The format is largely the reason Rasmus Dahlin isn't going back to the NHL All-Star Game, but anyone watching the Buffalo Sabres knows what the 22-year-old has meant to the team this season.
Tyler Johnson tied the score with 55.8 seconds left in regulation to help send the game to overtime, and Seth Jones scored the game-winner to send the Sabres to a 4-3 loss.
Dahlin was understandably upset with his performance in Tuesday's overtime loss in Chicago, which featured his untimely misconduct penalty in the third period of the 4-3 defeat.
He responded with a massive effort on Ryan Miller Night on Thursday against the New York Islanders, playing 25:12 and collecting a pair of assists. The second, a spectacular three-line stretch pass to send in Dylan Cozens for the breakaway goal that gave the Sabres a 3-2 win over the New York Islanders after just 12 seconds of overtime, was his 50th point of the season.
Dylan Cozens corrals the flip pass from Dahlin and ends it in overtime. 3-2 #LetsGoBuffalo #Isles pic.twitter.com/zIR3hUHqlA
— Buffalo Hockey moments (@SabresPlays) January 20, 2023
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Dahlin is on pace for 94 points just past the halfway mark of the Sabres' season, which would smash Phil Housley's franchise record of 81 set in 1990. The team was off Friday and hosts the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday afternoon at 12:30 in KeyBank Center.
Dahlin's assist on the Cozens goal will stand the test of time for the way it put a bow on Miller's night, but also for the piece of history it allowed him to forge.
Dahlin now owns the sixth-fastest run to 50 points by a defenseman under age 23 in NHL history, and the three players above him all reside in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
It took Boston's Bobby Orr 32 games in 1970-71 and 33 games in 1969-70 to get to 50 points. Edmonton's Paul Coffey got his 50th point in his 39th game in both 1981-82 and 1983-84, and it took Denis Potvin 41 games to get there for the New York Islanders in 1975-76. Dahlin reaching 50 in 43 games tied New York Rangers star Brian Leetch (1990-91).
Adding to an already stellar 2022-23 offensive output with 2 assists in his @BuffaloSabres OT win over the Isles on Thursday, Rasmus Dahlin has hit the 50 point mark this season. As this shows, just 3 other defencemen younger than 23 (on 5 occasions) have ever gotten there faster pic.twitter.com/vz6TLfQdJm
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) January 20, 2023
Cozens used a football analogy to describe his winning goal when he called the pass "a little Hail Mary" after Thursday's win.
"I saw him take off and I know he's fast so I tried to put in in area that luckily succeeded so I was happy about it," said Dahlin, who unleashed the pass from halfway in his defensive zone. "I probably was thinking 500,000 thoughts. I was just hoping for it to be good and it was. I'm very happy about that."
"That was a lot of skill, a lot of intelligence (for Cozens) get to that position for 'Dahls,'" said coach Don Granato. "To read that play and to knock it down out of the air, still bouncing as he was going to the net, to find some calm and presence to wait till that thing was settled enough so he could pick his spot."
Dahlin is second in the NHL in ice time at 26:15, behind only reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Cale Makar of Colorado (27:09). He's tied for second among defensemen in goals (13), points and points per game (1.16), behind only San Jose's Erik Karlsson.
The Sabres had 64% of the shot attempts at even strength with Dahlin on the ice in Thursday's game, according to thuNaturalStatTrick.com. And it was one of those puck-on-a-string games that he's regularly put out this season.
With just under six minutes to play in the third period, Dahlin nearly brought the house down with a sensational stretch of puck-carrying that brought him from the Islanders blueline – past New York captain Anders Lee – all the way to the edge of the crease. Finally, he was stymied by goaltender Ilya Sorokin on a shot he took with his left knee on the ice after he had been hooked.
Dahlin opportunity spoiled by Sorokin #LetsGoBuffalo #Isles pic.twitter.com/aZ7XwFmjTD
— Buffalo Hockey moments (@SabresPlays) January 20, 2023
Dahlin admitted after Thursday's game he feels "star-struck" every time he meets Miller, and that the goalie's pregame words to the current team resonated as they sat on their bench watching the jersey retirement ceremony.
"It makes us very motivated for sure. The words he says, I know he speaks from his heart," Dahlin said. "It's a special feeling when a legend says that about us, so it's really cool."
As for the All-Star Game, Tage Thompson was the choice off the Buffalo roster by the NHL's operations department and that left Dahlin's hopes riding on the fan vote.
The Sabres heavily promoted Dahlin's candidacy on social media but the league announced Thursday night that the fan vote was won by Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, Boston forward David Pastrnak and Toronto center Auston Matthews – who isn't having remotely close to the season he did last year, when he became the first 60-goal scorer in Leafs history.
Dahlin was also victimized by the 3-on-3 format of the All-Star tournament. Of the 44 players selected, only five are defensemen – and the Sabres' Atlantic Division doesn't have any.
The only defenseman voted in was reigning Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox of the New York Rangers (Metropolitan). Previously selected from the Central Division were Makar, Josh Morrissey (Winnipeg) and Seth Jones (Chicago). The lone blueliner on the Pacific Division is San Jose's Karlsson.
Former Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller pays tribute to his family at the retirement ceremony for his No. 30 at the KeyBank Center.
