Tuch hoping to lead hometown Sabres on extended postseason run

BUFFALO -- Despite being in his 10th season in the NHL -- and on his third team -- Alex Tuch knows how special it is to be a hockey fan, to support a team and to experience the thrill ride that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Though it seems like another lifetime, the 29-year-old forward lived that life while growing up in nearby Baldwinsville, New York, a suburb of Syracuse and about a 2 1/2-hour drive to KeyBank Center. He lived and died with the Sabres, watching games with his family and hoping for long runs each spring.

During his heyday as a fan, Buffalo made the playoffs in four of six seasons, reaching the Eastern Conference Final in 2006 and 2007. He joined the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in 2012-13; the Sabres missed the playoffs that season, the second of what would prove to be a 14-season run of futility.

Now he is in his sixth season with Buffalo, which has reached the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2007, and once again, as he had when he was younger, fans are hanging on the Sabres' every shift.

“I do remember the excitement and being close a few times,” Tuch said Tuesday, with Buffalo set to host the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET;  HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).  “Watching amazing players and good playoff runs.”

Tuch came to the Sabres as part of the franchise-altering trade of Jack Eichel to the Vegas Golden Knights on Nov. 14, 2021. Buffalo is putting together a run after defeating the rival Boston Bruins in six games in the first round. 

Yes, Tuch sees the similarities. He remembers. It is part of his hockey identity. 

But this is not the time for a trip down memory lane.

“We are just focused on us now and being the best team we can be and having the deepest run possible,” Tuch said. “I think it is really exciting for the fans. I’m really proud to be a part of the group that has given them hope and so much excitement.”

According to his teammates, it's a pride Tuch displays unabashedly. 

He did not suffer through a decade or more of futility as captain Rasmus Dahlin or linemate Tage Thompson has, but he he has felt it as keenly.  

“You can see it in him, he’s a Buffalonian at heart,” Sabres forward Zach Benson said. “He gives back to the city so much. It’s special to see.  He’s a leader in this room for a reason. He’s inspiring probably for every guy in this room, but especially as a young guy. You look up to guys like that. 

“I know it is super special to him to be on the team that breaks the drought and be a big part of it. Super happy for him. He’s been a beast in the playoffs and you can see how much it means to him.”

Tuch, playing on a line with Thompson and Peyton Krebs -- another piece of the Eichel trade -- has dominated at times. He has seven points (four goals, three assists) in six games, tied with Thompson for the team scoring lead. He has two game-winning goals in the postseason and has a plus-8 rating.

Krebs added six points (two goals, four assists) on a line Boston couldn’t contain. 

“Our speed our size, 'Krebsie,' a really good part of his game is his relentlessness,” Thompson said, explaining the success and the part Tuch plays in it. “He’s got a motor on him. Moves his feet; he’s in quick, disrupts time and space. Tuch has such a long reach. So powerful and strong that when he does get to you, he just outmuscles guys. I feel like I have a long reach, anticipate plays well. 

“I think when you have a combo of those three things, you can read plays and see where it is going and then we have the skating ability to get there and the strength to win battles.”

It has been like that all season for Tuch, who had 66 points (33 goals, 33 assists) in 79 regular-season games, good for third on the team behind Thompson and Dahlin, the third time in the past four seasons Tuch has scored at least 33 goals -- he had 36 in 2022-23 and 2024-25.

“My job is to go out there and lead by example and just compete on every shift and do the little things that make it easy on the rest of my teammates,” he said. “We are on to a new series, a new team. We are going to play them at least four times, maybe seven, and it is going to be a battle every shift, every game and it is going to be different every game. You have to enjoy it, get excited for each game and come out swinging.”

Everyone in the Sabres dressing room knows Tuch will go out swinging for his all for his teammates, for the fans, for the city. This opportunity means the world, they know, because of what it represents.

“He hasn’t been a lifelong Sabre, but a life-long Sabre fan, being from the Syracuse area,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “You look at the way he has played, he has taken a lot of pride in the opportunity, with the way the year went for him, the way the playoffs are going for him. 

“He wants to be a difference maker, game in and game out. This is the time of year when you need big moments out of big players. We want him to give us all he’s got, and he has so far.”