The more rested Lightning had the bulk of the chances early, and they turned a Sabres giveaway into a Nikita Kucherov goal. Ellis was Buffalo’s best player as he made 12 saves in the first period, including five on high-danger chances, per Natural Stat Trick.

Jake Guentzel leads the Lightning in high-danger chances over the past five games, but only scored in one of them. Playing for a sizable home favorite in a game with a 6.5 total, this is a good spot for him to find twine. The Lightning are a strong shot suppression team, but that shouldn’t matter too much for Jason Zucker.

Expert recap and game analysis of the Buffalo Sabres vs. Florida Panthers NHL game from February 2, 2026 on ESPN.

The Panthers struck first, but the Sabres pulled back control of the game thanks to a sterling performance from Krebs.

Just days after being named head coach, Joe Brady took in the Sabres' NHL game against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. While a loss, Brady was welcomed by fans on the big screen during the game. He also did an intermission interview alongside general manager Brandon Beane.

Rasmus Dahlin scored a pair of power-play goals and the Buffalo Sabres won for the 14th time in their last 16 games, 5-2 over the Philadelphia Flyers.

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Jason Zucker broke a tie on a power play at 5:31 of the third period and he Buffalo Sabres beat the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers 5-3 on Monday night. The Sabres have won six of seven and took over the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Montreal Canadiens visit the Buffalo Sabres after Nicholas Suzuki scored two goals in the Canadiens' 7-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche