‘Everything felt great’ | Through calm and chaos, Ellis delivers shutout in San Jose

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Calgary Flames goalie Devin Cooley recently went viral when, asked postgame how he felt in a win, he responded, “I felt nothing.” He explained how, at his best, he’s unconscious between the pipes.

“Honestly, when I saw it, it was kind of like an ‘Ah hah!’ moment,” reacted Sabres goalie Colten Ellis. “… When you’re not thinking about every single thing you’re doing, you’ve got to just trust your instincts. I find getting into the game and just having that passion and energy and letting the game come to you is something that works for everybody, and me especially.”

Ellis reached that unconscious state Tuesday at SAP Center, posting a 24-save shutout to beat the San Jose Sharks, 2-0.

San Jose’s Yaroslav Askarov (38 saves) was nearly as good, but Olen Zellweger beat him early in the second period to provide all the scoring Buffalo needed. Zach Benson sealed it with an empty netter, his first goal of the season, and the Sabres improved to 5-4-3.

“It was one of those nights where everything felt great and everything kind of went our way,” said Ellis, who hadn’t played in 15 days.

“Put it in the excellent category,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said of his goalie. “… He’s a competitive, competitive kid, and he’s given us some good hockey games. Today he gave us an excellent game.”

Ellis made plenty of great saves, highlighted by a power-play slot chance from Adam Gaudette, a backdoor shot from Collin Graf and a slapper on the rush from Michael Misa. Not to mention four shots from lethal scorer Macklin Celebrini. San Jose generated 3.13 expected goals, per Stathletes, but zero actual ones.

At times, Tuesday’s game also had a typical Ellis look to it. That is, chaotic. Some rebounds. A stray stick. Piles of bodies, Ellis included, littering the crease.

Exhibit A came midway through the second, with Buffalo up 1-0, when the Sharks’ Will Smith dangled in and threw a puck toward the crease. Madness ensued: Some saves, some blocked shots (one by former Sabre Michael Kesselring) and eventually a freeze by Ellis. Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson and Noah Östlund each parked themselves in the blue paint to help the cause.

“You’re just trying to do something, take away space,” Dahlin said. “I kind of knew the puck was on my right side, but you’ve just got to lay your body in front of it.”

Added Ruff: “Just hoping the little black thing doesn’t get past anybody, that there’s enough bodies there it can’t get in.”

And Ellis: “You try to be as calm as you can in the net and not get overextended, everything like that. But yeah, you’ve got to just take up space as quick as you can and not try to open up and get too out of place.”

Samuelsson was credited with a shot block in that sequence, one of a season-high 20 for the Sabres. Tage Thompson had a big one at 4-on-4, Josh Norris another on the penalty kill. Owen Power blocked four, Beck Malenstyn three.

Ellis was excellent, giving Buffalo its best goaltending of the season to date, but so was the 18-man effort in front of him. It's how the Sabres played for much of 2025-26, and it's what they expect more of going forward.

“When you start seeing that desperation to keep the puck out of your net,” Ruff said, “you start winning games.”

Zellweger’s type of game

The young, skilled Sharks play a fast game with lots of open ice. It’s the perfect environment for Zellweger, who had the goal – he beat Askarov far-side from the left circle – and six shot attempts in 21:34 of ice time. The Sabres, who totaled a season-high 40 shots on goal, outshot the Sharks 16-4 during Zellweger’s 5-on-5 shifts. Zellweger also sprawled across the goal line during another one of those Ellis scrambles in the third period.

“I just thought he used his legs unbelievable in the game, and I thought he just literally outskated – they’re a good skating team; he outskated quite a few of their guys,” Ruff said. “I think his game is in a good place. I think he feels comfortable, and his defending is good, so it was great to see him play that way.”

Zellweger is up to three goals, tied with Östlund for third most on the team. He should enjoy more room to roam Thursday, when the Sabres face his former team in Anaheim.

“I’m looking forward to that,” he said. “Just another game, but definitely gonna be cool to go back there and play.”

Benny on the board

Benson entered the night with seven assists and 21 shots, but no goals. He finally broke through with a very Benson-like play: race into the offensive zone, strip an unaware Ivar Stenberg of the puck and bury it into the empty net.

Also Benson-like: celebrating in the corner while Stenberg slammed his stick into the goalpost in frustration.

“I think the guy might’ve taken just a half-second off,” Ruff said. “[Benson] got to the puck, and just a big effort to secure the win for us.”

Postgame sound

Up next

The Sabres head to Anaheim, where they’ll face the Ducks on Thursday at 10 p.m. EDT. It’s a streaming-exclusive broadcast on ESPN+, Hulu and Disney Plus.