Sabres continue push for home-ice advantage after ending historic playoff drought

BUFFALO -- They want more.

For the Buffalo Sabres and their long-suffering fan base, the satisfaction of ending a historic NHL-record 14-season Stanley Cup Playoff drought was short-lived.

Now, it isn’t enough anymore.

Now, the goal is to grab home-ice advantage for at least one round in the postseason, if not more.

Anyone fortunate enough to be in KeyBank Center for the Sabres’ impressive 4-2 victory against the rival Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday can understand why.

“I think this is going to be one of the hardest buildings in the League to play in,” forward Alex Tuch said. “When we’ve got a crowd like that especially, and we’re playing like that on home ice.

“Home ice is huge, especially in the playoffs, and we’re going to push for it.”

The Sabres took a step towards that goal with their win against Tampa Bay, which pulled them into a first-place tie atop the Atlantic Division with the Lightning at 102 points, two ahead of the Montreal Canadiens. Tampa Bay has played one fewer game than Buffalo and also holds the tiebreaker.

With the Sabres having clinched a postseason berth Saturday for the first time since 2011, this was the first opportunity for the locals to show their appreciation for the team. Add in the fact that they were playing the Lightning, the team they’d defeated 8-7 here in a rugged game for the ages on March 8, and the vibe was off the charts.

Just ask Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, who was behind the Buffalo bench the last time the Sabres had been in the playoffs 15 years earlier.

As Ruff was preparing for the game, he saw a video clip of fans outside the arena smacking around an inflatable Brandon Hagel pylon with the words “PUNCH BRANDON HAGEL” on it. The Lightning forward had been the villain in that wild game against the Sabres 29 days earlier, having received a $5,000 fine from the NHL for his actions as the aggressor in an altercation with Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin.

The crowd hadn’t forgotten, as Ruff discovered firsthand. It didn’t matter that Hagel was not dressed, missing his third consecutive game with an undisclosed injury. They didn’t care.

“The energy in the building was incredible,” Ruff said. “You could sense tension, you could sense excitement. And when the game got to 2-2, it was a playoff atmosphere where, you know, the game could go either way. They’re waiting for our response. And the response when we scored to go up 3-2 was incredible.

“You know, I saw a few clips before the game of some stuff where they had the Hagel thing, and people were punching the Hagel dummy into the building. I just think that’s part of it. Everybody’s into it. Our fans have been waiting real long so it’s good to see.”

In the end, those would be the most vicious uppercuts thrown on this night, a far cry from that previous meeting when the teams combined for 15 goals, 28 penalties, 102 penalty minutes and 10 fighting majors.

This was far less circus, with the teams combining for just 26 minutes in penalties, and far more playoff hockey. And when it came to that, the Sabres excelled, taking a 3-2 lead on a Jason Zucker goal at 7:38 of the second period, then smothering the Lightning the rest of the way.

“We know that if we play the right way and we defend the way we’ve defended all year, that we can close out the game at 3-2,” Ruff said. “And that’s really the approach that you need to take, the one that they need to score two. And if you don’t hand them anything, you’ll give yourself a pretty good opportunity of winning.”

Winning is an unfamiliar concept to those in these parts. Consider that the last playoff game that took place in Buffalo was on April 24, 2011.

As a reminder that that forgettable postseason dry spell was finally over, each person entering the building was handed a poster entitled “The Sabrehood Times” with the words “WE’RE BACK” blaring on the front.

When the team came out for warmups, they were greeted with a standing ovation in a building that was already practically full 30 minutes before puck drop. Then, as the clock clicked down toward the national anthem, a heart-tugging video was played on the center ice video screen narrated by the late Rick Jeanneret, the beloved Sabres Hall of Fame play-by-play man who passed away in 2023. 

And when Tuch, easily the best player on the ice, then opened the scoring to put Buffalo up 1-0 at 5:42 of the first period, the building exploded as if 15 years of built-up emotions had been released.

“I thought he skated incredible,” Ruff said of Tuch, who scored his 30th goal of the season, adding that “it was a big night for him.”

As it was for Sabres backers, who began chanting “We want Tampa” as the clock wound down.

Yet another indication that just making the playoffs isn’t enough in these parts these days.