‘That’s just what good teams do’ | Sabres defend another 3rd-period lead, return home at .500

SEATTLE – The Buffalo Sabres started their six-game trip with three straight losses. They’d won just two road games all season and were now dealing with a growing list of injuries and illnesses.

But on Sunday night, after beating the Seattle Kraken 3-1 at Climate Pledge Arena, the Sabres are heading home with three straight wins – their longest streak of the season – and a .500 record (14-14-4) on the year.

“I mean, .500, not great, obviously we want to be better than that,” Tage Thompson said postgame. “But it could have easily gone really bad the way we started, so very resilient by our group to find it and turn it around.”

The Sabres led for much of the night in Seattle, beginning with Noah Ostlund’s goal late in the first. The rookie forward wasted little time announcing his return from a one-game stint in Rochester, converting on a beautiful give-and-go with linemate Josh Norris to open the scoring.

Norris crashed hard into the end boards – he and Ostlund were rushing up the ice that quickly – but didn’t miss a shift. He’s got a point in every game (2 goals, 6 assists) since returning from his two-month absence.

“Real nice play; they moved the puck real quick,” said coach Lindy Ruff, who was pleased with their newly formed line with Alex Tuch. “I thought they played well away from the puck. They were in on three or four really good opportunities, and I thought Ostlund played really well.”

Thompson extended Buffalo’s lead to 2-0 – and his goal-scoring streak to four games – midway through the second. Moments after a successful penalty kill, Tuch’s steal at the offensive blue line created a 2-on-0 chance, and Peyton Krebs fed Thompson for his 16th goal of the season.

The Kraken responded quickly with a power-play goal, setting the stage for a familiar-looking third period; like on Thursday in Vancouver, the Sabres were tasked with defending a one-goal lead, on the road, with much of the action taking place in their own zone.

Compared to Thursday’s final 20, which required 15 blocked shots to escape with a win, Sunday’s saw the Kraken struggle to generate much of a real threat – Natural Stat Trick credited them with just two high-danger scoring chances in the third. That solid defense eventually set up Zach Benson's empty-net goal to ice the game with 46 seconds remaining.

“Didn’t really give up any big rush opportunities, played the period the right way, didn’t take any penalties and really didn’t invite any trouble,” said Ruff, who tied Barry Trotz for fourth on the all-time leaderboard with his 914th win behind the bench.

Added goalie Alex Lyon: “We did a way better job today than we did last game – I think that was pretty evident. Continued to do the right things: got pucks deep, made them come 200 feet. That’s just what good teams do when they have the lead, so credit to the guys.”

Lyon played in his fourth straight game (second start) and made 23 saves for his third straight win. He’s got a .929 save percentage since Monday’s relief appearance, fourth best in the NHL during that span.

“There were some difficult saves; he made them look easy,” Ruff said, “and I think that has a calming effect on our team, for sure.”

The first-year Sabre did his part with a .912 save percentage in nine October games but went just 3-4-2. Now, for Lyon, individual and team results are beginning to line up.

“It’s frustrating when you feel like you’re putting a good product out there and maybe not getting results,” he said. “But that’s just part about being professional. … You’ve got to be resilient, emotionally resilient. It’s nice to get a few wins under the belt, but again, just try to keep myself to that high standard and continue to push moving forward.”

With 12 hotel nights in the books and some momentum coming back to Buffalo, the Sabres expect to sleep well when they arrive home early Monday morning.

“We’re tired and ready to get in our own beds,” Lyon said. “Looking forward to it.”

Up next

The Sabres return home and face the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The game will be exclusively streaming on ESPN+ and Hulu.

Tickets are available here.

Postgame audio