Dahlin returned to form while shouldering top-pair minutes

Rasmus Dahlin's third NHL season could almost be summed up using two plays that occurred three weeks apart, both with the Sabres on the power play.
The first happened during a loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 25, the 15th contest of what would eventually become an 18-game winless streak. Dahlin, stationed at the point in the offensive zone, was the target of a short pass from Taylor Hall.
The puck was knocked down in midair by Penguins forward Frederik Gaudreau. Dahlin hesitated as the puck rolled toward him, allowing Gaudreau the chance to extend his stick and gain possession. The defenseman took a stride backward before making the aggressive move to attempt a poke check. He was crossed over in the process, the result being a shorthanded goal.

The second play happened during the third period of a 3-3 game in New Jersey on April 6. Once again, a pass to Dahlin at the point presented potential danger when the puck bounced off his stick and onto that of Devils forward Travis Zajac. A misplay would have resulted in a breakaway.
This time, there was no hesitation. Dahlin pounced on the puck to reclaim possession, danced around a second penalty killer and delivered a pass through the zone to set up Casey Mittelstadt's game-winning goal. It was Dahlin's second point of the night, following a highlight-reel goal that saw the defenseman deke by a defender on a cut to the slot.

Perhaps the two plays at the blue line were matters of circumstance, a couple of 50/50 bounces that went in different directions. But interim head coach Don Granato felt there was more to the outcomes than just dumb luck.
"That play is exactly why we need him playing with confidence," Granato said of Dahlin following the April win in New Jersey. "When you're not confident, you second guess the bounce of that puck, you hesitate and then it's the breakaway the other way. When you're in the zone, you react on instincts and his instincts are incredible."
Mittelstadt, who lived with Dahlin upon entering the NHL together in 2018, boiled it down to simpler terms.
"Ras just did what Ras does," he said.
The second half of 2020-21 was an exercise in Dahlin rediscovering the confidence he exhibited upon entering the NHL as the No. 1 overall pick. Fans in Buffalo had been tantalized by viral videos of the defenseman skating through entire defenses in Sweden, and Dahlin delivered as an 18-year-old by executing difficult plays with a Griffey-esque smoothness.
Remember the pass behind the back of countryman Erik Karlsson in overtime? How about Tage Thompson's blade at the opposite end](https://twitter.com/JourdonLaBarber/status/1085331402701254656)? By the time Dahlin turned 20, he had scored more points than any teenage defenseman in NHL history not named Phil Housley.
Those plays were missing to start his third season. When Granato took over in mid-March, he gave Dahlin a green light to act on his instincts.
"His way to play was how I learned to play hockey," Dahlin said after the season. "But the thing I felt was that he trusted me as a player. He really saw what my potential was, and I felt comfortable playing out there. I wasn't thinking too much."
Mittelstadt found himself answering regular questions about Dahlin's plays, be it the defenseman's highlight-reel goal against the Devils or a no-look breakout pass that freed Mittelstadt for a 2-on-1 goal against the New York Rangers.

"He just started making plays," Mittelstadt said. "I think he had the freedom to kind of roam around and do whatever he wants. So many times he's up in the play, he's so far, and then somehow, he's always back.
"Just giving him the freedom to do that, I think is something that changed for him. You see him making plays that not very many people in the world can make, especially with his crazy passes out of the D-Zone, beating guys on the offensive blue line."
The resurgence came amid a challenge from Granato. Dahlin was presented with top-pair minutes for the first time in his career beginning in early April, a task made more difficult due to a jampacked schedule consisting heavily of games against the top four teams in the East Division.
From April 6 on, Dahlin led the Sabres and ranked 15th among NHL defensemen with an average of 20:15 per game played at even strength. He tallied 10 points in that span while adjusting to regular shifts against the likes of Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and Patrice Bergeron.
"It was a great experience," Dahlin said. "I mean, I haven't really played against the other team's top line before, so I felt that I took the next step defensively and I really learned how the best players in the league play. It was great to play against those guys. It was not easy, but it was a great learning process."
His partner for that process was fellow 21-year-old Henri Jokiharju, who had endured a similarly inconsistent start to his second season in Buffalo. The two benefitted from unfiltered communication, caught on camera during a practice live stream that showed them rehearsing plays at the white board. They became more creative as time passed, swapping sides along the blue line at times to change looks in the offensive zone.

"We talk a lot about what we want to do on the ice in different situations," Jokiharju said. "So, if the situation happens on the ice, we know how to react."
It was the sort of experience that could bode well for the organization moving forward. The Sabres defense corps was the youngest in the league at times late during the season, with rookies Jacob Bryson and Mattias Samuelsson in the mix along with 24-year-old William Borgen.
Dahlin - confidence renewed, and now with high-leverage minutes on his resume - expressed optimism about his ability to lead that group moving forward.
"I don't know what the future will look like, but me as a guy when I was younger in junior, I've always been one of the leaders on the team," he said. "So, I mean, we'll see. But I'm excited for the future."