NHL

Vancouver Canucks at Buffalo Sabres

· National Hockey League
Final
3 - 5

Tuch has goal and assist as Sabres beat Canucks 5-3 for 11th win in 12 games

Alex Tuch scores goal vs. Canucks

Tage Thompson, Ryan McLeod, Zach Metsa and Josh Doan also scored for Buffalo, which was coming off a 5-1 loss at Columbus on Saturday that snapped a 10-game win streak. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 32 shots.

Jake DeBrusk, Elias Pettersson and Liam Ohgren all scored in the third period, and Brock Boeser had two assists for the Canucks, who have lost four straight (0-2-2) and six of seven (1-4-2). Thatcher Demko had 15 saves.

Vancouver trailed 4-0 in the third period before DeBrusk ended Luukkonen’s bid for his first shutout of the season, scoring a power-play goal in front on the rebound of an attempt by Kiefer Sherwood at 10:17.

Petterson pulled the Canucks to 4-2 just under 5 minutes later, getting the puck in the slot and turning and firing it past Luukkonen.

Ohgren got Vancouver within one another 39 seconds later, scoring from the left circle with a shot through traffic that went between Luukkonen's pads.

Doan sealed the Sabres' win with his 13th of the season into an empty net with 1:24 remaining.

Thompson scored 2:01 into the game as he got a loose puck in the slot, turned and fired it past Demko for his 21st of the season.

McLeod made it 2-0 nearly 10 minutes with a short-handed goal. McLeod got a pass from Alex Tuch on a 2-on-1 rush and put it past Demko, who had moved to his left.

Tuch increased Buffalo's lead to 3-0 at 9:37 of the second, getting a pass across the front of the goal from Byram, gathering the puck and putting it past Demko from the left side.

Metsa added to the lead at 6:13 of the third, scoring from the right circle for the 27-year-old defenseman's first NHL goal in his 12th game.

Up next Canucks: At Detroit on Thursday night in second of a six-game trip,

Sabres: At New York Rangers on Thursday night.

Regular Season Series

BUF wins series 2-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 2:01 Tage Thompson Goal (21) Wrist Shot, assists: Bowen Byram (12), Owen Power (10)
Goal 1st Period 11:24 Ryan McLeod Goal (8) Wrist Shot, assists: Alex Tuch (21), Mattias Samuelsson (14)
Goal 2nd Period 9:37 Alex Tuch Goal (13) Wrist Shot, assists: Bowen Byram (13), Josh Norris (9)
Goal 3rd Period 6:13 Zach Metsa Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Beck Malenstyn (4), Jordan Greenway (4)
Goal 3rd Period 10:17 Jake DeBrusk Goal (11) Snap Shot, assists: Kiefer Sherwood (5), Brock Boeser (10)
Goal 3rd Period 15:16 Elias Pettersson Goal (11) Wrist Shot, assists: Brock Boeser (11), Filip Hronek (23)
Goal 3rd Period 15:55 Liam Ohgren Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Marcus Pettersson (8), Linus Karlsson (9)
Goal 3rd Period 18:36 Josh Doan Goal (13) Wrist Shot, assists: none

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/van.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originVAN https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/buf.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBUF
8 Blocked Shots 14
17 Hits 16
4 Takeaways 5
37 Shots 20
1 Power Play Goals 0
4 Power Play Opportunities 1
25.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 1
0 Shootout Goals 0
26 Faceoffs Won 30
46.4 Faceoff Win Percent 53.6
16 Giveaways 15
1 Total Penalties 3
2 Penalty Minutes 8
Buffalo Sabres Buffalo Sabres Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Alex Lyon, G Injured Reserve Jan 7
Michael Kesselring, D Injured Reserve Jan 6
Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Canucks Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Conor Garland, RW Day-To-Day Jan 9
Filip Chytil, C Injured Reserve Jan 6
Teddy Blueger, C Injured Reserve Jan 6
Marco Rossi, C Injured Reserve Jan 2
Derek Forbort, D Injured Reserve Oct 28

Game Information

KeyBank Center

Location: Buffalo, NY
Attendance: 17,036 | Capacity:

2025-26 Pacific Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Vegas 19 11 50 12
Edmonton 22 16 50 6
Seattle 20 14 48 8
San Jose 22 18 47 3
Los Angeles 18 14 46 10
Anaheim 21 20 45 3
Calgary 18 22 40 4
Vancouver 16 22 37 5

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Montreal 25 13 56 6
Detroit 26 15 56 4
Tampa Bay 26 13 55 3
Buffalo 23 15 50 4
Toronto 21 15 49 7
Boston 23 19 48 2
Florida 22 18 47 3
Ottawa 20 18 45 5
Full Standings