Lyon on the road continues to be a winning combo for Sabres

SAN JOSE, Calif – Alternating starts in net may be creating some friendly competition between Alex Lyon and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and the results have been fantastic for the Buffalo Sabres.

Thursday at SAP Center, two days after Luukkonen’s 28 save shutout in Vegas, Lyon stopped all 23 shots in a 5-0 Sabres shutout of the San Jose Sharks.

“We have two unbelievable goalies,” captain Rasmus Dahlin said postgame. “He can’t be worse than Upie, it seems like, so he also had to shut it out. Unbelievable. They are a huge part of our success.”

That success has reached new heights on the road, with Buffalo extending its franchise-record points streak to 12 games (11-0-1) away from KeyBank Center. Further, the Sabres have gone 18-2-1 on the road since Dec. 9, and the goaltending has led the way with an unrivaled .935 save percentage during that run.

Lyon, individually, has won 10 straight on the road. Assuming the goalie rotation continues, he’ll have a chance to tie the all-time NHL record (11) on Sunday in Anaheim.

“I didn’t know that!,” he reacted, then gave a typically thoughtful explanation:

“I think as you get older, you get better on the road, just taking care of your body, doing the right things leading up to the game. It’s a completely different process than preparing for a home game, so you get better at that with time. It’s cool, and (I’m) just gonna try to send it next game.”

Buffalo needed Lyon at his sharpest early in this one. The speedy and skilled Sharks offense dictated play in the first period, creating great chances for the likes of Macklin Celebrini, Tyler Toffoli and Kiefer Sherwood, but Lyon kept it scoreless.

“We were a little too high-risk in the first period there, trying to get a little too cute with it – myself included,” said Sam Carrick, who later scored his third and fourth goals as a Sabre.

Added coach Lindy Ruff: “To get through that first period and not give up any, with some of the opportunities we gave them, got to give our goaltender a lot of credit.”

What followed was a second period full of rush offense in both directions. San Jose’s Will Smith hit the crossbar, and Sherwood had a shot leak through Lyon and out of the crease. Bowen Byram then responded with a chance alone in front for Buffalo.

The dam eventually broke, and Noah Ostlund, Carrick and Dahlin each buried rush chances in a 1:43 span to give the Sabres a comfortable lead. Incredibly, those were Buffalo’s only three shots of the second, and that shooting success carried over through the intermission, with Tage Thompson beating Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic just 40 seconds into the third to make it 4-0.

Ruff, with 1,925 games behind an NHL bench, isn’t sure if he’s ever seen a team convert on four consecutive shots on goal.

Carrick scored again late on a redirection from the slot, capping off a night of impressive depth scoring from the Sabres: Each of the four lines created a goal, and 12 guys recorded at least one point.

"I think we do a good job here of rolling our lines, trusting everyone in all situations,” said Carrick, who also went 8-for-9 at the faceoff dot – seven games in, he’s been a perfect fit. “It’s been great to be on the fourth line; we’re getting put in different situations, and it’s just easier to find a groove when we’re rolling lines like that.”

The lines are rolling, the goalies are rolling and the Sabres are rolling, as they’re 11-1-0 since the Olympic break and again tied with Carolina (92 points) atop the Eastern Conference standings.

• Become a 2026-27 Season Ticket Member to guarantee seats for this year’s playoffs!

Here’s more from the win.

Sammy vs. Celebrini

The young, dynamic Celebrini twice sped toward Lyon, sure to get a dangerous shot off. Both times, the Sabres’ shutdown defenseman Mattias Samuelsson closed the gap and killed the play.

Celebrini and Samuelsson were matched up for 5:07 at 5-on-5, and the Sharks managed just two shot attempts (neither on goal) during those minutes, per Natural Stat Trick.

“I thought as a group, and Sammy especially when he was out there, did a good job making sure he didn’t get free,” Ruff said. “He caught us a couple times in Buffalo, and we tried to make sure we were aware when he was on the ice.”

George’s big milestone

Tuesday marked the 2,500th game for Sabres assistant equipment manager George Babcock, a universally beloved figure in the organization.

“That guy breathes and bleeds Buffalo,” Dahlin said. “I’m so happy that he’s right here, right now, having this success again; he’s been through it. An unbelievable human being, and we’ve had a lot of memories. I’m so, so happy for him. He means a lot to me.”

“He’s so authentic to himself,” Lyon added, “and he provides an incredible amount of energy. Obviously, our season has been a tale of two halves here, but he’s the same guy from Day 1 as he is right now.”

Postgame sound

Up next

The Sabres head to Los Angeles for Saturday’s 4 p.m. EDT matchup with the Kings. MSG’s pregame coverage starts at 3:30.