The Buffalo Sabres were looking to bounce back after two tough losses against good Minnesota Wild and Carolina Hurricanes teams. In both games, they were competitive but just came up a little bit short, but it was a different story against the Nashville Predators.
On Tuesday night, the Sabres jumped out to a big three-goal lead in the first period and added to it in the second with a Tage Thompson goal. The Predators would make a change in net, and that was huge as Nashville came storming back with three straight goals over the second and third period.
After the way the Buffalo Sabres started the game, it was hard to imagine they were scrambling to save the win, but that was exactly what happened in the third. Ryan O'Reilly scored his second goal of the night to make it a one-goal game, but thankfully Peyton Krebs added an empty-net goal to secure a 5-3 win over the Predators.
Buffalo Sabres have a new Kid Line and they took the game over in the first period
The Buffalo Sabres shuffled their lines somewhat from the game against the Hurricanes the day before, as Josh Doan moved back to the top line. He replaced Zach Benson, who was moved down to a line with Noah Ostlund and Konsta Helenius, who was playing in his second career NHL game.
These three players made an immediate impact, accounting for all three goals in the first period. Noah Ostlund scored two, and Helenius had a period of firsts. He had his first career assist on Ostlund's first goal and then would score later in the period for his first career NHL goal.
Konsta Helenius scores his first NHL goal and its a beauty, 3-0 #LetsGoBuffalo #Sabrehood #Preds pic.twitter.com/r4Rq6BG3ER
— Buffalo Hockey Moments (@SabresPlays) January 21, 2026
The potential is off the charts for these three, and the coaching staff might have found something with these former first-round picks together. It will be interesting if they are able to keep them together once Josh Norris returns, but for now, they need to stick with this line until that time comes.
Buffalo Sabres Top 4 defensemen play big minutes once again
Since Michael Kesselring's injury, the Buffalo Sabres have leaned heavily on their Top 4 defensemen, and the game against the Predators was no different, with Rasmus Dahlin over 25 minutes, Mattias Samuelsson over 24 minutes, with Bowen Byram and Owen Power both over 21 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Sabres' third pair of Zach Metsa and Jacob Bryson played under 10 minutes against the Predators.
There is no question that the injuries suffered by Kesselring and Conor Timmins, who suffered a broken leg in December, are playing a factor into this split for the ice time. However, it is a delicate balance as it runs the risk of tiring the Top 4 out, especially with how many games they have left before the Olympic break.
Buffalo Sabres need to get better playing with a big lead
The Buffalo Sabres' recent success has been due in part to getting the early lead and building on it. However, too many times they have seen teams come storming back, and that is exactly what happened against the Predators.
The Sabres jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second period after Tage Thompson scored his 26th goal of the season and fifth in the past seven games. After that, the Predators seemed to take control and the Sabres were left scrambling.
Ryan O'Reilly scored the first goal of the game for Nashville 10:09 into the second period with Filip Forsberg scoring less than two minutes after that to make it a two-goal game. It luckily stayed that way as Alex Lyon made some incredible saves to keep the puck out of the net.
It got even closer in the third as O'Reilly scored again and made it a one-goal game. This was a game that the Sabres controlled early on, but it wasn't as crisp after the lead, which allowed the Predators to get back into it.