How Sabres ‘dug in’ to beat Devils, extend winning streak

NEWARK, N.J. – A common theme during the Buffalo Sabres’ winning streak, which they extended to six games with Sunday’s 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils, has been shaking off bad periods.

The Devils had their way in the opening 20 at Prudential Center, leading 12-9 in shots and jumping ahead 1-0 on Jack Hughes’ early goal. They continued generating offense and would’ve built a commanding lead if not for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s stellar goaltending.

Luukkonen, seeing his first game action since Dec. 8 in Calgary, stopped a series of Grade-A scoring chances after the Hughes goal, none more impressive than his glove save on Arseny Gritsyuk to end a 2-on-1 threat.

That snag set the tone for a 26-save outing as Luukkonen earned his first road win of the season and fifth victory overall.

“He was fantastic tonight, for sure,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “He kept us in there, and that’s what you need from your goalie. He did a great job. Made a couple highlight-reel saves that kept them at one and allowed us to play the second period we played.”

Josh Norris tied it 1-1 early in that second period, sticking with a loose puck and poking it under goalie Jake Allen’s pad. The Devils called timeout to deliberate, but they chose not to challenge for goaltender interference.

And Zach Benson pulled Buffalo ahead 14 minutes later. Skating in on a 2-on-1 rush, he faked a pass across to Jack Quinn before tucking a no-look shot inside the near post – his third goal of the season, all in the last five games.

“[Quinn] was opening up and kind of created a threat, and I thought I could maybe fool a goalie there,” Benson detailed.

The second period saw the Sabres consistently win puck battles, outshoot New Jersey 12-6 and spend the bulk of their shifts in the offensive zone. Much like in Thursday’s win over Philadelphia, a different Buffalo team had returned from the first intermission.

“We talked in between periods about the level of compete; we had to hit a new level,” Ruff said. “We weren’t supporting the puck enough, we weren’t winning enough footraces. I thought the guys really dug in.”

So, for a fifth straight game, Buffalo headed to the third period with a one-goal lead. Besides for a couple early Devils chances, things remained mostly calm in the defensive zone, and Luukkonen was quick to freeze pucks and get tired defenders off the ice.

And Peyton Krebs won the last, most crucial footrace, closing it out with his first goal of the season. After Tage Thompson’s 200-foot floater just missed the empty net, Krebs outskated Luke Hughes up the ice and cashed in.

“I was hoping it went in first for Tommer, but then it came (with a) nice, perfect bounce for me, and I slammed that thing probably through the net,” Krebs said.

“… It felt good to get that one out of the way. It’s been a little too long, for sure, but just glad we got the win.”

The six-game streak marks Buffalo’s longest since December 2022. And the Sabres are now three games above .500 (17-14-4) for the first time since the end of that 2022-23 season. Their rebounding from subpar periods and defending late leads, Benson feels, speaks to the “maturing” they’ve done.

“Compete and will, want,” Benson continued. “We’ve got a lot of skill in this room, and I think it just comes down to competing every night, being consistent. And I think we’re doing that as of late, and it’s paying off for us.”

Here’s more from the win.

Pivotal performance for Luukkonen

After his nearly two-week layoff, Buffalo’s goalie recognized the need for a good start to Sunday’s game. And apart from the Hughes goal, he delivered just that.

“That’s one of those periods which the game can go, personally for me, two ways,” Luukkonen said. “And that’s a big one for me to, personally, get it going the right way, make the saves which we need as a team.”

The three-goalie roster has at times felt like a tug-of-war for playing time. Alex Lyon starred with the first five wins of the streak, and now Luukkonen has made another statement of his own.

“Al has been great for us,” Luukkonen said, “so getting the second half of back-to-back and being able to help the team to win, it’s a big thing for me.”

Back-to-back success

Another reason for the Sabres’ recent success? Their powering through the second half of back-to-back situations. They’ve won their last three games under these circumstances: Nov. 29 at Minnesota, Dec. 9 at Edmonton and Sunday at New Jersey.

“Back-to-back, I think we were hoping for easy, but you’ve got to give [the Devils] credit: they were on their toes right off the bat," Ruff said. "But I’ve got to give our club a lot of credit in the second and third for the way we played.”

Standings check

Sunday’s win has the Sabres just three points behind New Jersey for the second Eastern Conference wild card spot – with one game in hand.

They’ll look to continue closing that gap when they face the Ottawa Senators, one of five teams sitting between New Jersey and Buffalo, on Tuesday at 7 p.m. MSG’s pregame coverage will start at 6:30.