Storylines
1. Winning ways
The Sabres have won seven of their last eight games overall, a stretch that began with their 5-3 road victory over the Western Conference-leading Winnipeg Jets on March 23.
Buffalo has scored 40 goals in those eight games, tied for the third-highest total in any eight-game stretch by an NHL team this season. (Winnipeg had one such stretch with 42 goals and another with 41.)
On home ice, the Sabres are 14-4-0 dating back to Jan. 1 with nine one-goal games in that span.
“We’re just trying to make it hard to play,” alternate captain Alex Tuch said after Sunday’s game. “Crowd’s bringing the energy, and it’s been great.”
2. Thompson and Tuch
Buffalo’s success has coincided with hot streaks from Tuch and Tage Thompson, both of whom are coming off multi-point performances on Sunday.
Thompson scored a hat trick in the win over the Bruins and now has seven goals in the last four games. His season total of 43 goals ranks third in the NHL, just one shy of second-place William Nylander.
Tuch, meanwhile, enters Tuesday on a six-game point streak with six goals and five assists in that span. He’s up to 33 goals this season – three shy of the career high he set in 2022-23 – while continuing to make an impact with his relentless motor on the defensive end.
Tuch enters Tuesday’s game with 105 blocked shots – the third-highest total by an NHL forward since the league began tracking the statistic in 2005-06 and just six shy of Mathieu Dandenault’s forward record of 111 set in 2006-07.
3. Scouting the Hurricanes
Carolina sits comfortably in second place in the Metropolitan Division, 11 points behind first-place Washington but seven ahead of third-place New Jersey.
The Hurricanes have used the opportunity to heal up ahead of the playoffs, with captain Jordan Staal having missed the last four games with a lower-body injury and Andrei Svechnikov having missed two games with an undisclosed injury. Both forwards practiced on Monday and neither has been ruled out for tonight.
The Sabres have split their season series thus far with the Hurricanes, with the home teams having won each of the first two contests. Ryan McLeod’s hat trick propelled the Sabres to a 4-2 win on Jan. 15 while a two-point night from Mikko Rantanen (who has since been dealt to Dallas) headlined the Hurricanes’ 5-2 win on Feb. 27.
