Observations: Sabres' prolific offense, improved team defense earn 6-3 win

The San Jose Sharks’ top-ranked penalty kill had Quinn surrounded as the Buffalo Sabres rookie winger stickhandled to try to create enough space to unleash a shot on a power play in the second period Sunday night.

Quinn collected a pass from Victor Olofsson in the high slot, protected the puck from Sharks center Nick Bonino, carried it around the outstretched stick of defenseman Radim Simek and beat goalie Aaron Dell with a low shot to give the Sabres a much-needed two-goal advantage.

The crowd roared. The Sharks hung their heads. But the Sabres’ response following the goal was far more important than the impressive individual effort by one of their youngest players.

There was no third-period collapse this time. The Sabres responsibly tried to add to their lead, Quinn scored his second goal of the game and they defended well enough in front of goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to hold on for a 6-3 win over the Sharks in KeyBank Center.

"We’ve talked in here about closing games and tonight we did a really great job doing that," Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin said with pride.

The Sabres (11-13-1) are 4-2-1 since snapping an eight-game skid and improved to 9-0 when leading at the second intermission. Their potent offense gave the Sharks (8-16-4) fits, particularly on the power play where Quinn and Tage Thompson had a goal apiece. JJ Peterka and Jeff Skinner also scored during a three-goal second period before Alex Tuch added an empty-net goal in the third. Cozens had three assists for a second straight three-point game.

We know the Sabres can score. Their 3.71 goals per game entering Sunday ranked fourth the NHL and put them on pace for the franchise’s best mark since 1992-93, when Alexander Mogilny and Pat LaFontaine helped Buffalo score 3.99 per game. This version of the Sabres had six players extend their point streaks to four games Sunday night.

But we’ve been waiting to see if this team can defend. The issue isn’t exclusive to the blue line, which is finally close to full strength with Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju back from injury. Forwards are putting the defensemen in bad spots by turning the puck over or being out of position while pressing to create offense.

There was a notable example of this during the first shift of the game. Dylan Cozens’ line earned two quality scoring chances but turned the puck over to give San Jose a breakaway rather than chipping it in to create time for a line change. Luukkonen made the save, one of 26 for the 23-year-old, and the Sabres took a 1-0 lead at 9:19 into the game with Thompson’s one-timer from the left circle on the power play.

"We’ve got a skilled team," said Cozens. "We know we can score goals. There’s definitely some times we need to clean up the D zone a little bit. We’re letting in too many goals and that’s on all of us. The scoring is there, so once we clean up the D, it’s going to lead to more wins."

The Sharks tied the score, then added to lead because of two simple mistakes by the Sabres. Victor Olofsson turned the puck over in the defensive zone prior to Nick Bonino’s first goal for San Jose, then Luukkonen was out of position on an unscreened shot when Kevin Labanc gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead on the power play late in the first period.

The Sabres are still trying to establish four reliable forward lines. They’re much closer than a year ago in large part because of Cozens’ rapid development, as well as the arrivals of Peterka and Quinn. And this team needs one more capable defense pair to alleviate pressure from the big four of Samuelsson, Jokiharju, Dahlin and Owen Power.

Cozens, who has 24 points in 25 games, showed again early in the second period that he’s part of the solution. His breakout pass from deep in the defensive zone sprung Peterka for a rush and the 20-year-old rookie’s shot from the left circle leaked through Dell to tie the score 2-2 only 16 seconds in.

"He’s doing the right things all the time and he defends well," Dahlin said of Cozens. "Offensively, he doesn’t do anything wrong, it feels like. He’s protecting the puck, he makes the play he has to and he’s got skill with a great shot. He’s got it all, I feel like."

Jokiharju was responsible for the play that gave Buffalo the lead. The Sabres defenseman created a turnover by disrupting a San Jose pass, which led to an odd-man rush that Skinner used to score his 12th goal of the season and give Buffalo a 3-2 advantage.

Quinn’s follow-up seemed to demoralize the Sharks. The Sabres took a 4-2 lead on his fifth goal of the season, and their play didn’t drop off in the third period.  He scored again on a cross-ice pass by Cozens, and though Oskar Lindblom answered quickly for San Jose, Buffalo managed the third period responsibly in the latest sign of growth.

"We never took our foot off the gas," said Dahlin.

Here are other observations from the game:

1. Another big night

Dahlin can push back now and other teams don’t like it. He’s been taking a punishment since entering the league because opponents try to rattle him each time he has the puck. They’re always finishing checks. They’re getting away with stick infractions. They’re learning the hard way that Dahlin isn’t 18 years old anymore.

His biggest hit of the night isn’t the best example of this but take note of his response. Dahlin leveled Matt Nieto with a textbook open-ice hit that hockey coaches everywhere will want to show their defensemen. Dahlin perfectly killed the rush without taking himself out of position. Yet the Sharks took exception to the hit.

"I don’t know how many players in the league are actually like that," Samuelsson said of Dahlin. "It’s pretty special. To see the stuff he does with the puck and then be able to hit someone like that, line him up is pretty impressive.”

Sharks winger Timo Meier took a run at Dahlin on the next shift, only to miss and go head first into the boards. Dahlin had two assists to increase his season point total to 29 in 24 games.

2. Keeping pace

Thompson broke numerous sticks attempting one-timers early this season. He seems to have figured out his timing or the flex on his stick, as his one-timer in the first period had velocity and the perfect angle to beat Dell for the 1-0 lead. He has 16 goals and 34 points this season.

Since Oct. 29, Thompson ranks second in the NHL in goals (15 in 17 games) and third in points (31). He extended his point streak to four games and entered Sunday on a 109-point pace for the season.

3. Responses

You’ve got to like Peyton Krebs’ response after he was out of position on the Bonino goal. Granato moved Krebs to center a line with Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons, while Tyson Jost played next to Casey Mittelstadt and Victor Olofsson.

Krebs had a strong third period, while the other line continues to be stagnant. It’s time to split the Mittelstadst-Olofsson duo. Granato stated why both are in the lineup despite their 5-on-5 struggles. They’re important pieces to Buffalo’s power play. But a shakeup of the bottom-six is needed. No need to mess with the Thompson and Cozens lines.

Meanwhile, Luukkonen was good after a shaky first period. He had a big save on Alexander Barbanov to preserve Buffalo’s two-goal lead in the third, then another on Logan Couture during a 2-on-1. 

4. Better spot

Defenseman Jacob Bryson returned to the Sabres’ lineup after missing the past two games with a lower-body injury. Bryson had a strong start to the season but, gradually, began to struggle when given a bigger workload and more responsibilities because of injuries on defense. He has a team-worst minus-13 rating after averaging 21:15 of ice time when Samuelsson and Jokiharju were out of the lineup.

Bryson is in a better position to contribute when receiving third-pairing minutes, as Granato point out following the morning skate Sunday. 

“Slotted correctly when he comes back, I think we can expect a lot more out of him," Granato said of Bryson.

With Bryson back, the Sabres scratched defenseman Lawrence Pilut and winger Rasmus Asplund. Neither winger Vinnie Hinostroza nor defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin skated with the team Sunday morning. Both remain day-to-day because of injury.

5. Next

The Sabres will travel to Columbus to play the Blue Jackets on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on TNT.