‘It’s what you dream of’ | Benson tallies goal in 1st NHL preseason game

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Three months ago, Zach Benson was preparing for the 2023 NHL Draft unaware of what exactly the following months would have in store for him.

Since then, the Buffalo Sabres’ first-round pick has appeared at development camp, rookie camp, training camp and, on Sunday, played in his first NHL preseason game as the Sabres defeated the Washington Capitals 4-3 in a shootout at Capital One Arena.

“Zach Benson, I thought he was great,” coach Don Granato said following the victory.

The 18-year-old logged three shots, 17:11 of ice time, and scored a goal after tipping a shot from Ryan Johnson to give the Sabres a 3-2 lead with 11:01 remaining.

Benson appeared calm and confident as if it were a part of his normal daily routine to play among many experienced NHL players. He also played valuable minutes on the group’s top power-play unit alongside JJ Peterka, Jordan Greenway, Peyton Krebs, and Jacob Bryson.

“[It] was nice to just see him out there and how he would interact with players on his own team that were older. I’ve spoken about that,” Granato said. “And then obviously against other players in [Washington's] lineup that have had a lot of NHL games.

“He’s unphased. He’s unphased because he has such a – and rightly so – confidence in his sense and feel for the game of hockey. Very aware. Highly skilled, but very aware of time and space and makes decisions accordingly. He knows how much time and space he has and he creates more time and space for himself, and we saw that just about every shift today.”

The Chilliwack, British Columbia native skated on a line with Greenway and Tyson Jost. The Sabres held a 10-7 advantage in shot attempts while the trio was on the ice at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick.

After the game, Benson turned the attention away from himself and instead lauded the play of his linemates and their willingness to help him adjust throughout the game.

“I mean, it’s pretty surreal to be playing in Capital One Arena,” Benson said. “I can’t thank Greener and Josty enough because they helped me a ton just getting the system down and just knowing what to do out there.

“I just want to play my game and I think Greener, Josty allow me to do that. Just the way they talk to me on the bench or the way they play on the ice. So, it’s been a blast.”

Benson has taken advantage of playing with different veteran players throughout training camp as he had the opportunity to skate next to Jeff Skinner and Tage Thompson during the first two practices of camp and at the Blue and Gold Scrimmage on Saturday.

While he has picked up little details from each player’s game, he has made sure to focus on one key piece of advice: have fun.

“…The main thing they said was just have fun and enjoy it because it goes by quick,” Benson said. “So, just enjoy your first camp, first preseason game.”  

When reflecting on his camp experience so far, Benson was all smiles. He shared his focus for the rest of camp is to keep getting better every day and soaking up knowledge next to his teammates.

“It’s been a first-class experience,” Benson said. “You know, just learning from all the coaches and meeting all the new faces in the organization, it’s pretty awesome. And hopping on a plane like we did this morning, it’s pretty surreal.”

Here are more notes from Sunday’s preseason win.

1. Krebs and Peterka each scored in regulation while Peterka added a shootout goal to help lead the Sabres to victory.

Peterka’s first goal came with 4:02 remaining in the second period to bring Buffalo within one. On a breakaway, he collected his own rebound and shot the puck off the back of goaltender Clay Stevenson and into the net.

Krebs tied the score at 2-2 just over a minute into the third after deflecting a shot from the point by Bryson past Stevenson.

 “JJ has shown the summer, offseason’s maturity more and more as a young player would do,” Granato said. “I also thought Krebs, another young guy - so speaking of the three guys who scored goals today - all young guys who I thought played very, very well today.”

2. Goaltender Eric Comrie made 19 saves on 21 shots in two periods of action before Dustin Tokarski took over duties in the third period. Following the game, Comrie commented on the Sabres’ goalie situation, with three NHL goalies currently on the roster.

“(We) just go out there and do the best we can. I mean, we’re just trying to feed off each other. I think that’s healthy to have competition,” Comrie said. “You want to have competition. You want to do the best you can with the guys you’ve got, and I think there are three really good goalies here. Three guys that can help our team, give the team a chance to win.

“I think they’re going to call upon the guy that’s winning hockey games. This is a point of state now where we’re playing to win hockey games. This is a very good hockey team, and I’m just going to be the best I can to help that happen.”

3. Ryan Johnson also made his preseason NHL debut, recording over 20 minutes of ice time, the primary assist on Benson’s goal, and a plus-two rating.

Granato was impressed with his puck movement and ability to get shots through from the point.

“He’s very agile and moves across the line very well,” Granato said. “But what was really noticeable with Ryan tonight was his ability to kill plays. He killed several plays and through some physicality, which this is the first time he’s playing against pro players and players of this size, the combination of size, skill, and maturity. He did very, very well.”

4. The Sabres return to KeyBank Center on Tuesday for their first home preseason contest against the Boston Bruins. Faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on MSG (NESN feed) while Dan Dunleavy and Marty Biron will have the radio call on WGR 550.

Tickets are on sale now.