The Sabres get another shot at keeping their home record clean when they meet the Dallas Stars on Oct. 8, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
Buffalo enters at 2-1-0 with four points, sitting fourth in the Atlantic Division. Dallas is 1-2-0, also with four points, and is sixth in the Central Division.
A big part of the story is what Buffalo has done lately. The Sabres have won two straight, and another victory would give them their first streak of three or more wins since April 6 to 13, 2026, when they put together a four-game run. They’ve also taken at least a point in three of their last four meetings with Dallas, going 2-1-1.
The special teams numbers are still a work in progress for both clubs. Buffalo’s power play is at 0.0 percent, ranked 28th, while its penalty kill sits at 66.7 percent, 26th. Dallas is also at 0.00 percent on the power play, tied for 28th, and its penalty kill is operating at 77.8 percent, good for 17th.
Tage Thompson has been one of Buffalo’s early offensive drivers. He has scored in back-to-back games, and if he does it again, he’d record the 14th goal streak of three or more games in his career.
It would also be his first such run since Dec. 8 to 20, 2025, when he scored in six straight. Through three games, Thompson leads Sabres forwards with four points and is tied for the team lead in goals with two and assists with two.
Owen Power has been just as important from the blue line. He’s on a three-game point streak with one goal and four assists, and another point would make him the first Sabres defenseman to open a season with a point streak of four or more games since Rasmus Dahlin did it from Oct. 13 to 25, 2022, over six games.
Power has five points through three games, making him the first Buffalo defenseman since Dahlin on Oct. 3 to 7, 2019, to post at least five points in the first three games of a season. He would also match the longest assist streak of his career, which is four games, if he sets up another goal.
Peyton Krebs has quietly put together some momentum too, with an assist in two straight games. Another one would tie the longest assist streak of his career, a mark he has reached twice before.
Buffalo is expected to go with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in net. He is 1-1-0 with a 4.03 goals-against average and an .784 save percentage. Dallas is projected to start Jake Oettinger, who comes in at 1-1-0 with a 1.01 GAA and a .943 save percentage.
The Sabres’ forward group is listed with Peyton Krebs, Jiri Kulich, Tage Thompson and Josh Doan; Zach Benson, Noah Ostlund and Jack Quinn; Josh Norris, Ryan McLeod and Konsta Helenius; and Josh Doan, Sam Carrick and Beck Malenstyn, with Sam Carrick listed as an extra.
On defense, Buffalo’s pairs are Mattias Samuelsson with Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power with Olen Zellweger, and Matt Grzelcyk with Louis Crevier. Zach Metsa is listed as an extra. The goaltenders are Luukkonen and Colten Ellis.
Colten Ellis made his first start of 2026-27 on Oct. 6 against Minnesota and stopped 18 of 20 shots in the overtime win.
Buffalo’s injury list includes Alex Lyon with an upper body injury, Conor Timmins with a lower body injury and on injured reserve, Jason Zucker with a sports hernia and on injured reserve, Topias Leinonen with a lower body injury and on injured reserve, and Jack Rathbone with a lower body injury and on injured reserve.
In Other News...
Bowen Byram Just Added New Tension To His Sabres Exit
Bowen Byrams departure from Buffalo already carried plenty of intrigue, but his first days with the Chicago Blackhawks have only sharpened the edges of it. The Sabres decided not to move forward with a contract extension for the defenseman, then sent him to Chicago, where he quickly landed a six-year, $75 million deal and got to work at the start of the season.
Buffalo has had to rework its blue line since the trade, piecing together the vacancy in a way that reflects just how significant Byrams exit was. Byram, for his part, recently talked about the move in a way that made clear he viewed it as more than a change of scenery, which only adds another layer to a decision that already left Sabres fans wondering what might have been. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Give Krebs And Kulich Bigger Roles With Scoring At Stake
Peyton Krebs has started to look like more than a useful depth piece for the Sabres. Lindy Ruff has kept Krebs alongside Tage Thompson, and the pairing has already produced better looks in the offensive zone, including a moment when Thompson tied a game on a Krebs assist. Krebs has leaned into the job, saying his priority is finding Thompson in scoring areas, while Ruff has pointed to Krebs steady effort and ability to fill different roles as reasons he keeps getting chances.
Jiri Kulich is part of that same push to squeeze more offense out of Buffalos forward group. The Sabres mostly kept their line combinations intact in practice while making some power-play tweaks, and Kulich has earned more ice time as he gets back into the mix. For a team still searching for scoring consistency, the question is no longer just who can play, but which younger forwards can keep turning those minutes into something the standings will notice. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Still Waiting On Jason Zucker For One Important Reason
Jason Zucker is back on the ice with the Sabres in practice, but Buffalo is still taking the cautious route with the veteran forward as he works his way through recovery from surgery. The team has been managing his return with an eye on the bigger picture, and Zucker has made clear that getting back at full strength matters just as much as getting back quickly.
Zuckers situation is part of a broader set of injury-related adjustments around the club, with goalie Alex Lyon joining an optional morning skate and the coaching staff shuffling lines during practice. For now, Buffalo is sticking to the timeline it has in place, leaving Zucker in a holding pattern while the Sabres wait for the final medical step that would put him back in the lineup. [Read more 🡒]