In NHL debut, nerves not an issue for Sabres' Ellis

Colten Ellis was plenty nervous leading up to his NHL debut on Wednesday. Those nerves interfered with his usual afternoon nap and stuck with him during his rookie lap. Even once the game started, not facing a shot until the 10:15 mark of the first period, Ellis still felt them.

But they didn’t seem to affect his performance in net. The 25-year-old made 27 saves, including some remarkable ones at pivotal moments in the game, and earned the win as the Buffalo Sabres beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 at KeyBank Center. The Sabres improved to 3-4-0, taking down a Detroit team that entered on a five-game win streak.

“He’s done a lot of good things in practice, made a lot of good saves and he’s worked extremely hard,” coach Lindy Ruff said of Ellis, who spotted Alex Lyon a night off after the veteran had started the Sabres’ first six games. “I just thought he looked comfortable.”

Buffalo outshot Detroit 11-5 in the opening period, but that fifth Red Wings shot came on a Marco Kasper breakaway in the final minute. Ellis turned it aside with a blocker save to maintain a scoreless tie – key save No. 1.

“The boys came out strong, and they were playing so good, and I was kind of like, ‘Gee, I need a shot here at some point to get me into it a little bit,’” Ellis said. “… When you’re not getting a lot of action, I have other ways to stay engaged, like looking at who else in is on the ice for the opposing team, and if they’re lefties, righties, who their top guys are.”

The top guy wearing the winged wheel, Dylan Larkin, escaped the penalty box for a breakaway of his own early in the second period, shortly after Detroit had taken a 1-0 lead. Ellis covered the five-hole to deny the speedy Red Wings captain of his sixth goal this season – key save No. 2.

Feeding off the energy from their rookie goaltender, Jason Zucker and Tyson Kozak scored in a five-minute span to give the Sabres a 2-1 advantage. Detroit’s Emmitt Finnie answered with a goal of his own, and they were tied after 40 minutes.

Early in the third, Kozak continued his impactful night by drawing a tripping penalty in Buffalo’s defensive zone. In the final moments of the ensuing power play, Jack Quinn stepped into a one-timer from the high slot and blasted it past goalie John Gibson for a Sabres lead.

That led to key save No. 3, which saw Ellis slide to his right and rob 253-goal scorer Alex DeBrincat alone in front. Exactly a minute later, Josh Doan scored his third of the season to give Ellis and the Sabres a comfortable two-goal advantage.

“Those are the type of saves of you build off of,” Ruff said. “You get a big save, and then a lot of times you go down the other way and score. Bench was fired up. The crowd was fired up when you see a save like that. So, it was a big momentum swing in the game, I thought.”

Ellis, a Nova Scotia native, estimates he had upwards of 30 friends and family in attendance. After 149 minor league games, the 2019 third-round pick finally reached his lifelong goal.

“It’s huge for me, but it’s also huge for everybody in my family,” he said. “They’ve made so many sacrifices to help me get to this moment. And there’s so many supporters – too many to name. It’s been crazy, the support I’ve had since I was young, that played instrumental roles and helped me get to where I am.

“It’s not only my moment; it’s all theirs as well.”

Here’s more from Buffalo’s third straight win on home ice.

Quinn heating up

Quinn tied a career high with three points, and between his last two games, he’s recorded a goal and three primary assists. The winger flawlessly and patiently executed a give-and-go with Zucker for Buffalo’s first goal, then got the puck to Kozak at the net front for Buffalo’s second.

And on his third goal of the season, Quinn found the open ice needed to show off his greatest asset: his shot.

“That’s the biggest thing I’m trying to focus on: getting myself looks, playing on the inside, getting those shots,” Quinn said.

“When Jack gets to the middle of the ice, you know we’re going to see a real good play,” added Ruff. “But he is skating better right now than probably all of last year.”

Kozak doing it all

Kozak scored three goals in his 21-game debut last season, and he’s now found the net in back-to-back contests. Ask Ruff, and there’s a common theme among the fourth-line center’s five career tallies: they’ve all come from right around the net. Not to mention his other contributions in a bottom-six role.

“He’s being rewarded for going to the right place and going to the right place hard,” Ruff said.

“He’s one of our best defenders. He’s a real good young centerman that reads the play well, and he’ll block shots, and physically he gets into people. I have confidence to play him against anybody.”

On Wednesday, Kozak also caught the attention of another guy who made a living around the net, Shaquille O’Neal – rather, Tyson KoShaq – during TNT’s intermission show.

Zucker exits with injury

After his goal, Zucker took one short shift before heading down the tunnel with an upper-body injury. He didn’t return for the third period, and Ruff had no further updates postgame.

Up next

The Toronto Maple Leafs come to town Friday night. Tickets are available here.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the streaming-only game will be available on ESPN+ and Hulu.