The Buffalo Sabres took advantage of a favorable stretch on their West Coast trip, securing wins against struggling young clubs in California to boost their early-season standing.
Wild Victory in Anaheim
Following a narrow victory over the San Jose Sharks where they protected a 1-0 lead until Zach Benson scored an empty-netter, the Sabres earned a chaotic 7-6 win against the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center. Buffalo continued a familiar trend of falling behind early, dropping into a 3-1 deficit in the first period after giving up two power play goals. However, the visitors bounced back by scoring six unanswered goals, highlighted by a natural hat trick from Tage Thompson.
The Sabres nearly squandered a four-goal advantage in the final stages as Anaheim’s Cutter Gauthier, Tristan Luneau, and Beckett Sennecke cut the deficit to just one goal. The Ducks ultimately ran out of time to find an equalizer against goaltender Colten Ellis, who secured his second consecutive victory with a sprawling save in the dying seconds.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff addressed the team’s performance after the final whistle, stating, “I didn’t like the way we started the game, I didn’t like our discipline for the type of penalties we took early, but then you’ve got to like the middle 50 minutes, you’ve got to like the fact that our power play scored a couple. All you need to do is concentrate on playing good defense, and you are going to get more offense. Your rush coverage, read where guys are going, we’re better than that.”
Standings and Roster Updates
The victory improved Buffalo’s record to 6-4-3, putting them in a tie with Detroit and the New York Rangers. The team sits just one point behind Florida for the second Eastern Conference wildcard spot.
Sam Carrick returned to the active lineup, recording an assist on Tyson Kozak’s opening-period goal while stepping in for injured rookie Konsta Helenius. Helenius picked up an upper-body injury during the game in San Jose and traveled back to Buffalo for further evaluation.
