Game Preview #58: Buffalo Sabres @ New Jersey Devils
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- The Matchup: Buffalo Sabres (32-19-6) @ New Jersey Devils (28-27-2)
- The Time: 7:00 pm EST
- The Broadcast: MSGSN, Devils Hockey Radio
Last Devils Game
Way back on February 5th, the Devils lost at home to the New York Islanders 3-1. The game was scoreless after the 1st period before the Devils and Islanders traded goals in the 2nd period. Nico Hischier (who is the captain of the team, in case Bryce Salvador never told you before) had the lone goal for the Devils, his 19th of the year. The Islanders sealed the game with 2 late goals in the 3rd period (one of them an empty net goal). On the bright side, as Tim said in his recap of this game, at least the Devils made progress in this game, only losing 3-1, as opposed to the 9-0 nuke that the Islanders dropped on the Devils back on January 6th. Jake Allen started in net for the Devils and while he did let up 3 goals, it’s hard to win when the team in front of you only scores 1 goal.
The game was their 3rd loss in a row, and also their 5th loss in their last 6 games. During their 3 game losing streak, the Devils have only scored 2 goals, while letting up 10 goals. 10 goals against in 3 games, is actually not horrible. Scoring 2 goals in 3 games though is atrocious. The lack of offense though has been a problem for a while now with the Devils. As of this article, the Devils have scored 146 goals this season. That’s good for dead last in the entire Eastern Conference, including 5 goals behind the Rangers. Their goal output is “good” for 31st, in the league, only 4 more than the Calgary Flames. The Devils have suffered many problems this season, not just one or two specific problems. Right now though, it doesn’t matter what your goalies do, or what your defense does, if you can’t put the puck in the net.
Last Sabres Game
Like the Devils, The Sabres also played their last game on February 5th, losing 5-2 at home to the Penguins. The Sabres jumped out to an early lead, less than 2 minutes into the game, on Jason Zucker’s 15th goal of the season. The Penguins would score 2 goals before the end of the 1st, to make it 2-1 and they added another goal in the 2nd to start the 3rd period up 3-1. Tage Thompson scored less than 2 minutes into the 3rd period on the PP, his 30th of the season, to bring the Sabres within 1 goal at 3-2. However, the Penguins added 2 late goals, including an empty net goal, to put the game away 5-2.
The loss was their 2nd in a row, and 3rd in their last 4 games. However, prior to that, the Sabres had a 5 game win streak from 1/20 – 1/29. Overall the Sabres are playing pretty well this season. They currently have 32 wins, which is tied for 4th place in the Eastern Conference. Alex Lyon has been the go to man in net for the Sabres, having started 25 games already this season. He started 4 out of the last 5 games for the Sabres before the break, however, with the time off, I would expect him to get the start tonight.
Injuries, Roster for Tonight, Yada, Yada, Yada.
The Devils held a practice on Tuesday afternoon, and Amanda Stein posted the lines on X. Keep in mind that Timo Meier and Jonas Siegenthaler were traveling back to NJ on Tuesday. Per Stein, “both will be back for the morning skate ahead of facing Buffalo.” As of this article, it looks like Jack’s arrival time in New Jersey is still to be determined.
Here's how the #NJDevils are lining up today at practice… so, take this for what it is… of course, they are still missing some key components.
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) February 24, 2026
No Jack Hughes, Meier or Siegenthaler today. pic.twitter.com/XRHHierkVr
Grimace’s Prediction and 2025-2026 Record Tracker
Grimace has been feeling good so far this week from watching the Jack Hughes goal over and over on YouTube. To be frank, I had to politely ask him to turn if off after the 115th time. I think he’s just overconfident at this point, but he has predicted a Devils win for tonight.
Grimace’s 2025-2026 Season Prediction record currently stands at 12-11-0.
Your Take
I know there are a large number of Devils fans that are still riding the high of seeing Jack Hughes score the golden goal for USA in the olympics. That was awesome to see, and great for his confidence and the sport in general. With that being said, the Olympics are over and this is the NHL, not Team USA. Will the high from that game and the confidence from the win carry over to the Devils? Hopefully, the answer is yes. At the same time, nothing would surprise me with this team this year. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below and thanks for reading!
In a shameless bit of non hockey related self promotion (approved by Chris – thanks Chris), I wanted to plug my brand new podcast on here, if any of you are interested in listening. We have a light hearted, fun discussion about any movies, music or video games mostly from the 1980s and 1990s. Please feel free to listen to us on any of the formats below and any feedback is welcome (positive and negative). Also, please follow us and subscribe, even if you think we stink. 🙂