While the skill on Nylander's feed to Berglund was evident - a clean, hard pass through net-front traffic with little room to spare - it's the details that went into making the play possible that show his true growth, from his puck placement upon entry into the offensive zone to the battle he won along the end boards.
"I've always known he's very skilled, has a good shot, a fast forward," Berglund said. "But I think what I saw today and in practice, I think he's been taking big steps of playing the game the right way and paying attention to the small details of the game.
"He had it in the neutral zone and put the puck in a good spot, went down and forechecked it back and came up with a big play. That's kind of how you play the game now. It's a grinding game, and he sure did do that today."
Nylander's work ethic and attention to detail has stood out since the beginning of the Prospects Challenge, when he ranked second in the tournament with five points in three games but also proved to be dependable away from the puck and on the penalty kill.
He carried that play into the first three days of training camp and stood out again at the team's intra-squad scrimmage on Sunday. Against the Blue Jackets, he worked with linemates Berglund and Tage Thompson to form Buffalo's most consistent forward line.
"I really liked that whole line tonight," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "They were creating things offensively. Alex had another solid game, I really like his development through this camp. He's done the right things, he's working hard, he's getting his nose dirty, he's on the forecheck and he's making plays."
At this time last September, Nylander was nursing a lower-body injury that would force him to miss all of training camp and then the first month and a half of his season in Rochester. He had to play catchup from that point on, finally earning a recall to Buffalo with three games left in the season.
He went home motivated and spent the summer working to build speed and strength. So far, the effects have been evident.
"I've been training a lot this summer," he said. "It's a lot of fun that we're starting now and I'm trying to improve what I did in rookie camp and just keep playing hard, working hard in both ends of the ice and create scoring chances as much as possible."
Nylander still has more work to do if he's to make the Sabres roster out of training camp, which has been his goal since the end of last season. If he continues to play the way he has been, he could force himself into the conversation.
Healthy and happy to have the opportunity, he doesn't expect anything less.
"It feels like normal," he said. "This is the way I should play."
