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GDT: Sabres (Buffalo) @ Lightning (Tampa Bay), 7:30 p.m., February 3, 2026 (ESPN+/HULU XCLUSIVE, WGR-550)


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Posted
1 minute ago, Pimlach said:

Tamp Blighting is now a heavy team.   This will be a test on B2B and 3 game in 4 nights. 

I doubt we see Benson which is big.  Krebs will probably move up to "top line". 

Ellis needs to good tonight.  He needs to cover the puck better than his last few games.  

If Ellis is solid we have a chance.   Looking for some others to step up, maybe get a 4th line goal?  Maybe Kesselring gets his first?  

Rosen had 3:08 TOI last night.  Will Helenius be back in the lineup with a rocket up is azz?   Will Greenway play? 

Calling @Brawndo 

Ruff said Greenway was seeing a doc for a second opinion, so I'm guessing unlikely. But, if he's back, I'd definitely want him in the lineup for this game. This Florida trip is the reason the Sabres got Geertsen and had Dunne stick on the big-league roster.

If Benson can't go, I'd prefer Greenway and Helenius in.

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Posted (edited)

Dahlin has reached or paced for 70+ points from the backend for 3 of the last 4 years, while playing more than anyone else on the team. Can’t have asked for a better baseline at 25 when we drafted the kid. Best part is he’s just getting going. 

5 minutes ago, NAF said:

Point and Cirelli both not playing. Must win. 

Sabres haven’t been without breaks re:scheduling the last month or so

Edited by Nacho Libre
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Posted
52 minutes ago, Taro T said:

If Point and Cirelli are both playing, it'll be a very tough slog.  Without them, maybe they see a rookie goalie and a team that's missed the playoffs the past 14 seasons and also see that FLA is on the schedule before about 1/2 the team departs for Italy while still reveling in their 1st ever win after being down by 4 goals.

Especially if they don't respect the Sabres oar-gan-eye-zay-shun, this could be a trap game for them.

Go 'bres!

Obviously, game-by-game and take it day-by-day and win each one.

But if I'm Tampa, I'm prioritizing the Florida game for Vasilevskiy.

1) If I beat the Panthers, they're headed to the break in a tailspin and likely to be sellers -- including players that I can pick up to improve, and 2) if the Panthers do get hot, the last thing I want to face in the opening round is a red-hot Panthers team with Barkov back in action (and possibly all the other guys healthy, too). Give me anyone of BOS/BUF/DET/MTL instead.

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Posted
5 minutes ago, Nacho Libre said:

Dahlin has reached or paced for 70+ points from the backend for 3 of the last 4 years, while playing more than anyone else on the team. Can’t have asked for a better baseline at 25 when we drafted the kid. Best part is he’s just getting going. 

Sabres haven’t been without breaks re:scheduling the last month or so

Nice to see him coming on.

When he was less than himself, Power and Byram stepped up.

Norris goes out, McLeod and Quinn step up.

Krebs and Östlund have elevated when needed.

Thats how good hockey teams work and we seem to be becoming one.

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Posted
10 minutes ago, Nacho Libre said:

Dahlin has reached or paced for 70+ points from the backend for 3 of the last 4 years, while playing more than anyone else on the team. Can’t have asked for a better baseline at 25 when we drafted the kid. Best part is he’s just getting going. 

Sabres haven’t been without breaks re:scheduling the last month or so

The Olympics are going to be big for Tage, but I think they are going to have a massive impact on Dahlin. The game is going to flow much slower when he gets back. It sounds silly, but I’m expecting Dahlin to have a breakout in Italy and be the talk of the league down the stretch. He’s in the conversation (maybe) for top 5 in the league. I think it’s going to be a different tune come march. 

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Posted
1 hour ago, dudacek said:

I’m a little disappointed that there is no disrespectful typo in the title.

Pretty hard to beat the Flap Antlers, but the circumstances are crying for some type of swagger.

I don't know what you would use as the typo. Tampa Bay Blightning?

