The Sabres against the defending champs

The Vegas Golden Knights are in a tough matchup in the postseason against the Dallas Stars defending their title. As the Buffalo Sabres once again are on the outside looking in at the postseason, they did good in both games against the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

In two games against the Golden Knights this season, Buffalo won both matchups, scoring 12 goals between the two. They also only allowed four goals in between the two games. In the short existence of the Golden Knights, the Sabres have a winning record. They are 6-4-2 since Vagas came into the league in 2017.

The first game against the Golden Knights in 2023/2024 was on December 15th, 2023, where Buffalo won the game 5-2. They were down at the start of the third period but went on to score four goals in the final 20 minutes. Dylan Cozens had one goal and two assists in the game as goaltender Devon Levi made 33 saves in an upset win for the Sabres.

In March, as the Sabres were still attempting to get into the postseason, they defeated the Golden Knights 7-2 at KeyBank Center. They were led by Jeff Skinner and Owen Power, who each had a goal and two assists in the matchup while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 22 saves.

During the 2nd matchup, Dylan Cozens scored two shorthanded goals. He commented after the game that he was able to get the lucky bounces and hoped it would be the start of something for the remainder of the season. Cozens would score four more goals and contributed with five more assists during the tail end of the season.

Buffalo has not been to the Stanley Cup Finals since 1999 and has not been to the playoffs since 2011. Both of those teams were coached by returning Lindy Ruff. They need to be able to use their success against Las Vegas as fuel to return to prominence.