Krebs, Kulich taking advantage of first-line promotions

Peyton Krebs likes playing with Tage Thompson. Why? 

“I enjoy finding him because he scores,” Krebs said. 

Look no further than Tuesday night, when Krebs picked the pocket of one of the world’s best defensemen, Quinn Hughes, and found Thompson streaking into the slot. The puck was in the back of the net in the blink of an eye. 

Thompson and Krebs are no strangers to being linemates, playing together for the better part of last season and for most of this year’s training camp. They’d been apart as of late, but coach Lindy Ruff facilitated a reunion in the third period against Minnesota – slotting Jiri Kulich between them and pushing Thompson to right wing – and reaped the benefits when Thompson tied the game off Krebs’ feed.

• Recap: Krebs, Thompson help lead comeback vs. Wild

As such, Ruff opted to keep them together for Wednesday’s practice at KeyBank Center. 

“(This is) our sixth year together, and I just try to work to get him pucks, find him, make plays, and I think he knows that I want to find him, so he's trying to get open,” Krebs said. “It was a great shot, and it's nice to see that one go in for him.”

When lines are juggled on the fly as they were against Minnesota on Tuesday, Krebs makes a quick read: “Okay, you see a forechecker, does he go hard on the forecheck? Does he like to pick on loose pucks? … Is he a shooter? Is he not? Just little things like that.” 

But fundamentally, things don’t change when Ruff mixes and matches his forwards. No matter where Krebs is slotted into the lineup, he’s always trying to do just that – get players the puck. Whether on the first or fourth line, playing on the left or up the middle, Krebs’ reliable style of play remains the same – that’s part of what makes him so effective, and also why he’s Ruff’s coveted ‘Swiss Army Knife.’ 

“Honestly, it’s not much different for me. I just do the same thing I’d do with (Thompson) that I’d do with (Owen Power), if he was on my line,” Krebs said with a smile. 

 “It doesn't matter where he's put,” Ruff said. “He goes out and gives it 100 percent effort.” 

Here’s more from Wednesday’s practice.

Lineup notes

The Sabres only briefly took line rushes and shuffled the defensive pairings on Wednesday, with Mattias Samuelsson sitting out for scheduled maintenance. But the forwards looked similar to the third period against Minnesota, headlined by the Krebs-Kulich-Thompson first line. 

The Zach Benson-Noah Östlund-Jack Quinn line remains the only line that has gone unchanged since the start of camp, and for good reason – the trio have generated 27 scoring chances for (nine of them high-danger) and just 11 against through 35:25 of play.

The third line saw Ryan McLeod center Josh Norris and Konsta Helenius, while Beck Malenstyn, Justin Danforth and Josh Doan rounded out the forwards.

Buffalo also spent time on the power play on Wednesday, keeping the top unit intact while making some tweaks to PP2, namely sticking Norris atop the crease as the net front skater, and rotating Kulich in on the left flank as well. 

“I thought our power play actually really looked good (against Minnesota),” Ruff said. “Moved the puck really good. I mean, the goalie made one unbelievable save on Thompson, and then another tip shot, made a great save. But we broke pressure. We moved it quick enough to find the right guy at the right time, and that got us some good opportunities.”

Kulich quietly turning heads 

Kulich certainly got people’s attention when he tallied the game-winning goal against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night – but coming off a year-long recovery from a blood clot, Kulich has been impressing in more ways than one. 

• ‘Like a dream’ | Kulich announces return with late game winner

His move to the top line in the third period on Tuesday was the latest of Kulich’s promotions – he started on the fourth line, then joined the third, in that Chicago game. 

“I see a guy that's trying to gain some traction after being off all this time,” Ruff said. “Now he's getting a little bit bigger opportunity, (and) I think he's taking advantage of it. He’s skating well. We know he's got a great shot, and I think it's just finding a comfort level.” 

Added Krebs: “He started on the fourth line, and he'll work his way up for sure. I think he's not taking a day for granted (after) going through that clot. Every day he comes to the rink with a smile on his face. … It’s a lot of fun to be around. He works for pucks, he gets me pucks, I get him pucks and it's been a lot of fun.”

Danforth at the dot 

Like Kulich, Justin Danforth overcame a lengthy recovery process in the last year as a broken kneecap ended his 2025-26 season after just four games. 

Danforth made his long-awaited season debut against Minnesota on Tuesday, finishing with 8:17 TOI (Ruff shortened the bench in the third period with Buffalo down two goals). 

“He had a real good training camp," Ruff said of Danforth. “I thought in the (preseason) games, he played hard, was really good on the penalty kill, was good in the faceoff circle. I thought last night he won some key faceoffs for us, and I thought he played well.” 

Danforth took seven faceoffs on Tuesday. Notably, he lined up at the dot for four defensive-zone faceoffs and won all four. 

He hasn’t played a ton of center in his short time in Buffalo – largely due to the Sabres’ depth at the position – but Danforth took plenty of faceoffs in his four years with the Columbus Blue Jackets, winning a career-high 327 draws in 2024-25.

Up next

The Sabres host the Dallas Stars at 7 p.m. Thursday for the third consecutive game at KeyBank Center. Pregame coverage on MSG starts at 6:30 p.m., and tickets are still available.