The 2020–21 Buffalo Sabres season was the 51st season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.

On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment the Sabres played this season in the East Division and only played games against the other teams in their new division during the regular season.

With an 18th consecutive loss on March 29, 2021, the Sabres equalled the NHL record for the longest losing streak in a season, tied with the 2003–04 Pittsburgh Penguins. In that game, the Sabres blew a 3–0 lead and lost 4–3 in overtime.

On April 17, the Sabres were eliminated from playoff contention after a 3–2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, extending their playoff drought to ten seasons, tying an NHL record.

In the Sabres' 18-game losing streak, they were 0–15–3 (two overtime losses and one shootout loss). In the first 34 games, they went 6–23–5 (.250) for 17 points. In their final 22 games, they went 9–11–2 (.455), ultimately going 15–34–7 for 37 points. For the fourth time in eight seasons, the Sabres had the worst record in the whole NHL. Their .330 points percentage was their worst since 2014-15.

Off-season The Sabres introduced three new jerseys for the season. On August 11, 2020, the Sabres revealed their new uniforms, which was an updated version of the team's original jerseys. The team reintroduced their original royal blue, gold, and white colors, which was worn by the team from 1970 to 1996. On November 16, 2020, the NHL introduced Adidas "Reverse Retro" jerseys for all 31 teams, which feature throwback uniforms with a modern twist. The Sabres' Reverse Retro jersey is a modern update to the team's first third jersey worn in 2000, with the exception being that it was done in the team's current colors on a white template.

