepping up when they needed a spark.
“I try to bring all aspects of the game,” Krebs said. “Some nights it’s hitting guys, winning battles, getting in on the forecheck. When opportunities come like that, you want to make sure you finish. It’s a hard league and hard to get goals. Just capitalizing on opportunities.”
Peyton Krebs is three points from matching a career high this season.Sam Navarro / Imagn Images
With the win, the Sabres are now 10 points clear of the Panthers in the standings. Last week, the Sabres went to Toronto and knocked the Maple Leafs, a perennial contender, down a peg in the playoff race. They did the same to the Panthers on Monday. The Panthers’ injury situation isn’t getting any better, and the Sabres made sure to not be the team that let them off the mat.
“Honestly they’re way more skilled than us, that team,” Tkachuk said after the game. “From an individual standpoint skill, they have us by a lot. But we have a certain style and if we play that we’re successful. We just haven’t played it enough.”
Meanwhile, the Sabres are developing a playing style of their own that has made them one of the toughest teams in the Eastern Conference to play against. And now they’ll take that to Tampa to play the conference-leading Lightning on Tuesday night.
Here’s what else we saw in Buffalo’s win.
1. Lyon had another fantastic game. He stopped a season-high 38 of the 41 shots he faced. After the two early goals, Lyon locked things down and gave the Sabres a chance to claw their way back into the game. He stopped 10 of the 11 high-danger shots he faced and also made 11 saves when the Panthers had the man advantage.
Just a few years ago, Lyon helped drag the Panthers into the playoffs with his late-season run. And now he’s a big reason the Sabres are firmly in the playoff mix.
2. Buffalo’s penalty kill came up big. With 7:45 to play, Rasmus Dahlin took a penalty to give the Panthers a power play. And while killing that penalty, Bowen Byram took a penalty to make it a five-on-three advantage. The Sabres leaned on Mattias Samuelsson and Owen Power as their defensemen for the duration of that kill, and they came through. Samuelsson was a monster for the Sabres again, logging 27:26 of ice time and blocking seven shots.
3. The Sabres’ power play has struggled this season, but when it works, it looks like the game-winning goal on Monday. Doan worked to win a puck battle, carried the puck behind the net and made a slick pass to the net-front, where Jason Zucker banged the puck in for a goal. Those two have helped simplify the Sabres’ power play at times this season. With that assist and then the goal a few minutes later, Doan came through with a few clutch plays in this game.
4. Isak Rosen was called up and drew into the lineup, but Ruff didn’t trust him with much ice time. Rosen played just 3:08 while skating on the fourth line. Ruff was also stingy with Zach Metsa’s ice time as he played just 7:30, and Michael Kesselring was limited to 11:48. With another game on Tuesday, it will be worth watching how Ruff balances the minutes against the Lightning.
5. Zach Benson left the game early, favoring his left shoulder as he went to the locker room. He had a clean break in and was hooked down to the ice and then crashed into the end boards. He came back out and tried to play another shift, but went back to the bench shortly thereafter and returned to the locker room. Ruff said he’ll be evaluated but didn’t have any further information. The Sabres can’t afford to be without him for long.