Posted
33 minutes ago, #freejame said:

bres is better than Sabs but they both stink. 

True dat. Even “bers” would be better than “bres” or “sabs, if only it was spelled with the American version, Sabers, instead of the Canadian version, Sabres, supposedly due to some popularity contest for naming the team back in the day. I would have thought something more characteristic of the area, like “Blizzards” would have won the name game contest.

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Posted

We are the biggest underdog of the night  at the moment on the betting line. We have been underdogs on many of the recent road games and come though. Let's see if we can pull another one off.

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Posted (edited)
25 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

Obviously, game-by-game and take it day-by-day and win each one.

But if I'm Tampa, I'm prioritizing the Florida game for Vasilevskiy.

1) If I beat the Panthers, they're headed to the break in a tailspin and likely to be sellers -- including players that I can pick up to improve, and 2) if the Panthers do get hot, the last thing I want to face in the opening round is a red-hot Panthers team with Barkov back in action (and possibly all the other guys healthy, too). Give me anyone of BOS/BUF/DET/MTL instead.

Florida is now dead last in the division, 2 points behind both the Sens and Leafs. Jackets are the team we need to keep an eye on...they are on a 9-1-0 heater and winners of their last 5 and are now 8 points behind the Sabres with a game in hand. Caps are 6 points behind the Sabres but we also still have 2 games in hand on them.

Edited by matter2003
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Posted
16 minutes ago, quill said:

True dat. Even “bers” would be better than “bres” or “sabs, if only it was spelled with the American version, Sabers, instead of the Canadian version, Sabres, supposedly due to some popularity contest for naming the team back in the day. I would have thought something more characteristic of the area, like “Blizzards” would have won the name game contest.

They don't even need a nickname, Sabres is easy to say

And actually Sabres is the nickname already lol 

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Posted
21 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

lol - i approve of the evolution to Flap Antlers.

I will defer to the juju experts, but you can't change the name post defacto victorium.

Posted

In the spirit of former Sabres having big games against us, will Zemgus and Jonas Johansson have big games tonight???  Just kidding folks!

No Cirelli, Point and maybe Paul certainly helps our chances!

Posted

For comparison sake, the Sabres did not reach 69 points until after their 74th game last year when they beat the Sens on April 1st and hit 70 points with a 32-36-6 record.  

Pretty crazy how far ahead of that pace they are now...currently on a 103 point pace.

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Posted
Just now, PASabreFan said:

I will defer to the juju experts, but you can't change the name post defacto victorium.

nice nod to the genitive case - i think we'd need victoriae there, though.

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Posted
2 minutes ago, TageMVP said:

They don't even need a nickname, Sabres is easy to say

And actually Sabres is the nickname already lol 

I have to figure out how to get the microphone on my phone to put it down as Sabres instead of Sabers. Whenever I'm texting someone about the Sabres I always have to go back and correct the spelling of it from Sabers to Sabres, out of respect to the Sabres of course.

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Posted
4 minutes ago, quill said:

I have to figure out how to get the microphone on my phone to put it down as Sabres instead of Sabers. Whenever I'm texting someone about the Sabres I always have to go back and correct the spelling of it from Sabers to Sabres, out of respect to the Sabres of course.

You have a good point there, though. Why is it spelled the Canadian way, Buffalo is an American city 

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Posted
14 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Florida is now dead last in the division, 2 points behind both the Sens and Leafs. Jackets are the team we need to keep an eye on...they are on a 9-1-0 heater and winners of their last 5 and are now 8 points behind the Sabres with a game in hand. Caps are 6 points behind the Sabres but we also still have 2 games in hand on them.

And Tampa can deliver the deathblow on their closest rival's season -- right before the break.

(Now, Tampa is going to start Vas in both games, is my guess.) Jonas doesn't play except at need.

Posted
9 minutes ago, TageMVP said:

You have a good point there, though. Why is it spelled the Canadian way, Buffalo is an American city 

Supposedly it was because the original owners felt the need to use the Canadian spelling of the name to honor the Canadian fan base.

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