Bring on postseason hockey in Buffalo. The Sabres鈥� playoff drought is finally over.
Following an NHL-record 14 seasons of futility, during which the team finished no better than 19th in the league, the Sabres clinched a berth on Saturday when the in regulation. Buffalo’s playoff drought was among the four North American major sports鈥� longest active streaks, ranking second behind the NFL’s New York Jets, who last qualified in 2010.
The Sabres clinched with six games left in their season, before on Saturday night, and are in contention to earn the Eastern Conference’s top seed. At 46-23-8, Buffalo is riding a 35-9-4 surge that has vaulted the team after sitting last in the East in early December.
The turnaround has been remarkable for a franchise that through Saturday has gone 5,458 days since the Lindy Ruff-coached team lost Game 7 of a first-round series to Philadelphia on April 26, 2011.
鈥淥bviously unbelievable. I鈥檓 happy for the city, I鈥檓 happy for all the guys that have been grinding here for years, like the equipment managers, trainers, my teammates … wow, it鈥檚 going to be special, that鈥檚 for sure,鈥� captain Rasmus Dahlin said.
In the ensuing years, the Sabres have finished last overall four times and are on their seventh coach, with Ruff back for a second stint, and their fourth general manager, Jarmo Kekalainen.
Buffalo鈥檚 run up the standings coincided with from his position as senior adviser on Dec. 15, replacing Kevyn Adams, who was fired after five-plus seasons.
The Sabres already had won three straight when the change occurred and proceeded to go on a franchise record-matching 10-0 run. They鈥檝e not looked back since. Buffalo is 14-4-2 since returning from the Olympic break, and the team鈥檚 worst stretch since December has been a 0-1-2 skid.
鈥淭he guys have worked so hard to get to this point,鈥� Ruff said. 鈥淓very month has been pretty darn consistent, and we played a good brand of hockey. We鈥檝e gotten rewarded for how hard we鈥檝e played.鈥�
Though Adams鈥� firing played a role in spurring the team, so did Buffalo getting healthier.
The Sabres鈥� top two lines were replenished with the return of Josh Norris and Jason Zucker, and their goaltending got a boost with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen shaking off an early season injury to resume sharing the starting duties with Alex Lyon. After opening the season 4-5-1, Luukkonen has gone 15-4-2 since Dec. 21.
鈥淚 find that we deserve to be where we鈥檙e at. … From where we were at the start of December to where we got, asked a lot of the players and got a lot back,鈥� Ruff said.
Kekalainen also added depth by acquiring center Sam Carrick, forward Tanner Pearson and defensemen Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn.
The team is led by two of its longest-tenured players: , the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, and forward Tage Thompson, who was acquired in a trade that sent Ryan O鈥橰eilly to St. Louis in the summer of 2018.
Dahlin ranks sixth among NHL defensemen with 69 points, while Thompson is tied for 11th among all skaters with 38 goals.
The next test for Buffalo is winning a playoff series, something the team hasn鈥檛 done since beating the Rangers in six games in the second round in 2007.
that had grown weary with losing, various rebuilding plans that failed to generate a winner and a revolving door of talent being shuffled in and out of Buffalo 鈥� from O鈥橰eilly鈥檚 departure to Jack Eichel being dealt to Vegas in November 2021 following a lengthy standoff over how to repair a neck injury. Each went on to win the Stanley Cup with his new team.
The Sabres have not hoisted the Cup through their first 54 seasons of existence.
鈥淚t鈥檚 something that we鈥檝e worked hard for for a long time to be able to get into the postseason,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淚t felt good.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 really proud of the group,鈥� Alex Tuch added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long time coming.鈥�
Buffalo has had 21 home sellouts this season, including 15 in a row, a year after selling out just five games.
This season, the Sabres have shown resolve in rallying back from deficits. Buffalo entered Saturday with 19 come-from-behind wins, tied for seventh in the NHL. That included last month after trailing 7-5 with nine minutes left in regulation.
The Lightning also clinched Saturday, before , for their ninth consecutive appearance and 12th in 13 years.
___
AP freelance writer Sammi Silber in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
___
AP NHL:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
