Sabres vs. Wild | How to watch, lineup notes, and storylines

The Buffalo Sabres welcome the unbeaten Minnesota Wild for the second of five straight home games tonight at KeyBank Center.

It will be the first test against a 2025-26 playoff team for this year’s Sabres, who will play seven of their next eight games against opponents who made the playoffs last season.

Last year, Minnesota finished third in the Central Division with 104 points, and the 2026-27 Wild have outscored their opponents 7-2 en route to a 2-0-0 start.

Buffalo is expected to field a slightly different-looking lineup than it did in Saturday’s nail-biting 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, namely between the pipes – Colten Ellis is expected to make his season debut tonight after he occupied the starter’s crease at practice on Monday.

“Obviously, (the Wild) are a great hockey team,” Ellis said after practice Tuesday. “They move the puck fast and they’ve got a lot of talent on the team. So, I think for us, just focusing on our game – we're a great team, too, and we play fast and we play hard and we play for each other. Just focusing on ourselves will be a key for (the game).”

Here’s what you need to know before the puck drops at 7 p.m.

How to watch

TV (Sabres broadcast market): MSG (Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 p.m.)

Streaming (Sabres broadcast market): DAZN

Streaming (out of market): ESPN+

Radio: WGR 550 / Buffalo Sabres App

More ways to watch/listen to Sabres games

Lineup notes

Along with the Ellis manning the starter’s net, the Sabres fine-tuned some of the forward lines and special teams units at Monday’s practice.

While the top-six remained unchanged, Jiri Kulich – who scored the game-winning goal and was a plus-2 against Chicago on Saturday – was bumped up to the third line to center Peyton Krebs and Konsta Helenius. Ryan McLeod moved to the fourth line, centering Beck Malenstyn and Sam Carrick.

“We’re just trying to win games,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “There’s always games when somebody moves up or somebody moves around. You just get a feeling that you want to try something a little better.”

The other notable change will come on Buffalo’s man advantage – on Monday, Noah Östlund was operating on the right flank of the top power-play unit, pushing Jack Quinn into the bumper role. The rest of the personnel on PP1 was kept the same, pushing Josh Doan to the second unit.

For more on Ellis and the Sabres’ lineup tweaks, check out Monday’s practice report.

Storylines

Storylines

1. Keeping the feet on the gas

The Sabres have been outscored 9-7 through their 1-1-0 start but carried a good share of the play offensively. Buffalo outshot the Blue Jackets and the Blackhawks a combined 54-38 and own a 63.73  percent share of scoring chances at all strengths, a figure that ranks first in the NHL per Natural Stat Trick.

In essence, the Sabres have been generating chances nicely, and haven’t given up a whole lot. Cashing in on the new-look power play – especially after the tweaks made at practice Monday – could raise those numbers after an inopportune 0-for-8 start on the man advantage.

“As soon as you start scoring, everybody will calm down,” Ruff said. “(Jack) Quinn walked in alone, could have scored (against Chicago). He got his rebound, could have scored. We could have scored in Columbus when he walked in, went through the goalie, and hit the goalpost. We just want to try to remain consistent with it.”

2. Extra hockey?

Buffalo and Minnesota might only see each other twice per year, but they tend to make it worth the while – five of the last eight matchups between these two squads have needed overtime or a shootout to settle the score. Seven of eight have been decided by just one goal.

Last season, both Sabres vs. Wild games surpassed regulation time – the first of those, a 3-2 shootout victory for the Sabres in St. Paul on Nov. 29, 2025, saw Ellis pick up the win after making 22 saves on 24 shots and stopping two of Minnesota’s four shootout attempts.

The latter meeting was a 5-4 overtime for the Wild at KeyBank Center on Jan. 17 – star forward Kirill Kaprizov had three helpers, but the overtime hero, Mats Zuccarello, left Minnesota for the Los Angeles Kings in free agency this past summer.

3. Scouting the Wild

Minnesota is off to a perfect start, winning once on the road and once at home. The Wild’s most recent victory was a 4-1 home win over the Boston Bruins, where Kaprizov (2G) and Quinn Hughes (1G, 1A) each posted two-point games.

Kaprizov – who tied for fourth in last year’s NHL goal-scoring race with 45 tucks – has saved some of his stronger performances for the Sabres, notching seven goals and seven assists for 14 points in just nine career games against Buffalo.

Kaprizov has begun 2026-27 with three goals in two games played, playing on a line with fellow Russians Maxim Shabanov and Danila Yurov. Yurov, though, left Minnesota’s practice on Monday as a “precaution” for an upper-body injury, and his status is not yet confirmed for tonight.

Hughes, who leads the team with three points (1+2) to start this year, has primarily played on the top pair alongside Brock Faber since his arrival in Minnesota last December – that’s not the case now, though, as Faber suffered a skull fracture in a preseason game that required surgical intervention, leaving the Wild without one of their more important pieces. Captain Jared Spurgeon has taken Faber’s spot to the right of Hughes and has a goal and an assist to kickstart his 17th NHL season.

Jesper Wallstedt has started in net for both Wild games so far, allowing just two goals and boasting an impressive .957 save percentage.