Mittelstadt seeking to take advantage of opportunity at center

Casey Mittelstadt acknowledges the opportunity in front of him. The Buffalo Sabres have openings at the center position following the trade of Eric Staal and an injury to Dylan Cozens, setting up a chance for Mittelstadt to contribute at his natural position down the stretch.
"It's no secret it's a big opportunity for me," Mittelstadt said. "I feel like I've been playing well and making plays. It's just, we got to get the results."
Mittelstadt practiced on a line with Taylor Hall and Tage Thompson on Tuesday, keeping the trio intact after a productive first outing against Philadelphia on Monday. The Sabres held a 17-12 advantage in shot attempts during 12:31 with the line on the ice at 5-on-5.

It culminated in a goal for Brandon Montour during the second period. Hall carried the puck with speed through the neutral zone and hit Tage Thompson with an entry pass at the Philadelphia blue line. Thompson took a quick shot, chased his rebound, and found Montour as the trailer.

The attempt was one of a game-high nine on the night for Thompson, who played with an aggressiveness that interim head coach Don Granato hopes to see more of moving forward. Thompson was credited with five individual scoring chances by NaturalStatTrick.com.
The common thread for the line was quick movement through the neutral zone and an eagerness to get to the net.
"I thought our line was great," Mittelstadt said. "I think the biggest part of the game for us was when we were back in the D-zone, we were just breaking pucks out quick, good plays by the D. A couple times they found me in the middle. I think that's huge, that's something we haven't done so much in the past and are trying to utilize it more now.
"I think you get rushes off making good breakouts, it's pretty much that simple. Obviously, Tommer and Hallsy were making plays on the rush and crisscrossing and making plays, so, yeah, it was fun to watch. Obviously, there's some things to build on and definitely some more chances that we can bury."
Granato said the line will get another chance to build on its chemistry against the Flyers on Wednesday, offering the latest opportunity in what has been an up-and-down year for the 22-year-old Mittelstadt. He began the season on the taxi squad, then moved in and out of the lineup before settling into a role on the wing. He was forced to reacclimate to game speed after testing positive for COVID-19 in February.
All the while, Mittelstadt has spoken earnestly about the lessons learned from his first two pro seasons. He admitted to taking his place in the league for granted upon breaking in as a rookie in 2018-19. His reassignment to Rochester last season taught him to treat each opportunity like it's his last.
"He stayed competitive, he stayed engaged, he stayed focused on improving and developing and he's progressed," Granato said. "He's progressed to the point where I'm comfortable putting him at center regardless of the fact that we've lost the guys that we have due to injury or being traded. He was starting to earn that position anyway in being at center.
"Now he has an even greater opportunity and again, he's showing enough that I have confidence in him in that position and certainly, like every player, when there's mistakes the game is fast so you're going to make mistakes. He can correct them quickly and that's the process."

Tuesday's practice

Cozens did not practice after before forced to exit with an upper-body injury during the first period on Monday. Granato did not have an update on his status.
Jacob Bryson returned after missing the past two games with an upper-body injury. Granato said he made it through the session well and appears ready to play Wednesday.
Here's how the team lined up in full:
Forwards
4 Taylor Hall - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 72 Tage Thompson
68 Victor Olofsson - 15 Riley Sheahan - 23 Sam Reinhart
53 Jeff Skinner - 27 Curtis Lazar - 21 Kyle Okposo
13 Tobias Rieder - 20 Cody Eakin - 17 Steven Fogarty
Also practicing: 38 Jean-Sebastien Dea, 49 C.J. Smith
Defensemen
78 Jacob Bryson - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
62 Brandon Montour - 33 Colin Miller
26 Rasmus Dahlin - 10 Henri Jokiharju
44 Matt Irwin - 88 Brandon Davidson
Goalies
35 Linus Ullmark
31 Dustin Tokarski
32 Michael Houser