The Buffalo Sabres and visiting Utah Mammoth will each try to recover from early-season drubbings when they meet on Saturday night.
Both teams found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard even as they outshot their opponents handily.
The Sabres fell 4-0 to the Dallas Stars on Thursday in what was their first shutout loss since November 2025. Back to .500 in the early going, Buffalo has struggled considerably to finish its opportunities.
“If you look at the two real good chances in the first five minutes, we got to start putting some of those away … our stars have to be better, we have to start putting the puck in the back of the net early,” head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. “We all gotta be better.”
To compound their offensive woes, the Sabres missed three more power-play opportunities, bringing them to a dismal 0-for-13 to start the campaign. At the other end of the ice, netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on just 18 shots.
“I don’t care if they score four on breakaways, you don’t win hockey games by letting in four goals. That’s just how hockey goes,” said Luukkonen, who has posted a .782 save percentage in three starts.
The home team will have every reason to expect a dramatic bounce-back from a roster that tallied 288 goals last season. Owen Power (five points) and Tage Thompson (four) sit atop the team’s scoring chart thus far.
The Mammoth experienced many parallels in their 6-1 loss to Boston. Jeremy Swayman turned away 36 of Utah’s 37 shots on the night while the Mammoth’s offseason acquisition, Sebastian Cossa, was yanked in the first period after allowing three goals on eight shots. David Pastrnak put up four points as Boston scored all their goals in the first 40 minutes.
“We just weren’t connected,” said Clayton Keller, who failed to register a point for the first time this season. “It just wasn’t a good game, and on the PP as well. I don’t know what it was (Thursday), but we’ve got to flush it. We’ll learn from (this game). It’s not going to be smooth all year long. We’re a confident group and we know how good we can be.”
Utah, which boasted the best power-play in the league entering Thursday (8-for-13, 61.5%), failed to capitalize on seven opportunities.
Both teams will look to avoid their first losing streaks of the season.
“You gotta have a short memory in this league,” Keller said. “There’s so many good teams and there’s no easy night ever. We gotta be ready for Buffalo for sure.”
Sabres goaltender Alex Lyon (lower-body injury) did not dress Thursday even though he was spotted in practice two days earlier. Colten Ellis may get the nod over Luukkonen if Lyon has not recovered. Veteran forward Jason Zucker (abdomen) remains out of the lineup.
Utah has won all four previous meetings between the two teams.