Standings

Divisional standings

Schedule and results

Regular season The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020. 2020–21 game logJanuary: 4–4–2 (Home: 2–3–1; Road: 2–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 January 14 Washington 6–4 Buffalo Hutton 0 0–1–0 0 2 January 15 Washington 2–1 Buffalo Ullmark 0 0–2–0 0 3 January 18 Buffalo 6–1 Philadelphia Hutton 0 1–2–0 2 4 January 19 Buffalo 0–3 Philadelphia Hutton 0 1–3–0 2 5 January 22 Buffalo 3–4 Washington SO Ullmark 0 1–3–1 3 6 January 24 Buffalo 4–3 Washington SO Ullmark 0 2–3–1 5 7 January 26 NY Rangers 2–3 Buffalo Ullmark 0 3–3–1 7 8 January 28 NY Rangers 3–2 Buffalo OT Ullmark 0 3–3–2 8 9 January 30 New Jersey 3–4 Buffalo SO Ullmark 0 4–3–2 10 10 January 31 New Jersey 5–3 Buffalo Hutton 0 4–4–2 10 February: 2–6–1 (Home: 1–4–1; Road: 1–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap — February 2 Buffalo – NY Islanders Postponed due to COVID protocol. Rescheduled for February 22. — February 4 Buffalo – NY Islanders Postponed due to COVID protocol. Rescheduled for March 4. — February 6 Buffalo – Boston Postponed due to COVID protocol. Rescheduled for March 27. — February 8 Buffalo – Boston Postponed due to COVID protocol. Rescheduled for April 13. — February 11 Washington – Buffalo Postponed due to COVID protocol. Rescheduled for March 15. — February 13 Washington – Buffalo Postponed due to COVID protocol. Rescheduled for April 9. 11 February 15 NY Islanders 3–1 Buffalo Ullmark 0 4–5–2 10 12 February 16 NY Islanders 3–0 Buffalo Hutton 0 4–6–2 10 13 February 18 Buffalo 1–3 Washington Ullmark 0 4–7–2 10 14 February 20 Buffalo 3–2 New Jersey Ullmark 0 5–7–2 12 15 February 22 Buffalo 2–3 NY Islanders Ullmark 0 5–8–2 12 16 February 23 Buffalo 4–1 New Jersey Ullmark 0 6–8–2 14 17 February 25 New Jersey 4–3 Buffalo OT Hutton 0 6–8–3 15 18 February 27 Philadelphia 3–0 Buffalo Hutton 0 6–9–3 15 19 February 28 Philadelphia 3–0 Buffalo Johansson 0 6–10–3 15 March: 1–13–2 (Home: 1–4–1; Road: 0–9–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 20 March 2 Buffalo 2–3 NY Rangers Hutton 1,800 6–11–3 15 21 March 4 Buffalo 2–5 NY Islanders Johansson 0 6–12–3 15 22 March 6 Buffalo 2–5 NY Islanders Hutton 0 6–13–3 15 23 March 7 Buffalo 2–5 NY Islanders Johansson 0 6–14–3 15 24 March 9 Buffalo 4–5 Philadelphia SO Johansson 2,838 6–14–4 16 25 March 11 Pittsburgh 5–2 Buffalo Johansson 0 6–15–4 16 26 March 13 Pittsburgh 3–0 Buffalo Hutton 0 6–16–4 16 27 March 15 Washington 6–0 Buffalo Hutton 0 6–17–4 16 28 March 16 Buffalo 2–3 New Jersey Johansson 1,800 6–18–4 16 29 March 18 Boston 4–1 Buffalo Hutton 0 6–19–4 16 — March 20 Boston – Buffalo Postponed due to COVID protocol. Rescheduled for April 20. 30 March 22 Buffalo 3–5 NY Rangers Tokarski 1,800 6–20–4 16 31 March 24 Buffalo 2–5 Pittsburgh Tokarski 2,800 6–21–4 16 32 March 25 Buffalo 0–4 Pittsburgh Tokarski 2,800 6–22–4 16 33 March 27 Buffalo 2–3 Boston Ullmark 2,191 6–23–4 16 34 March 29 Philadelphia 4–3 Buffalo OT Ullmark 0 6–23–5 17 35 March 31 Philadelphia 1–6 Buffalo Ullmark 0 7–23–5 19 April: 6–8–2 (Home: 3–5–1; Road: 3–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 36 April 1 NY Rangers 3–2 Buffalo OT Tokarski 0 7–23–6 20 37 April 3 NY Rangers 2–3 Buffalo SO Ullmark 302Anstey, Evan (April 5, 2021). Only hundreds watched Sabres beat Rangers on Saturday. WIVB-TV. Retrieved April 5, 2021. 8–23–6 22 38 April 6 Buffalo 5–3 New Jersey Ullmark 3,600 9–23–6 24 39 April 8 New Jersey 6–3 Buffalo Ullmark 0 9–24–6 24 40 April 9 Washington 4–3 Buffalo Tokarski — 9–25–6 24 41 April 11 Buffalo 5–3 Philadelphia Ullmark 3,250 10–25–6 26 42 April 13 Buffalo 2–3 Boston SO Tokarski 2,191 10–25–7 27 43 April 15 Buffalo 5–2 Washington Tokarski 0 11–25–7 29 44 April 17 Pittsburgh 3–2 Buffalo Tokarski — 11–26–7 29 45 April 18 Pittsburgh 2–4 Buffalo Tokarski 0 12–26–7 31 46 April 20 Boston 2–0 Buffalo Tokarski 0 12–27–7 31 47 April 22 Boston 5–1 Buffalo Tokarski 0 12–28–7 31 48 April 23 Boston 4–6 Buffalo Luukkonen — 13–28–7 33 49 April 25 Buffalo 3–6 NY Rangers Tokarski 1,800 13–29–7 33 50 April 27 Buffalo 1–3 NY Rangers Luukkonen 1,796 13–30–7 33 51 April 29 Buffalo 2–5 Boston Luukkonen 2,191 13–31–7 33 May: 2–3–0 (Home: 2–0–0; Road: 0–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 52 May 1 Buffalo 2–6 Boston Luukkonen 2,191 13–32–7 33 53 May 3 NY Islanders 2–4 Buffalo Houser 0 14–32–7 35 54 May 4 NY Islanders 3–4 Buffalo SO Houser 0 15–32–7 37 55 May 6 Buffalo 4–8 Pittsburgh Houser 4,672 15–33–7 37 56 May 8 Buffalo 0–1 Pittsburgh Houser 4,672 15–34–7 37 Legend:

