After a rough start to the season, the Buffalo Sabres have found a rhythm and won four out of the last five ahead of a road game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team has given fans a little hope at about the quarter-mark of the 2025-26 season, and it is due in large part to these three players who have been standout performers for the Sabres.
3 standout performances for the Buffalo Sabres through the first quarter of the 2025-26 season
Tage Thompson
It was a slow start to the season for Tage Thompson, but lately, he has been the dynamic goal-scorer that the Buffalo Sabres desperately need. After one goal through the first seven games of the season, he has had 11 goals in the last 15 games.
The recent goal streak has gotten him right back on pace to have his second consecutive season of 40+ goals, but the move to center has helped his assist numbers. On the season, he already has nine and is averaging just under a point per game.
If he can continue this pace he should break 80 points for only the second time in his career. For the Sabres to remain competitive, this is something that Thompson is going to need to keep up until they can get players like Josh Norris and Jiri Kulich back to help shoulder some of the workload.
Mattias Samuelsson
Without question, one of the biggest surprises of the season has been the performance of Mattias Samuelsson. After a disappointing season last year, Samuelsson looked like a potential buyout candidate in the offseason.
The Sabres are certainly very happy they didn't go down that route because he has already had a career-high in goals with five on the season. He is also only three points shy of his career high with his 11 points.
In addition to those stats, the advanced metrics tell a similar story to the impact he has had as he is second on the team among players with 10 or more games in xGF% at 55.06, according to Natural Stat Trick. He also leads the team in On-Ice High Danger Chances For in 5v5 situations with 72.
The defensive performance has been there for Samuelsson but with the production in the offensive zone, he has easily been one of the team's best players so far this season.
Josh Doan
When the Buffalo Sabres made the JJ Peterka trade with the Utah Mammoth, it was usually Michael Kesselring who was the primary part of the return going back to Buffalo. However, it has been Josh Doan who has fans feeling pretty good about the move.
Doan has had a breakout performance to begin the season as he has already matched his career-high in goals with seven. The 15 points he has on the season are only four short of his career-high in that category as well.
As the season has gone on, Doan has moved around the lines as the Sabres have tried to account for injuries. One constant theme though has been that whatever line Doan is on is usually the best line the Sabres have.
Earlier in the season, it was Doan with Ryan McLeod and Alex Tuch, but recently it has been Doan and Tuch with Tage Thompson. Both lines have been incredibly productive and currently lead the Sabres in xGoals % according to Money Puck, with the McLeod line first at 63.6% and the Thompson line at 57.4%.
He has been one of the Sabres best players through the first quarter of the season and hopefully he can continue that up for the remainder of the season.