The Sabres are still looking for traction one month into the season, and Lindy Ruff is reaching for answers in the middle of a road trip.
Buffalo enters its first game on the California swing against the San Jose Sharks at 4-4-3 through 11 games and sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic Division. The encouraging part is that the Sabres have managed to pick up points in several recent losses, but the bigger picture is rougher: if not for Toronto’s late collapse earlier this month, Buffalo would have dropped its last five.
Ruff is shuffling his forward group again, and the biggest move sends Zach Benson to the top line with Tage Thompson and rookie Konsta Helenius. Benson has posted points in six straight games, but he still hasn’t scored in 11 appearances.
“The goals will come. You got to keep doing the right thing,” Ruff said.
“I think (Zach) has really played hard away from the puck, he’s played from the top of the circles down, he’s been one of our best players. I even talked to him this morning about just keep doing the right thing.
I’ve never really gone to a player unless they are not generating opportunities and said ‘you’ve got to score’. I think everybody believes when they get on the ice they want to score goals.
“He hasn’t cleared (concussion protocol) enough to be available to come out here yet,” Ruff said on Monday.
In net, the Sabres are turning to Colten Ellis after five straight starts for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Ellis was pulled in the second period against Florida on October 12 after allowing two goals on nine shots. Luukkonen, meanwhile, has seen at least 30 shots in each of those five starts and went 1-1-3.
San Jose is back home after a 3-2-1 road trip through the East.
In Other News...
Sabres Just Broke Up Their Best Line And Ruff Is Betting Big
The Sabres came into practice with a familiar scoring trio no longer together, as Lindy Ruff reshuffled his forward lines and separated Zach Benson, Jack Quinn and Noah Ostlund. It was a notable move because that group had quietly become Buffalos most effective combination, giving the coaching staff a look it could trust when the puck was on their sticks and the play was tilted in the right direction.
Ruffs reasoning was less about one line needing a fix than about the larger picture, with the coach looking to distribute offense more evenly across the lineup and get more from the group as a whole. It is a gamble with a line that had been working, but the Sabres are clearly weighing whether a deeper spread of production can make them tougher to defend over time. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Just Got Pulled Into A Dylan Larkin Situation That Feels Unlikely
Dylan Larkins trade watch has suddenly dragged Buffalo into the conversation, even though the Sabres are not among the teams on his current preferred list. The Detroit captain, who holds a full no-trade clause, has asked for a move and broadened his approved destinations to 10 clubs, a reminder of how carefully these situations have to be handled when a player of his stature is involved.
What makes this especially interesting for the Sabres is that Detroit is still believed to be waiting on a significant return, and Larkin remains in the lineup while the situation plays out. Buffalos interest gives the story another layer, since the Sabres would have to navigate around a player who has not given them the green light, turning what looked like a remote rumor into something worth monitoring closely. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Trade Still Carries Weight As Ex-Defenseman Opens Up
Michael Kesselrings one-year run in Buffalo ended the way so many quick NHL stops do, with a trade that was less about the player in front of the team than the bigger picture around him. Dealt to San Jose ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft, the defenseman looked back on a Sabres stint defined in part by injuries, and he made it clear he still appreciated the chance he got in Buffalo before the move sent him west.
For the Sabres, the deal was part of a broader attempt to reshape the roster and add another asset for the future, even if it meant moving on from a player who never really got a full runway. Kesselrings comments underline the human side of a transaction that matters in the standings and in the draft room, and it also serves as a reminder that some of Buffalos offseason calculations are already tied to players the organization has yet to see suit up in blue and gold. [Read more 🡒]