Less than a month ago, on December 8th, 2025, the Buffalo Sabres were in Calgary to face the Flames. It was the third game of a six game road trip, and the Sabres had lost the first two games by a combined score of 9-3 (5-2 vs PHI, 4-1 vs WPG). Morale was low but the team had an opportunity to get back on track, as the Flames were tied with the Sabres for 30th in the NHL. But a game against a weak opponent only led to the team hitting rock bottom, a 7-4 loss. 

Sitting dead last in the Eastern Conference, beginning to slide further away from a playoff position, all seemed lost. The team needed to go on a big streak to have any hope of turning the season around, but it did not feel like this team was capable of doing that.

The team could not dwell on the loss to Calgary for long, as they faced the Edmonton Oilers the very next day. One silver lining about hitting rock bottom is there is nowhere to go but up, and the game against Edmonton would be the start of an upward trajectory, but it was harder than it needed to be. Leading 3-0 going into the third period, Buffalo was trending towards their first regulation win on the road of the season. However things got tense when the Oilers scored twice within the first two minutes of the period, drawing within a goal. The score remained 3-2 for the next 18 minutes, the Sabres just had to hold on for a few more seconds, but Rogers Place erupted when Connor McDavid tied the game with under three seconds remaining. It felt like a new low was coming if the team did not win in overtime. Thankfully for Buffalo, Alex Tuch scored within the first minute and all of Western New York let out a sigh of relief.

Despite the stressful third period, it was good to get back in the win column. They finally got a regulation road win the next game with a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks, and closed out the road trip with another win, 3-1 in Seattle. 

Heading home riding their longest win streak of the season, the team had four days rest to get ready to host the Flyers, a team who beat them two weeks ago. The organization used the break between games to make a move in the front office, firing GM Kevyn Adams after five years with the team and nothing to show for it. His replacement was Jarmo Kekäläinen, formerly the Columbus Blue Jackets GM who had been in Buffalo since May as a Senior Advisor in. A change was needed and Kekäläinen taking over seemed inevitable since he first joined the team. In the first game of a new era the Sabres flipped the script from their previous meeting against Philadelphia and won 5-3, improving their second to 15-14-4, and for the first time all year, they had a record above .500.

In their next game, looking to keep the streak alive, Buffalo held a 2-0 lead over the Islanders late in the second period, until Mat Barzal cut the lead in half with 23 seconds left in the frame. Goaltender Alex Lyon was playing incredibly and it appeared like the team was going to hang on to win a low scoring 2-1 game. They would have to finish the game shorthanded as the Islanders went on the powerplay late in the third. After a minute on the penalty kill, Emil Heineman tied the game with just under 30 seconds, and just like the first game of the win streak, the Sabres would have to rebound after giving up a late equalizer. After a scoreless overtime, Josh Norris’ goal in the shootout’s fifth round would fittingly give Buffalo their fifth win in a row.

Alex Lyon had started all 5 games during their winning streak, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had yet to appear in a game since being pulled in the 7-4 loss to Calgary. In the second half of a back to back, the team turned back to UPL to start in New Jersey. He redeemed himself from his last performance, standing on his head and only allowing one goal, turning aside 26 of 27 shots, in a 3-1 victory. Since giving up 7 goals to the Flames in their last loss, the Sabres averaged an impressive 2 goals against over their 6 game win streak, allowing them to keep winning even if their offense could not get it rolling. The key was their play on the back end, both as a team defensively, and with their goalies playing excellent hockey.

This continued through their next three games winning 3-2 vs Ottawa, 4-1 vs Boston, and 4-2 vs St. Louis, rotating back and forth between Lyon and Luukkonen. The Sabres were finishing 2025 as the hottest team in the NHL riding 9 wins in a row, with the only thing standing between them and 10 straight wins was a road game against the Dallas Stars, the second place team in the league.

15 seconds into the game, Dallas was on the board. Maybe the Sabres from 10 games ago would have let that shake their confidence and begin to meltdown, but not this team. Five games during the streak were comeback victories, so they knew if they settled in and played their game for the next 59 minutes and 45 seconds they had a chance. They trailed 1-0 after one, but there was no sense of panic, this team was calm, patient and most importantly confident. Their patience paid off as Josh Doan tied the game and got the scoring going. Bowen Byram would give the team a 2-1 lead heading into the third with his 9th goal of the season (T-6th among Defencemen in the NHL). Tage Thompson would score his 19th and 20th goals of the season just over two minutes apart midway through the final frame, extending Buffalo’s lead to three. A 4-1 Sabres win would prove to be the final, tying the franchise record with the team’s 10th straight win in the books.

Entering 2026, the streak is alive and well, and the Sabres have climbed their way from last place in the East, to a playoff position in a tough conference, and 11th place across the entire league. Usually by this time of year the attention in Buffalo has turned completely to the Bills, but despite the NFL Playoffs around the corner, the Sabres are the talk of the town. It is unclear how things will go the rest of the season, but heading into the second half, there is plenty of meaningful hockey to be played. The Sabres look to make it 11 wins in a row against Kekäläinen’s former club, the Columbus Blue Jackets, tomorrow at 3PM EST. Let’s Go Buffalo.