‘Smiling, hooting and hollering,’ Sabres break out for 1st win

Early in Wednesday’s second period, the Buffalo Sabres seemed to be on the ropes. Three icings forced an extended shift for defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Bowen Byram, which led to a penalty, which led to a go-ahead goal for the Ottawa Senators. Buffalo challenged unsuccessfully for goaltender interference, sending Ottawa back on the man advantage.

What ensued over the next 10 minutes flipped the game on its head, put a charge into the KeyBank Center crowd and led to an 8-4 Sabres win, their first of the season. Here’s how it went down.

At 6:46 in the period: Senators goalie Leevi Merilainen can’t handle an Owen Power dump-in around the boards, nor the rebound from Zach Benson’s attempt. Benson chases his shot and feeds Ryan McLeod for a shorthanded, game-tying tally.

“To kill it, and then end up getting a shorthanded goal, I thought we showed a lot of life; we showed a lot of passion,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “… I think we fed off the energy; the building came to life.”

At 10:17: Josh Doan’s forechecking leads to a Jacob Bryson shot from the right point. Alex Tuch corrals the rebound, spins around and buries it for a 3-2 Sabres lead.

At 11:46: Jason Zucker skates uncovered up the left circle, receives Rasmus Dahlin’s feed and fires a glove-side snipe for Buffalo’s second power-play goal of the night and a 4-2 lead.

At 13:43: Zucker, set up atop the crease on another man advantage, presents his stick for a shot-pass from Doan and tips another one past Merilainen.

“He’s on the puck, he’s fearless, made some good plays; we’ve seen a lot of good things out of him,” Ruff said of Doan after the winger’s three-assist game. “I thought tonight might’ve been his best night.”

The hectic half-period saw nine different Sabres record a point. After managing just three goals in its first 10 periods of the season, Buffalo had suddenly caught fire.

Ottawa returned for the third and scored two quick ones, prompting Ruff to use his timeout. His message with a 5-4 lead and 17:45 still on the clock: calm down, make some plays, put the Senators back on their heels and extend the lead. That huddle showed immediate returns, as McLeod scored his second goal of the game just 17 seconds later. Forty-five seconds after that, Jack Quinn put things to rest with his second of the night.

“We have the lead still, let’s just make some plays,” McLeod said of the timeout talk. “Been there before; we’ve got to get confident in these areas and get comfortable with it, and I think that’s what we did.”

Facing growing pressure amidst their 0-3-0 start and early offensive struggles, the Sabres needed this type of performance. With several key players still sidelined by injury, they offered a glimpse of what they’re capable of.

“I think we just played with a lot more speed tonight,” Tuch said. “We were a lot more assertive, honestly. We were just trying to have fun out there. I thought everyone was smiling, hooting and hollering. A lot of energy. It was contagious. You could feel it on the bench: even when stuff was going wrong, guys were taking accountability, and they were going out there trying to be better the next shift. No one was perfect out there tonight, but I thought we were all working for each other, and that’s what makes it easy.”

Added McLeod: “I think tonight’s kind of a staple going forward for us that we should keep building on.”

Here’s more from the early-season thriller in Buffalo.

Power play gets going

After an 0-for-11 start to the season, Buffalo’s power play needed to break the dam however possible. In the first period, a fortunate bounce did the trick; Quinn’s one-timer from the slot missed wide, rebounded off the end boards, hit Merilainen’s back and trickled into the net.

“It’s a shooter’s goal, ask Quinny,” Tuch joked.

“That, at that time, was the break we needed,” added Ruff.

Zucker added his pair of power-play goals in the second period, and just like that, at 3-for-14 (21.4 percent) this season, the Sabres’ man advantage ranks in the top half of the league.

Benny’s back

Benson, hospitalized last week after taking a puck to the face in practice, made his season debut. His protective face shield may be obscuring his vision, but you wouldn’t know it; the forward skated 16:52 with four assists, two shots, two takeaways, one hit and one shot block. Four points mark a new single-game career high for the 20-year-old.

“Getting Benson back was a big plus,” Ruff said. “I think we all saw that tonight, what a difference it made for us.”

“He was itching, he was ready, he was excited,” Tuch said of his linemate to start the game. “I thought he had a really good game, turning pucks over. Really tenacious out there.”

Danforth exits

Justin Danforth exited early in the second period with a lower-body injury. The Sabres forward was shaken up by a shot block on his first shift of the period, took one more shift, then didn’t return.

Up next

The Sabres take on the two-time defending champions, the Florida Panthers, on Saturday at 1 p.m. Tickets are available here.