Sabres keep Atlantic lead, close in on home-ice advantage
The Buffalo Sabres' magic number is down to three to clinch home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and they continue to have a grip on first place in the Atlantic Division.
The Buffalo Sabres' magic number is down to three to clinch home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and they continue to have a grip on first place in the Atlantic Division.
The Sabres' 5-0 win Thursday night over the Columbus Blue Jackets improved their record to 49-23-8 and gave them 106 points with two games remaining on their schedule.
Montreal is second in the division with 104 points after stunning Tampa Bay 2-1 on Thursday at the Bell Centre. Juraj Slavkovsky scored the game-winning goal with 1:04 left, just 47 seconds after Tampa defenseman Darryn Raddysh tied the game and gave the Lightning a shot at overtime and getting at least one point.
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Logan Stanley (64), right wing Jack Quinn (22) and center Ryan McLeod (71) celebrate
Quinn’s goal in the third period of their game at KeyBank Center on Thursday, April 9, 2026. (Joed Viera/Buffalo News)
Tampa Bay has 102 points, but would have a tiebreaker advantage over Montreal. Both teams have three games left and can do no better than 108 points.
What would a division championship mean for the Sabres? It would give them what could be a more favorable first-round matchup, likely against the Boston Bruins or Ottawa Senators, as opposed to meeting Montreal or Tampa Bay in Round 1.
If the season ended after Thursday's play, the Sabres would be hosting the Bruins in Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, with the opener on either April 18 or 19. The Sabres would host a wild-card team if they win the division or host the third-place club in the Atlantic if they finish second.
Elsewhere in the East, Metropolitan Division champion Carolina improved to 108 points with Thursday's 7-2 win at Chicago and has a magic number of three to clinch first place in the conference.
If the Canes win the conference's regular season crown, they would play the No. 2 wild card, which is currently Ottawa. That would leave the Atlantic champion to play the No. 1 wild card and produce a potential Buffalo-Boston matchup if the Sabres take their first division title since 2010.
Remaining games
Buffalo (2): Monday, at Chicago; Wednesday, Dallas.Tampa Bay (3): Saturday, at Boston; Monday, Detroit; Wednesday, N.Y. Rangers.
Montreal (3): Saturday, Columbus; Sunday, at N.Y. Islanders; Tuesday, at Philadelphia.
Boston (3): Saturday, Tampa Bay; Sunday, at Columbus; Tuesday, New Jersey.
Ottawa (3): Saturday, at Islanders; Sunday, at New Jersey; Wednesday, Toronto.
The East wild cards
Idle Boston continues to hold the No. 1 slot with 96 points and three games left. Ottawa improved to 94 points with its 5-1 win over Florida and is three points up on both Detroit and the New York Islanders, who each won Thursday, but may be on a futile chase of the Senators.Columbus stayed at 90 points and is just about toast in the wild card chase, but is only two points behind Philadelphia for third in the Metropolitan Division and could still qualify for the playoffs by going that route.
