diff --git a/src/modelskill/comparison/_comparison.py b/src/modelskill/comparison/_comparison.py
index aed4cc27e..8838184e5 100644
--- a/src/modelskill/comparison/_comparison.py
+++ b/src/modelskill/comparison/_comparison.py
@@ -1361,7 +1361,7 @@ def save(self, filename: Union[str, Path]) -> None:
         # https://docs.xarray.dev/en/stable/user-guide/io.html#groups
 
         # There is no need to save raw data for track data, since it is identical to the matched data
-        if self.gtype == "point":
+        if self.gtype in ("point", "node"):
             ds = self.data.copy()  # copy needed to avoid modifying self.data
 
             for key, ts_mod in self.raw_mod_data.items():
@@ -1396,7 +1396,7 @@ def load(filename: Union[str, Path]) -> "Comparer":
             # FIXME: consider during Phase3
             return Comparer(matched_data=data)
 
-        if data.gtype == "point":
+        if data.gtype in ("point", "node"):
             raw_mod_data: Dict[
                 str,
                 PointModelResult
@@ -1412,7 +1412,13 @@ def load(filename: Union[str, Path]) -> "Comparer":
                     ds = data[[var_name]].rename(
                         {"_time_raw_" + new_key: "time", var_name: new_key}
                     )
-                    ts = PointModelResult(data=ds, name=new_key)
+                    ts: PointModelResult | NodeModelResult
+                    if data.gtype == "node":
+                        ts = NodeModelResult(
+                            data=ds, node=int(ds.coords["node"].item()), name=new_key
+                        )
+                    else:
+                        ts = PointModelResult(data=ds, name=new_key)
 
                     raw_mod_data[new_key] = ts
 
diff --git a/src/modelskill/matching.py b/src/modelskill/matching.py
index a514bf217..b7ac4b983 100644
--- a/src/modelskill/matching.py
+++ b/src/modelskill/matching.py
@@ -389,6 +389,24 @@ def _get_global_start_end(idxs: Iterable[pd.DatetimeIndex]) -> Period:
     return Period(start=min(starts), end=max(ends))
 
 
+def _check_timezone_compatibility(
+    observation: Observation,
+    raw_mod_data: Mapping[
+        str,
+        PointModelResult | TrackModelResult | VerticalModelResult | NodeModelResult,
+    ],
+) -> None:
+    obs_tz = observation.data.time.to_index().tz
+    for name, mr in raw_mod_data.items():
+        mr_tz = mr.data.time.to_index().tz
+        if (obs_tz is None) != (mr_tz is None):
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Timezone mismatch between observation '{observation.name}' "
+                f"(tz={obs_tz}) and model result '{name}' (tz={mr_tz}). "
+                "Both must be either timezone-aware or timezone-naive."
+            )
+
+
 def _match_space_time(
     observation: Observation,
     raw_mod_data: Mapping[
@@ -399,6 +417,8 @@ def _match_space_time(
     spatial_tolerance: float,
     obs_no_overlap: Literal["ignore", "error", "warn"],
 ) -> xr.Dataset | None:
+    _check_timezone_compatibility(observation, raw_mod_data)
+
     idxs = [m.time for m in raw_mod_data.values()]
     period = _get_global_start_end(idxs)
 
diff --git a/src/modelskill/network.py b/src/modelskill/network.py
index 071bc01f6..8d8644fe2 100644
--- a/src/modelskill/network.py
+++ b/src/modelskill/network.py
@@ -497,7 +497,9 @@ def _generate_reaches_dict(reaches: Sequence[NetworkReach]) -> dict[str, Network
     @staticmethod
     def _build_dataframe(g: nx.Graph) -> pd.DataFrame:
         data_in_nodes = {
-            k: v["data"] for k, v in g.nodes.items() if v["data"] is not None
+            k: v["data"]
+            for k, v in g.nodes.items()
+            if v["data"] is not None and not v["data"].empty
         }
         if len(data_in_nodes) == 0:
             columns = pd.MultiIndex.from_arrays([[], []], names=["node", "quantity"])
diff --git a/tests/test_comparercollection.py b/tests/test_comparercollection.py
index f884ff7f4..bdf4aa807 100644
--- a/tests/test_comparercollection.py
+++ b/tests/test_comparercollection.py
@@ -451,6 +451,47 @@ def test_save_and_load_preserves_raw_model_data(cc, tmp_path):
     assert cc2["fake point obs"].raw_mod_data["m1"].name == "m1"
 
