Peterka impresses with 2 goals at Prospects Challenge

JJ Peterka waited more than 11 months for his introduction to the city of Buffalo after he was drafted by the Sabres during the second round last October.
In a typical year, Peterka would have come to town for summer development camp shortly after the draft. But 2020 was anything but typical, with a draft that fell in the middle of Peterka's season in Austria and no development camp due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I was so curious about it, so excited the whole last year," Peterka said Wednesday.

Peterka's first impression in a Sabres uniform proved to be worth the wait. The 19-year-old winger scored the winning goal for the Sabres in their Prospects Challenge opener against the New Jersey Devils on Friday night and added a second goal during a 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
Rochester Americans coach Seth Appert was well aware of Peterka before the tournament, having scouted him as a potential opponent while coaching for USA Hockey.
"J-J is one of those rare guys that has the speed and the skill and explosiveness of elite, dynamic offensive players, but also has the lurking goal-scoring ability that more of the intelligent offensive players have," Appert said. "He's shown at the younger age groups to have that really good combination of speed mixed with the cerebral goal-scoring ability that all special goal scorers have."
Peterka hounded the puck carrier into the neutral zone to help force the turnover that led to his goal on Friday, set up at the backdoor by a high-to-low pass from linemate Brett Murray.

Peterka flashed his release with his goal on Saturday, a one-time shot from the high slot.

The Sabres signed Peterka to his entry-level deal in June following a productive - and busy - post-draft campaign. Peterka played professionally both in Austria and Germany, tallying a combined 36 points in 42 games between the two. He was a standout player at the World Junior Championship, where he tallied 10 points (4+6) in five games with Germany, and finished the season with a taste of NHL competition at the men's World Championship in May.
Through it all, Peterka had an eye toward his future in North America. He spoke to Derek Roy, his teammate in Germany, about what it was like to play in Buffalo. He worked on his playmaking and on rounding out his defensive game after practices in Munich at the request of the Sabres.
It translated into one of the standout performances at the Prospects Challenge, where Peterka was among the Sabres players who will now look to make a splash when main camp opens this week.
"I thought that our top prospects showed why they're top prospects," Appert said. "I thought a lot of the guys that, organizationally, we expect to contend for NHL spots in the near future looked like they're future NHL, really good hockey players."

Medical report

Forward Jack Quinn and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson were scratched for Saturday's game. Appert described Quinn's absence as "load management." Samuelsson sustained a lower-body injury while blocking a shot late in the game against New Jersey on Friday.
Appert said the Sabres had not yet determined Samuelsson's status for the start of training camp.
"We don't expect him to be out long," Appert said.

Murray nets another

Murray opened the scoring Saturday for his second goal and team-high third point of the Prospects Challenge. The 6-foot-5 winger once again scored from the blue paint on the power play, this time burying a crossing feed from Arttu Ruotsalainen.

"I trained really hard this offseason," Murray said. "I came in with the mindset that I wanted to be the best player out there."