Josh Doan goal helps Sabres extend streak, sets up back-to-back test
Buffalo’s winning streak now carries into an immediate back-to-back, with the Sabres heading into Sunday needing to manage momentum and minutes after another tight finish. As of 11: 30 p. m. ET Saturday, josh doan had scored in a 3-2 win at KeyBank Center that pushed Buffalo to six straight victories and kept its top scorers rolling.
Josh Doan gives Buffalo breathing room before Nashville’s late push
Buffalo’s most direct takeaway from Saturday’s result is that it created a slim cushion early in the third period—then had to defend it. josh doan made it 3-1 just 16 seconds into the third, taking a Josh Norris saucer pass from the goal line and beating Juuse Saros with a snap shot from the low slot inside the left post.
That goal mattered because Nashville still had enough life to make the finish uncomfortable. With Saros pulled for an extra attacker and the Predators on a power play, Matthew Wood tipped a Roman Josi slap shot past Alex Lyon at 16: 08 of the third to cut the deficit to 3-2, locking the final minutes into a one-goal game.
For Buffalo, the sequence put immediate emphasis on closing out games cleanly after building a lead—an issue that became unavoidable in the final stretch once Nashville found a late goal with the net empty.
Tage Thompson’s 10-game run and Alex Lyon’s streak keep Buffalo rolling
Buffalo also exits the night with its most reliable drivers still producing. Tage Thompson scored to extend his career-high point streak to 10 games, and the Sabres held on for their sixth straight win. Thompson has 11 points during the streak, with six goals and five assists.
Lyon anchored the win with 23 saves. His recent run remained intact as well: he is 14-0-2 in his past 16 games, including 15 starts, giving Buffalo a steady baseline even when the game tightens late.
Jason Zucker also scored for the Sabres, and his goal was part of a second-period swing that changed the shape of the night after a slow start. Zucker said Buffalo had only two shots on goal in the first period, then regrouped to play its game in the second and third.
That turnaround is now part of what Buffalo takes into Sunday. The Sabres have wins piling up, but they also have a clear example of how quickly a narrow margin can return in the third period when the opponent gets a power-play chance with the goalie pulled.
KeyBank Center game turns on a second-period response, then a third-period stand
Nashville struck first in the second period. Zachary L’Heureux scored at 1: 17 to make it 1-0, finishing a centering pass from Jonathan Marchessault and beating Lyon with a wrist shot. The assist was Marchessault’s 300th in the NHL.
Buffalo answered later in the period. Thompson tied it 1-1 at 12: 39 when he took a feed from Alex Tuch in the right circle and sent a wrist shot that deflected in off Tyson Jost’s stick to get by Saros. Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff highlighted the shot afterward, calling it an important goal that brought energy and helped turn the night.
Zucker put Buffalo ahead 2-1 at 14: 17, banging in the puck after a shot from Jack Quinn squeaked through Saros and rolled toward the goal line. The Sabres then extended the lead early in the third on the josh doan finish, before Nashville’s late push trimmed the margin again.
For Nashville, the loss deepened a tough stretch: the Predators have lost four of their past five games (1-3-1). Coach Andrew Brunette said the game felt “playoff-type, ” pointing to limited space and a momentum shift after a couple mistakes in the second period. Nashville had chances late, but the finish didn’t fall its way.
For Buffalo, the immediate consequence is already on the schedule. The Sabres play the second of a back-to-back set against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, with Saturday’s one-goal finish serving as both momentum and a warning: even with a two-goal lead early in the third, the margin can shrink fast when special teams and empty-net situations enter the equation.
If Buffalo carries the same third-period structure into Sunday’s game and avoids the late swing that came after Wood’s tip-in at 16: 08, the Sabres’ six-game streak could extend again by the end of the weekend.
