Wednesday night was a lot of firsts for the Buffalo Sabres in the 2025-26 season as they secured their first lead of the season on their first power play goal of the season. They would score more than one goal in a game for the first time this season, as they broke out with eight in total, which included their first short-handed goal, scored by Ryan McLeod.
This all led to their first win of the season as the Sabres would win 8-4 over the Ottawa Senators. The pressure was undoubtedly building on this team, and for at least one game, the Sabres were able to respond. These are three of the takeaways from the Sabres' first win of the season.
Power play comes alive for the Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres entered this game with 11 power-play opportunities through the first three games. They weren't able to capitalize on any of those chances, and it was one of the big reasons they hadn't been able to secure a win yet this season.
That all changed in this game as they had three power play goals, starting with Jack Quinn scoring one of the more unconventional goals. The first power play goal came in the first period when Quinn would take a shot that went high but bounced off the glass and would hit Leevi Merilainen in the back and roll into the net.
As for the other power play goals, these didn't need much luck, as it would be Jason Zucker with two great shots to beat Merilainen.
Entering this game, the Senators were one of the worst teams on the penalty kill so there might be a reason for their success. However, they no longer need to hear about being shut out on the power play and can hopefully build off what they did going into the game against the Panthers.
Sabres finally start crashing the net
One of the notable differences in this game, especially in the second period, was the Buffalo Sabres finally started crashing the net and getting high-danger chances. Entering the game against the Senators, the Sabres had only 18 high-danger chances in 5v5 situations in their first three games.
In the second period alone, the Sabres had nine high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick, and 10 total. In a game they won 8-4, they had only three goals that were scored in 5v5 situations and two of them came right in front of the net.
The Sabres have to continue to do more of this, and a player like Zach Benson, who made his season debut with four assists, definitely plays a big role in that.
Buffalo Sabres showed a lot of resilience against the Senators
While the Buffalo Sabres would score eight goals and win by four goals, this was much closer than the final score would reflect. The Sabres got the early lead, but the Senators tied it before the end of the first period and took the lead early in the second.
The Sabres were able to turn things around and score four straight to end the second period. However, they came out flat in the third and the Senators scored two goals in about the first two minutes of the period.
Lindy Ruff did a good job calling a timeout as the game was 5-4 at this point and the Sabres were able to respond with Ryan McLeod and Jack Quinn each scoring a goal to give them a 7-4 lead and help secure their first win of the season.
The Buffalo Sabres will now have a few days off before their next game on Saturday, which will be against the Florida Panthers. It will be a big test for them and they need to continue to keep this momentum going.