Buffalo Sabres: Top 5 most exciting wins at home in 2022-23
The Buffalo Sabres may have struggled at home, but it doesn’t mean they didn’t create some excitement for their fans at KeyBank Center.
The Buffalo Sabres had more than their fair share of exciting wins in 2022-23, with a few of them coming at home. Ironically, they didn’t play as well at KeyBank Center as they did on the road, especially against the Western Conference teams.
But they had more than their fair share of remarkable matchups it actually wasn’t easy to pick just five games. Some honorable mentions that didn’t make the list include the team’s season opener, their blowout win on Halloween Night, or the night the Goathead jersey made its triumphant return.
So what were the Sabres most exciting wins from October 2022 to April 2023? Keep reading for quite an adrenaline-pumping rundown.
Buffalo Sabres Top 5 home wins of 2022-23
5 – Sabres stun Blackhawks in OT
Across an 82-game season, there are very few matchups you have a vivid recollection watching, regardless of the team. This was one of those games, given how ineffective the Buffalo Sabres were offensively across the first 50 minutes of the contest.
Sure, Victor Olofsson scored early at the 6:19 mark of the first period, but that’s as good as it got for the Sabres over the next 45 minutes as the Chicago Blackhawks took a 3-1 lead. Then, Tage Thompson got hot, scoring a pair of goals at the 11:55 mark and the 16:47 mark of the third frame, forcing overtime. Olofsson scored another one on the power play just 36 seconds into the extra period, and the Sabres took it 4-3.
4 – Buffalo scores six goals in one period to shut out Kings
This game was a goaltenders duel throughout the first two frames, as the Sabres and the Los Angeles Kings couldn’t get anything going offensively. Then, Tage scored at the 1:21 mark of the third period, and we saw yet another drought for eight-and-a-half minutes before Victor Olofsson put one up at the 9:56 mark.
The onslaught continued, as J.J. Peterka, Alex Tuch, Tage, and Peyton Krebs scored the final four goals of the game. Interestingly, this win was also goaltender Craig Anderson’s final career shutout.
3 – Sabres upset Isles on Ryan Miller Night
The Buffalo Sabres needed to win this one, as they were retiring former goaltender Ryan Miller’s number that night. While the New York Islanders struck first at the 7:19 mark of the first period, that was it until Tuch broke through eight minutes and 26 seconds into the second.
But the Isles scored 10 minutes later to make it 2-1 heading into the third period, and it remained that way until Olofsson found twine at the 9:32 mark. Buffalo held defensively and forced overtime, where Dylan Cozens only needed 12 seconds for the Blue and Gold to snag the win on one of the most important nights of the year.
2 – Devon Levi snags the W in his NHL debut
Devon Levi was the Buffalo Sabres hottest prospect all season, and he finally debuted on March 31st, 2023 against the New York Rangers. To make matters more interesting, this was going on while the Sabres were trying to snap their playoff drought, so you can argue that the stakes were high for a rookie goaltender skating into his first contest.
Midway through the second period, Buffalo had a two-goal lead, and it seemed for a second that Levi could snag a shutout in his first game as a pro. But as the Sabres had been notorious for all season, they found a way to let New York back into the game, and the Rangers scored twice in the final 28 minutes. But one minute and 50 seconds into overtime, Jeff Skinner made sure Levi won in his epic first contest.
1 – Craig Anderson wins final NHL start
While Devon Levi snagging a win in his NHL debut gave us a glimpse of what was coming in the future – something Levi reinforced with stellar performances on multiple occasions after that game against New York, Craig Anderson was looking for a win in what became his last NHL game. And there was no one better-suited for Anderson to face than the Ottawa Senators, an organization he has quite a legacy with.
After an uneventful first period, Henri Jokiharju and Olofsson put the Buffalo Sabres on the board quickly in the second frame’s first three minutes. And you probably could guess what happened next, as Ottawa scored three unanswered goals over the next 10 minutes.
But at the 3:03 mark of the third period, Tage scored on the power play with helpers from Skinner and Tuch, tying the game. Once again, we saw the Sabres hold defensively and the contest went into overtime. And who better to sink the final goal at KeyBank Center on Fan Appreciation Night than the surging Casey Mittelstadt?
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Fun Fact: This was the second season in a row that Mittelstadt scored a game-winning goal in OT on a night that served as an icon’s final game. Just less than one year before, Mittelstadt sunk the game-winner during Rick Jeanneret’s final broadcast, and he did it once more, this time on April 13th, 2023 vs. Ottawa, allowing Anderson to retire with a W.
(Statistics and historical data provided by Hockey-Reference)