The Buffalo Sabres failed to secure a ticket to the 2025 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, but at least they punctuated their 2024-25 campaign on a positive note, beating the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night via a score of 5-4 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
The victory snapped the Sabres' four-game losing skid and, more notably, earned head coach Lindy Ruff's 900th win behind the bench in his NHL career.
Ruff started the day with 899 coaching wins in the league to his name, which included 606 with the Sabres. Those numbers are now 900 and 607, respectively, as he also becomes just the fifth ever in NHL history to rack up at least 900 coaching victories.
Only Scotty Bowman, Joel Quenneville, Paul Maurice and Barry Trotz have won more games than Ruff, who turned 65 years old in February.
The Sabres also announced Ruff’s milestone with a post on X.
Ruff and the Sabres went on a rollercoaster ride of a game versus Philly before coming away with a victory. Buffalo scored the first two goals of the contest in the opening period and carried a 3-1 lead into the second frame.
But the Flyers fought back and scored two of the next three goals to cut their deficit down to one after Tyson Foerster lit the lamp just 15 seconds into the third period. Ryan McLeod gave the Sabres an insurance goal with under a minute left in regulation before Bobby Brink gave the Flyers their last hurrah with a goal with only 20 seconds remaining in the contest.
The Sabres, who have not been to the playoffs since 2011, ended this campaign with a 36-39-7 record for 79 points.
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