Rangers Fall in the Third Period to the Sabres, in Final Home Game of the Season

By Daniel Feuerstein | New York, NY | April 8th, 2026

The New York Rangers held their final home game of the 2025-26 season at Madison Square Garden as they hosted the Buffalo Sabres. The Rangers wore their Centennial Jerseys for the final time this season. They started the season at home with a loss, and unfortunately, they ended their home schedule with a loss, as the Sabres were hungry and hunting for the two points to cement their position in first place of the Atlantic Division. The Rangers lost the game by a final score of five to three.

Sabres jump ahead for the early lead

The Rangers got off to a great start, cycling inside the Sabres’ zone and had an early chance inside the opening minute of the first period, when Mika Zibanejad ripped a shot at the net, but hit the post and out to scare the visitors. They continued to skate hard and create chances on the Sabres’ side of things until that one moment came for the visitors, and they took advantage when the puck was at center ice, as Conor Timmins made a quick pass to Jason Zucker in the middle of the ice, then he saw Ryan McLeod zooming through and down the near side. Gave him the puck, and McLeod cuts in, snapping a shot past Igor Shesterkin at 4:40 of the first period.

Their next goal came after Shesterkin made the save, and the puck was sent toward the far corner. The Sabres moved the puck around the far boards to the point to Bowen Byram, then a crossice pass to Rasmus Dahlin at the near point. He took a long shot toward the net, but skating and battling toward the front of the net was Zach Benson, placing his stick in perfect position to deflect the puck past Shesterkin for the two-goal lead at 8:58 of the first period.

Lafreniere scores two in two periods

The Rangers finally got on the board courtesy of Alexis Lafreniere, putting himself in position to convert chances, and got his first one on the power play late in the opening period. Zibanejad chased the puck towards the near corner and made a hard crossice pass to J.T. Miller at the far boards. He sent the puck to Adam Fox at the far point. What looked like a hard slapshot was an actual pass toward the net and down low, redirecting the puck was Lafreniere to cut the deficit in half at 19:21 of the first period on the power play.

Lafreniere’s second goal came from a breakout play, when he stole the puck and gave it to Drew Fortescue, just outside their own blueline. Then Lafreniere skated down the ice and received the puck back from Fortescue outside of the Sabres’ blueline and entered the slot. He snapped a quick shot inside the far post and in to tie the game at 2:57 of the second period. But for Fortescue, that was his second career NHL Assist and second point. He’s looked comfortable since he was officially signed by the hockey club

Rangers take the lead

The Rangers earned their second power play of the game and took the lead. Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck were on the far side of the rink, having a catch with the puck, passing it to each other a couple of times. Then Trocheck made a long pass to the near point toward Fox. As Fox skated up towards the high slot, he ripped a long shot to the upper far corner and scored to take the lead at 14:44 of the second period.

Sabres take the lead for good

In the third period, the Sabres took advantage of the Rangers around the crease with deflections and loose pucks. The game was tied as Peyton Krebs received the puck at the near point and saw an opportunity to take the shot. Positioning himself and fighting to get into position was Alex Tuch. As the shot was taken, Tuch found a way to put his blade in the right position to redirect it past Shesterkin at 5:51 of the third period. Then a loose puck around the crease as Jason Zucker was banging his stick on the ice because he wanted the puck. When McLeod sent him the puck, Zucker tried to stuff it in, but couldn’t and found a way around the left pad of Shesterkin and finally retook the lead at 7:14 of the third period.

The Rangers tried to tie the game up and pulled Shesterkin for the extra attacker, but the Sabres were able to get the puck, skate all the way down to the empty net, and Benson scored his second of the game at 18:45 of the third period. The last home game for this season was a loss, but for the Rangers, what we saw was a glimpse of the future. With Gabe Perreault, Adam Sykora, Jaroslav Chmelar, Drew Fortescue, and others from the Hartford WolfPack, who could be seen for next season. While three games are remaining, all on the road at Dallas and Florida, the Rangers will be getting ready for a long vacation.

Mike Sullivan’s Comments

“A good game. You know, I thought we were the better team most of the night. You know, when you look at the two goals that get scored against, one of them is a blown coverage. We got an opportunity to get in the shot lane. We don’t, then we don’t get the stick at the net front. Those are hard plays to defend. The best way to do it is if we can deny the shot the opportunity to get down to the net front, then you don’t have to defend the net front. I didn’t think we did a good enough job tonight at blocking some of those pucks that were coming in from the blue line. You’ve got to give their D credit. They’re pretty talented. They have the ability to change their angle.

They find lanes to get the puck down, but there are wrist shots that go down. And they create off the shot, which is a prevalent way to create offense in today’s game. So. You know, I think the best way to defend those types of plays is to not allow the puck to get there in the first place by being big and being in the shot lane, being busy, getting your stick on the puck, those types of things. Nature. I didn’t think we did a good enough job up top where we could have denied some of those pucks getting down to the net; those next plays are difficult to defend.”

POWER PLAYERS: The Rangers have scored a power play goal in three-straight games (5 PPG) and registered two power play goals for the 11th time this season, tied for the sixth-most in the NHL. Since Feb. 28, New York’s 20 power play goals lead the league, and their 33.3 power play percentage is tied for the league lead.

POINT STREAKERS: Five different Rangers skaters extended their point streaks: Adam Fox – 8 GP (4G-11A), Mika Zibanejad – 5 GP (1G-6A), J.T. Miller – 3 GP (1G-3A), Alexis Lafreniere – 2 GP (2G-1A), Vincent Trocheck – 2 GP (1G-2A)

ADAM FOX: Extended his point streak to eight-straight games (4G-11A), tied for the second-longest active streak in the league. His three-game multi-point streak (2G-5A) is tied for the longest active streak in the NHL and is tied for the longest of his career.

ALEXIS LAFRENIÈRE: Notched his third multi-goal game of the season and eighth since 2022-23, the fourth-most on the Rangers in that span. He ranks second on the Rangers this season in goals (24) and third in points (55).

The Rangers have finished their home portion of their regular season schedule and will now finish the 2025-26 season on the road, to close out their Centennial season with a trip to Dallas and two games in the State of Florida.

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