BUFFALO, N.Y. — Tage Thompson handled his own business Friday afternoon.
In early February last season, Stefan Noesen’s blindside hit that knocked Thompson out for a few games went unanswered by his teammates in the moment. The sight of Thompson lying motionless on the ice while his teammates stood around was a lasting image in a disappointing season for the Buffalo Sabres.
“I think we all know what happened last year,” Thompson said.
So when Noesen and the New Jersey Devils made their first visit to Buffalo this season, Thompson was ready to try to even the score. He said a few teammates offered to fight Noesen on his behalf, but Thompson wanted to settle things himself. He skated by Noesen in warmups and planted the seed. Then, in the first period, Thompson stood across from Noesen on a defensive zone faceoff, and they squared off to fight. Thompson ended up landing a few good right hands that eventually sent Noesen to the ice and brought the sellout home crowd to its feet.
“I’ve got a ton of respect for that,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.
TAGE THOMPSON DROPS THE MITTS WITH STEFAN NOESEN IN A SPIRITED TILT 🥊
Noesen injured Thompson with a hit last season. pic.twitter.com/1XZtTPH9Ds
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 28, 2025
The Sabres have rarely had that type of energy in the home crowd. The 4 p.m. ET holiday weekend start helped fill the building. The fight, along with the recently introduced beer sabres at the concession stands, helped elevate the atmosphere. Even with the Sabres in last place in the Eastern Conference, the crowd cheered for every hit and blocked shot.
But the team failed to capitalize on the crowd’s buzz. Despite putting 42 shots on Devils goalie Jake Allen and having a lopsided advantage in scoring chances, the Sabres got shut out 5-0 on home ice.
“I thought there was a lot of energy on the bench, and I thought our team was playing well,” Thompson said. “I thought we controlled the first two periods pretty handily. Obviously, the score didn’t indicate that, but I thought we had a lot of chances, a lot of opportunities. I think whatever energy or whatever momentum we did kind of have early in the game kind of got snuffed out by their goalie, who was playing a hell of a game.”
Nico Hischier scored a net-front goal off an odd bounce in front of the net to give the Devils an early 1-0 lead, and New Jersey never looked back. The Devils scored another goal in the second period and then pulled away early in the third on a one-timer from Brenden Dillon. On two of New Jersey’s first three goals, a Bowen Byram turnover helped start the play for the Devils.
“It was just a frustrating game,” Thompson said. “I don’t really think the score really tells the full story of how we played. I liked our game. Obviously, you can’t sit there and say you like a 5-0 loss, but I thought we did a lot of good things, and obviously came out on the wrong side of it.”
By the time the Devils scored goals four and five, the same animated crowd from early in the game turned hostile toward general manager Kevyn Adams. The “Fire Adams” chants were as loud as they have been all season. A small section of fans tried to start a “sell the team” chant, too.
The calendar hasn’t turned to December yet, and Sabres fans are already getting antsy. The team is 9-11-4 through 24 games and in sole possession of last place in the Eastern Conference. They haven’t had a three-game winning streak all season. Every spurt of decent play seems to be followed up by a few losses. Ruff said before the game, “OK a lot of nights isn’t good enough to win a game, so we can’t be satisfied with OK.”
Right now, the Sabres aren’t even OK. They are on pace for 75 points, which would have been the fourth-worst point total in the NHL last season. They would need to play at a 103-point pace to get to 95 points. And 32 of their final 58 games, including seven of the next eight, will be on the road, where they have a 1-6-2 record this season. This might be their last chance to give themselves any hope of crawling back into the crowded playoff race.
Here’s what else we saw in Buffalo’s latest loss.
1. As noted, Byram turnovers directly led to two Devils goals. On the first one, he tried to make a pass behind the net, and it was intercepted, leading to scrambly play in front that gave the Devils an early lead. Then, early in the third period, Connor Brown stole the puck from Byram behind the net and set up Dillon for a one-timer. The pair of Byram and Conor Timmins continues to cause issues for the Sabres. Buffalo has been outscored 13-7 during Byram and Timmins’ five-on-five minutes this season. The team’s expected goal share is 43 percent when those two are on the ice together. Typically, poor puck play has been the reason. And that was again the case on Friday.
2. Ruff pointed out after the game that Zach Benson passed up on a clear scoring chance to try to make a play passing the puck in the third period. He also did it in the second period, and it was a theme for the Sabres throughout the game. Noah Ostlund also had a similar missed opportunity and has too often deferred to the pass. Even Owen Power had a clear forehand shot available in the slot and stickhandled to his backhand for a meager attempt. The Sabres put 42 shots on Allen in this game. They had 34 scoring chances and 14 high-danger chances at five-on-five. But their inability to finish cost them, as it has too often this season. This was the third time this season they have been shut out, and all came at home.
3. Alex Lyon got his first start in 15 days and wasn’t particularly sharp Friday. According to MoneyPuck, Lyon’s goals saved above expected in this game was -3.04. On the second and third goals, Lyon had a look at the puck and couldn’t make the stop. It’s becoming tough to judge Buffalo’s goalie situation because none of the team’s three goalies have been consistent enough. Lyon playing in his first game in 15 days wasn’t necessarily conducive to getting his best, but that’s been a similar challenge for all three of these goalies based on how the rotation has been handled.
“I’ve always said that it’s not an easy process to go through,” Ruff said of having three goalies. “It’s not easy for them, it’s not easy for myself. But it is and was based on the fact we had a goaltender who we didn’t know was going to be healthy or not, and we were trying to protect ourselves. I think we’ve done a good job trying to work through it. Alex was working on some stuff in his game that was the reason we didn’t play him. He missed more time than we thought. You don’t want to see a guy sitting that long between games, for sure.”
4. Mattias Samuelsson left this game late when he took an elbow to the face on a hit from Timo Meier. Samuelsson was bleeding as he came off the ice, and Ruff said he was in concussion protocol. He wasn’t sure if Samuelsson had been cleared of a concussion.
Samuelsson has been one of the team’s most reliable defensemen this season, and the blue line has already been shaky. Missing him for even a small amount of time would be tough to handle.
5. Josh Norris did not return for this game, and Ruff said he’s still day to day. When he does return, the Sabres will have a roster decision to make. On Friday, Josh Dunne came out of the lineup for Jordan Greenway. But Ostlund would probably still be a candidate to be sent down to Rochester because he doesn’t need waivers. Ostlund needs to be a more assertive shooter and get stronger in the faceoff circle, but he’s continued to play well for the Sabres. He led the team with three high-danger chances in this game, and Buffalo had a 12-2 advantage in scoring chances during his five-on-five minutes. But will Norris’ return cause him to get squeezed out of the lineup?