 
+@pytest.fixture
+def node_comparer() -> modelskill.comparison.Comparer:
+    """A comparer built by matching a NodeObservation against a NetworkModelResult (node gtype)."""
+    pytest.importorskip("networkx")
+    from modelskill.model.network import NetworkModelResult
+    from modelskill.network import Network, BasicNode, BasicReach
+    from modelskill.obs import NodeObservation
+
+    time = pd.date_range("2019-01-01", periods=6, freq="D")
+    node_a_data = pd.DataFrame(
+        {"WaterLevel": [1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0]}, index=time
+    )
+    node_b_data = pd.DataFrame(
+        {"WaterLevel": [1.1, 2.2, 3.3, 4.4, 5.5, 6.6]}, index=time
+    )
+    reach = BasicReach(
+        "r1", BasicNode("123", node_a_data), BasicNode("456", node_b_data), length=100.0
+    )
+    network = Network([reach])
+
+    nmr = NetworkModelResult(network, name="Network_Model")
+    node_id = network.find(node="123")
+    obs = NodeObservation(node_a_data, at=node_id, name="Node_123_Obs")
+
+    return ms.match(obs, nmr)
+
+
+def test_save_and_load_round_trips_node_gtype_raw_data(node_comparer, tmp_path):
+    """Node-gtype comparers must survive a save()/load() round trip like point comparers do."""
+    cc = ms.ComparerCollection([node_comparer])
+    fn = tmp_path / "test_cc_node.msk"
+    cc.save(fn)
+
+    cc2 = ms.load(fn)
+
+    assert cc2[0].gtype == "node"
+    assert len(cc2[0].raw_mod_data["Network_Model"]) == len(
+        node_comparer.raw_mod_data["Network_Model"]
+    )
+
+
 # ======================== plotting ========================
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_match.py b/tests/test_match.py
index 5664c341b..3324f4788 100644
--- a/tests/test_match.py
+++ b/tests/test_match.py
@@ -936,6 +936,26 @@ def test_match_obs_model_pos_args_wrong_order_helpful_error_message():
         ms.match(mr, obs)
 
 
+def test_match_raises_clear_error_on_tz_aware_vs_naive_mismatch():
+    """Mismatched tz-awareness must raise a clear ModelSkill error, not a bare pandas TypeError."""
+    mr = ms.PointModelResult(
+        data=pd.Series(
+            [1.0, 2.0, 3.0], index=pd.date_range("2020-01-01", periods=3, freq="h")
+        ),
+        name="Model",
+    )
+    obs = ms.PointObservation(
+        data=pd.Series(
+            [1.0, 2.0, 3.0],
+            index=pd.date_range("2020-01-01", periods=3, freq="h", tz="UTC"),
+        ),
+        name="Station",
+    )
+
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="[Tt]imezone"):
+        ms.match(obs, mr)
+
+
 def test_multiple_models_same_name(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     obs = ms.PointObservation(
         "tests/testdata/SW/HKNA_Hm0.dfs0", item=0, x=4.2420, y=52.6887, name="HKNA"
diff --git a/tests/test_network.py b/tests/test_network.py
index 931860102..6c2c4aa3c 100644
--- a/tests/test_network.py
+++ b/tests/test_network.py
@@ -584,6 +584,25 @@ def test_dataframe_from_partial_network():
     assert set(nodes_in_df) == set([network.find(n) for n in selected_nodes])
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    sys.version_info >= (3, 14), reason="mikeio1d requires Python < 3.14"
+)
+def test_nodes_filtered_network_keeps_datetime_index():
+    """Topology-only nodes must not degrade the time index to object dtype.
+
+    A nodes-filtered network keeps the full topology, storing empty data for
+    the unselected nodes. Concatenating those empty (RangeIndex) frames must
+    not corrupt the DatetimeIndex, otherwise ms.match() later fails with
+    "time must be datetime".
+    """
+    path_to_file = "./tests/testdata/network.res1d"
+    network = Network.from_res1d(path_to_file, nodes=["108", "101"], reaches=[])
+
+    assert isinstance(network._df.index, pd.DatetimeIndex)
+    assert network._df.index.dtype == "datetime64[ns]"
+    assert network.to_dataset()["time"].dtype == np.dtype("datetime64[ns]")
+
+
 @pytest.mark.skipif(
     sys.version_info >= (3, 14), reason="mikeio1d requires Python < 3.14"
 )