Player statistics

Skaters Regular season Player 54 25 15 40 −28 10 56 13 19 32 −23 6 56 5 18 23 −36 26 41 10 12 22 −10 10 ‡ 37 2 17 19 −21 24 49 4 14 18 −18 36 21 2 16 18 −9 6 38 8 6 14 −6 17 53 7 7 14 −11 14 ‡ 38 5 9 14 −13 24 53 4 9 13 −8 8 41 4 9 13 −15 16 35 2 11 13 −1 0 48 4 8 12 −20 27 28 7 4 11 +1 0 ‡ 32 3 7 10 −20 8 ‡ 33 5 4 9 −4 0 38 1 8 9 −1 12 46 3 5 8 −11 4 44 5 2 7 −9 2 46 3 4 7 −9 14 17 5 1 6 −9 8 † 15 3 3 6 −5 4 † 11 2 1 3 −5 4 13 1 2 3 +2 9 9 1 2 3 +2 8 12 0 2 2 −8 4 24 0 2 2 −10 19 10 0 0 0 −4 4 6 0 0 0 −4 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 −1 2 2 0 0 0 +1 0

Goaltenders Regular season Player 20 20 1,117:05 9 6 3 49 2.63 591 .917 0 0 0 0 13 10 729:26 2 8 2 43 3.54 447 .904 0 0 1 0 4 4 243:02 2 2 0 14 3.46 141 .901 0 0 0 0 4 4 216:42 1 3 0 14 3.88 149 .906 0 0 0 0 13 12 674:43 1 10 1 39 3.47 341 .886 0 0 0 0 ‡ 7 6 379:53 0 5 1 24 3.79 207 .884 0 0 0 0 †Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Sabres. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only. ‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only. Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Transactions

Trades Date Details Ref To Minnesota WildMarcus Johansson To Buffalo SabresEric Staal To San Jose Sharks2nd-round pick in 20204th-round pick in 2020To Buffalo Sabres2nd-round pick in 2020 To Colorado AvalancheJonas JohanssonTo Buffalo Sabres6th-round pick in 2021 To Montreal CanadiensEric StaalTo Buffalo Sabres3rd-round pick in 20215th-round pick in 2021 To Florida PanthersBrandon MontourTo Buffalo Sabres3rd-round pick in 2021 To Boston BruinsTaylor HallCurtis LazarTo Buffalo SabresAnders Bjork2nd-round pick in 2021

Waivers Date Player Team Ref Drake Caggiula from Arizona Coyotes

Draft picks

Below are the Buffalo Sabres' selections at the 2020 NHL entry draft, which was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020 at the Bell Center in Montreal, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was held October 6–7, 2020 virtually via Video conference call from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)18 Jack Quinn RW Ottawa 67s (OHL)2341 John-Jason Peterka LW EHC Red Bull Munchen (DEL)5131 Matteo Costantini C Buffalo Jr. Sabres (OJHL)7193 Albert Lyckasen D Vita Hasten (HockeyAllsvenskan)72162 Jakub Konečný C Sparta Jr. (U20 Extraliga) Notes: The San Jose Sharks' second-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on October 7, 2020, that sent a second and fourth-round pick both in 2020 (38th and 100th overall) to San Jose in exchange for this pick. The Dallas Stars' seventh-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on November 10, 2018, that sent Taylor Fedun to Dallas in exchange for this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – Buffalo will receive a seventh-round pick in 2020 if Fedun plays in 25 games during the 2018–19 NHL season and 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs combined – was converted on January 17, 2019.

References