The forward, selected No. 14 by the Sabres in the 2024 NHL Draft, made his NHL debut on Monday in a 2-1 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes.
Noah Ostlund scored twice, and Peyton Krebs had a goal and an assist for the Sabres (27-17-5), who were 0-1-1 in their previous two games. Alex Lyon returned from a lower-body injury and made 32 saves in his first game since Dec. 29.
Ryan O’Reilly had two goals and an assist, and Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists for the Predators (23-22-4), who have lost consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 16-24 when they lost three in a row.
Ostlund gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 8:11 of the first period on a rebound of a shot from Rasmus Dahlin that deflected off of Helenius. It was Helenius’ first NHL point.
Ostlund gave Buffalo a 2-0 lead at 11:45 on a rebound of a shot from Helenius.
Helenius scored his first NHL goal to make it 3-0 at 17:24 on a wrist shot from the slot on the rush on a pass from Krebs.
Tage Thompson gave the Sabres a 4-0 lead at 4:20 of the second period on a wrist shot from the right circle on a pass from Alex Tuch.
Juuse Saros was pulled after Thompson’s goal. He made 14 saves. Justus Annunen made 13 saves in relief.
O’Reilly scored for the Predators to make it 4-1 at 10:09 of the second period on a wrist shot from the slot on a delayed penalty.
Forsberg pulled the Predators to within 4-2 at 11:54 on a wrist shot from the left circle.
O’Reilly scored for the Predators to make it 4-3 at 9:30 of the third period on a pass from Luke Evangelista on the rush that beat Lyon above the blocker.
Krebs scored an empty-net goal for the 5-3 final at 18:14.
