From Last Place to First in 93 Days

On the morning of December 9, 2025, the Buffalo Sabres woke up in last place in the Eastern Conference. Their record was 11-14-4. The season had the familiar feel of another disappointment, another year spent watching other teams play in April while Buffalo went home early. A 14-year playoff drought will do that to a fanbase.

Then something shifted.

Since that December 9 low point, the Sabres have gone 29-5-2. That is not a hot week or a good month. That is the best record in the NHL over a three-month stretch. It includes a 10-game win streak earlier in the season that tied the franchise record, and now a current eight-game streak that has pushed Buffalo to four points clear at the top of the Atlantic Division heading into Thursday night's home game against the Washington Capitals.

Tuesday Night at KeyBank Center

Tuesday's 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks at KeyBank Center was the kind of performance this team has been delivering all year. Jack Quinn, a 23-year-old forward who had gone 12 games without a goal, broke out in the biggest possible way. He scored three times, including a wrist shot on a 2-on-1 in the first period, a one-timer from the slot in the third, and an empty-net goal to seal it, for the first hat trick of his NHL career. He added an assist for his first four-point game.

Rasmus Dahlin and Ryan McLeod each had three assists. Jason Zucker added a goal and an assist. Alex Tuch, who posted his 300th career point and played his 600th NHL game on the same night, also scored. Goaltender Alex Lyon made 17 saves and improved to 15-2 in his last 17 starts.

The milestone that stood out most in the Sabres' official notes: this was the first time in franchise history the team has had multiple winning streaks of eight or more games in a single season. The first streak was 10 games long in December, which tied the franchise record. This current run is the second of the year.

The Players Behind the Run

Tage Thompson has 34 goals and 36 assists for 70 points on the season, and he is one of the primary reasons this team has a legitimate shot at ending its NHL-record 14-season playoff drought. His point streak reached 11 games last week after a four-assist night in the thrilling 8-7 win over Tampa Bay on Sunday, March 8. Since the Olympic break, when Dahlin is on the ice at 5-on-5, the Sabres have outscored their opponents 16-2. That is not a typo.

Alex Lyon has been one of the best stories in the league. He is 15-2 in his last 17 starts. The career backup who never had a clear shot as a full-time starter has been the foundation of a run that has made Buffalo's playoff odds jump from 150-to-1 before the season to somewhere around 20-to-1 now, and improving with every game.

Josh Doan has scored 21 goals after having just seven all of last season. Ryan McLeod and Alex Tuch together have combined for eight shorthanded goals this year on the penalty kill, making Buffalo's 82.5 percent penalty kill fourth in the league and one of the most dangerous in the game in transition.

Tonight: The Capitals Come to KeyBank Center

Thursday night, March 12, the Washington Capitals arrive at KeyBank Center for a 7 p.m. puck drop on MSG. Pregame coverage starts at 6:30 p.m. The Capitals come in at 32-27-7, having lost four straight road games, including a 4-1 loss to Philadelphia on Wednesday. They are seven points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with two more games played than most of the teams they are chasing.

This could also be Alex Ovechkin's last game in Buffalo. The NHL's all-time leading goal scorer has said publicly that he will make a decision on retirement this offseason. He is not the driver of this Washington team anymore, but he is still Alex Ovechkin, and whatever he does at KeyBank Center will be watched closely.

The Sabres won the first meeting of the season between these two teams 4-3 in a shootout on November 1, and they have won three straight against Washington. Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is expected to start after Alex Lyon got the call Tuesday.

What It All Means

Buffalo has 40 wins. That is the second most in 15 years for this franchise, and the team still has 17 or so games left to play. A playoff spot could be clinched before the end of March. If that happens, it will snap a drought that began in 2011, one that outlasted multiple coaches, multiple general managers, and more promising rebuilds than most fan bases can count.

Coach Lindy Ruff, in his second stint with the team, said after Tuesday's win that the group has gotten real tight. "We've won games in a lot of different ways, but I think the overall consistency of line to line and buying into how we need to play allows you to get to that point," Ruff said. "Some nights it's special teams. Some nights it's our 5-on-5 play. The fourth line chipping in. You need all of that to get on a run."

Rasmus Dahlin, the captain, has been saying out loud what the whole city is feeling. "Finally, we're here," Dahlin said after the win over Tampa Bay. "We're doing good things. I don't take this for granted, at all. I'm so fired up. I'm so happy for Buffalo as a city, for all the fans."

Those are not the words of a guy worried about a late-season collapse. They are the words of a team that actually believes it.