'It was like a playoff game' | Sabres come back in Dallas for 10th straight win

DALLAS – With less than two minutes left in their final game of 2025, and a comfortable 4-1 lead on the scoreboard, Noah Ostlund dropped to one knee to block a point-blank shot for the Buffalo Sabres at American Airlines Center on Sunday.

Yes, Tage Thompson turned in a superstar three-point outing. And yes, they got another strong start in goal from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

But the decision by Ostlund to sacrifice his body, with the game well in hand – therein lies the essence of the Sabres’ winning streak, which has now matched a franchise record at 10 games: desperation, attention to detail, and never, ever taking a win for granted.

“That tells you where you’re at,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “A guy like Ostlund, who got in front of a shot when it was 4-1. … The desperation inside the game. The wall battles I thought were real good. It was like a playoff game. It was two good teams playing hockey.”

As a result, the Sabres will flip the calendar in a playoff spot. They finished night alone in the second wild-card position with 46 points. They are five points behind Detroit for first place in the Atlantic Division with five games in hand.

There have been four 10-game winning streaks in Sabres history: 1984, 2006, 2018 and 2025. Ruff has had a hand in three of them, once as a player and twice as a coach.

His message to players throughout this streak is to keep their sights forward, to look for ways to improve even as the wins continue to pile. The players who spoke postgame in Dallas on Wednesday echoed that even-keeled approach.

“It’s a lot of fun when you’re winning,” Thompson said. “Obviously we’re riding a little high right now, but at the same time I think we’ve done a pretty good job after a win of coming down to Earth and making sure we’re ready for the next game. That’s kind of how we got on this roll is making sure we’re doing the right things every game.

“When you’re winning games in a row, it’s pretty easy to kind of just expect to win. I think we don’t have that right now. We’re just one game at a time, one day at a time. So, exciting to win 10 in a row. Now, we’ve got to get ready for Columbus.”

The Sabres aren’t showing up expecting to be handed a win – but they sure do believe they can earn it. They’ve trailed following the first period in four of their last five victories, including Wednesday night against one of the NHL’s premier teams in Dallas.

Maverick Bourque opened the scoring for the Stars just 15 seconds into the contest, the end result of two early Buffalo turnovers. Immediately, the Sabres faced a daunting proposition: come back against a Stars team that entered the night 17-3-1 when scoring first.

On the bench, their confidence never wavered.

“I think that’s been the story of this whole winning streak,” Luukkonen said. “If we fall behind, it doesn’t phase us.”

The Sabres immediately went into high gear, earning heavy first-period advantages in shot attempts (31-15) and high-danger chances (10-2, according to Natural Stat Trick).

They finally broke through in the second period on a masterful play by Thompson, who carried the puck behind the net before reversing away from a defender and finding a seam to set up a Josh Doan one-timer.

Ten minutes later, Bowen Byram streaked down the right side of the ice and buried his ninth goal – tied for fifth among NHL defensemen – to give the Sabres a 2-1 lead.

“We’ve just got a lot of confidence right now no matter what the score is,” Byram said. “We just try to keep playing the same way.”

The Sabres continued to play a tight defensive game from there – including two successful penalty kills against the league’s second-ranked power play – until Thompson blew the game open with two goals scored 2:14 apart midway through the third period.

Thompson’s first goal was the product of desperation around the net, with a long shift in front of goaltender Case DeSmith finally yielding a rebound for the 6-foot-6 forward to push across the line. His second goal was a rocket of a wrist shot scored from the slot.

“I thought we dominated pretty much the entire game,” Thompson said. “Obviously, a tough first shift, but I thought we skated, kind of controlled the pace of the game and really had them on their heels for the most part. We were getting chances. So, I think they started to just go in.”

Ruff referred to the matchup with the Stars – who’d only been held to fewer than two goals once since the start of November – as another benchmark for the Sabres to see how far they’ve come.

In the past 10 games – and again in Dallas – they’ve shown they can come back. They’ve shown they can defend well and can string together victories. They’ve shown they can win tightly contested games against playoff-caliber opponents.

Their resolution for 2026: continue to build on those qualities, one game at a time.

“I just think lately, we’ve really been playing for each other and playing for the team. Yeah, I’m really proud of our guys so far. But we’ve still got half a season left to go, so we can’t be happy with what’s been going on. We’ve got to continue to strive to get better.”

Here’s more from the win.

Luukkonen steps up

Quality goaltending has been a key ingredient to the Sabres’ winning streak and remained so against the Stars.

With Alex Lyon headed to Buffalo to have a lower-body injury evaluated, the Sabres turned to Luukkonen for the third time since the streak began. He turned away 27 of 28 shots, upping his save percentage to .962 over those three appearances.

“I thought he played excellent,” Ruff said. “This last while, he’s played very good hockey for us. That’s a key to getting on a run too, is usually your goaltenders making those big saves at big times. And our goalies have been giving us the good saves.”

Luukkonen credited his defense with contributing to the recent success in net.

“I feel like the game’s really predictable and it’s easy to read, easier than the start of the year,” he said. “I feel like we’re kind of buying into a system – really playing heavy in front of the net. We’re taking away second chances most of the time.

“I feel like as a goalie, when the game’s predictable, you feel comfortable and confident playing. I feel that way right now, but most of it is because the team is playing really well in front of me.”

Postgame Sound

Up next

The Sabres open 2026 against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Saturday afternoon. Coverage on MSG begins at 2:30 p.m. with puck drop set for 3.