The Buffalo Sabres had one more game left on the regular season schedule, but were returning to KeyBank Center as the 2025-26 Atlantic Division champions. They were able to lock up the division with their win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night.
Even with nothing to play for in terms of the playoffs, the Sabres were not going to just give the game away to the Dallas Stars. It was a back-and-forth contest where both teams traded goals and eventually went to a shootout.
The Sabres have been one of the best teams when it comes to shootouts, but they came up a little short. Josh Norris and Jack Quinn would score for the Sabres, but Alex Tuch and Josh Doan were unable to find the back of the net. Meanwhile, the Stars would score three and hand the Sabres their first shootout loss of the season.
The Sabres finish the season with 109 points, which is the fifth most in franchise history. These are some of the takeaways from the game on Wednesday night before the focus shifts to the playoffs and the Boston Bruins.
Buffalo Sabres rest several key players against the Stars
With the Atlantic Division already clinched and their first-round opponent, the Boston Bruins, locked in, there wasn't much to play for in the final regular season game of the season for the Buffalo Sabres. The most important thing for them in this game against the Stars was to come out of the game as healthy as possible.
For that reason, Lindy Ruff and the coaching staff elected to rest several players, including Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson, Ryan McLeod, and Jason Zucker. By resting these players, and with Sam Carrick and Noah Ostlund still dealing with injuries, the Sabres elected to go with 11 forwards and seven defenseman for the game against the Stars.
This presented a good opportunity for some players to see extended ice time who haven't played much recently, like Tanner Pearson, Luke Schenn, Conor Timmins, and Michael Kesselring. It is unclear whether any of these players are expected to be in the lineup for Game 1, but if there are injuries, this game could help the players avoid some of the rust after extended rest.
Zach Benson with his first career short-handed goal
While the Sabres rested a good part of their lineup, they couldn't rest everyone and one of those players who took advantage of his time on the ice was Zach Benson. The Sabres' former first-round pick even got some time on the penalty kill with McLeod out for this game.
He finished the game with over two minutes of penalty kill against Dallas and even got his first career short-handed goal.
The Sabres have been very good at remaining aggressive, even when they are a man down, and capitalizing on mistakes. McLeod leads the league in short-handed goals with five, but he isn't the only player who has had a short-handed goal this season, as Benson was the fifth player on the Sabres to do that.
Benson's performance against the Stars should give the coaching staff some confidence in him on the penalty kill in the playoffs if the need were to arise.
Josh Norris extends his point streak to six games
One player who is finishing the regular season on a high note is Josh Norris, who had a goal against the Dallas Stars and extended his point streak to six games. During this recent stretch, Norris has had three goals and four assists.
Norris has had an up-and-down season with the Sabres in his first full season in Buffalo. The good news is that he not only is ending the regular season playing some of his best hockey of the season, but also is healthy. He has missed extended time twice this season, but has shown he can be a difference-maker for this team.
The Sabres are going to need his playmaking ability in the playoffs, and hopefully, this run of games carries over to the series against the Boston Bruins.
Add us as a preferred source on Google