{"id":546822,"date":"2026-04-08T05:33:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T05:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/546822\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T05:33:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T05:33:41","slug":"sabres-confident-amid-fight-for-atlantic-division-face-rangers-next-field-level-media-professional-sports-content-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/546822\/","title":{"rendered":"Sabres confident amid fight for Atlantic Division, face Rangers next – Field Level Media – Professional sports content solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

After getting back to their game and snapping a mini-skid, the Buffalo Sabres hope to stay on track and keep pace atop the Atlantic Division when they visit the New York Rangers on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The Sabres (47-23-8, 102 points) earned a share of top spot in the division when they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Monday to end a two-game slide, but could find themselves needing to tie the Lightning again, with their division foes in action Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators. A Tampa Bay win would put Buffalo two points behind; a loss would open the door for the Sabres to reclaim sole possession of first.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to take this and take the confidence that we get away from wins like this, and we\u2019ve got to roll with it, honestly, because when it comes down to playoffs, it\u2019s usually the hottest team that makes it the farthest, the team that has a really good base and structure, and some of the deepest teams,\u201d winger Alex Tuch said. \u201cI think we can check off all those boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuch scored his 30th goal of the season in the victory, reaching the mark for the third time in the past four seasons, and delivered one of his best outings of the season. His speed and skill were on display as he pumped six shots on goal, including three in a span of several seconds on a short-handed opportunity in the second period.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he skated incredible in the game. I thought his penalty killing was really good. It was a big night for him,\u201d Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. \u201cI thought our top players had a good night. (Josh) Norris had a good night, and Alex had a good night. (Tage Thompson) really skated well, competed. It was a night we needed our top guys, and I thought they came through for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across the state, four games remain in what has been a disappointing campaign for the Rangers (33-36-9, 75 points), who will play their final home game before a three-game road trip wraps up their season.<\/p>\n

Home ice has been anything but an advantage for New York, which is just 14-19-7 as the hosts. Their 14 wins are fewest in the Eastern Conference and third-fewest in the NHL overall.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a touch better over the past month, however, with half of those 14 victories coming since March 5 \u2014 including a 5-1-0 stretch through the first six games of their final homestand of the season after officially being eliminated from postseason contention.<\/p>\n

The Rangers are coming off an 8-1 win against the Washington Capitals on Sunday. It marked a season high in goals scored and was their largest margin of victory.<\/p>\n

Will Cuylle scored his first NHL hat trick in the victory, giving him 20 goals on the season to match last year\u2019s career high in four fewer games.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a big deal,\u201d New York coach Mike Sullivan said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to score in this league. You get an opportunity to get a hat trick, it\u2019s a big deal for a player and it means a lot. I think it means a lot to our whole team when a player is able to accomplish it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013Field Level Media<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After getting back to their game and snapping a mini-skid, the Buffalo Sabres hope to stay on track…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5111],"tags":[5,3328,35,5190,5193,4,36],"class_list":{"0":"post-546822","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-rangers","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-rangers","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkrangers","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-rangers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116367459447080039","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}