The Buffalo Sabres got off to a quick start on Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center.
The Devils took an early penalty to allow Sabres forward Dylan Cozens to strike first to get Buffalo on the board. Buffalo looked to be all over the Devils in the early goings.
However, New Jersey might have known that all they needed to do is wait it out.
The Sabres were on the second game of a back-to-back set against the Boston Bruins and Devils, respectively. After giving Boston their full effort on Friday night, the Sabres started to wear down in the second period. That's when the Devils took over the game and were all over the Sabres.
The Devils finally broke through 5:52 into the third period when Nico Hischier got his stick on a rebound in front of the Buffalo net on a Devils power play. The Devils captain tapped in the puck past Sabres goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who stood on his head for most of the second and third periods.
The Sabres clearly looked like a team trying to get to the shootout to give themselves a chance, but Pavel Zacha had other plans.
Devils defenseman Damon Severson found an open Zacha on the top left faceoff circle, and the Devils forward had time to load up and fire and well-placed wrister on the high glove side of Tokarski.
Buffalo was able to muster a point in a game where they lead much of the contest, but weren't able to get an insurance marker late to seal it.
Let's take a look at three observations from Saturday night's game:
1.) Tokarski the freshest Sabres player on the ice
The Sabres didn't seem to have the most stable of goaltending situations coming in to the 2021-22 season. The team signed journeyman Craig Anderson and career backup Aaron Dell to one-year contracts and planned on them being the Sabres' No. 1 and No. 2 options in goal.
Enter Tokarski - the guy who saw a great opportunity at the end of last season to re-energize his NHL career.
Tokarski took his games from last season, as well as a strong preseason effort, and forced the Sabres to make a decision in net. The Sabres chose Tokarski, and so far, they look great for doing so.
The 32-year-old goalie remained perfect throughout the first 45 minutes of this contest, but he couldn't keep out the pressuring Devils from finally putting one on the board. He also had no chance on a wide-open shot from Zacha in overtime.
The second period provided, what was, Tokarski's best sequence of the game. Devils forward Marian Studenic came barreling in to the zone and got perturbed by Sabres defenseman Colin Miller. Tokarski made a huge save, but the puck came out back to the Devils' point, where Yegor Sharangovich fired the puck and hit the post.
Tokarski will get plenty of chances in the future to prove the Sabres right in their choice of backup, but so far, he's giving the Sabres exactly what they need laying in wait.
2.) Sabres run out of gas in the second period
The Sabres were all over the Devils throughout the first period.
Buffalo outshot the Devils, 12-5, while they outchanced them 20-16, all at 5-on-5. It wasn't until that moment in the second period with the mad scramble around Tokarski where the Devils would find their legs and completely dominate the pace of play for the rest of the game.
The second and third periods saw the Sabres get outshot 26-12. The Devils pressured, pressured, and pressured until they finally broke through to tie things up at 1-1 in the third period.
Buffalo was clearly trying to play for the shootout in overtime, but Zacha found himself wide-open to the right of the Buffalo net. Tokarski had no chance.
3.) Cozens continues to shine
The 20-year-old Sabres forward has been all over the ice to start the season, and we're starting to see the young center blossom.
In his second NHL season, Cozens seems to have brought a fresh set of offensive instincts after last year's rookie season, which saw Cozens score just four goals and 13 points in 41 games.
This season, Cozens already has a couple of assists, but he continues to make little plays that don't show up on the scoresheet (a tertiary assist, if you will). Every time you look up, Cozens seems to be in a dangerous area, either making a key pass or lining up for a point blank shot.
Cozens' instincts finally paid off for him on Saturday, as he netted his first goal of the season off a nifty play off the power play. Cozens sent a pass off the boards to Jacob Bryson, which allowed him to create some space in the slot before Bryson gave the puck right back to Cozens, who ripped the puck over the shoulder of Devils rookie goaltender Nico Daws.
A breakout season from Cozens would be extremely fortunate for a Buffalo team in desperate need of their talent to blossom.
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The Sabres fly home to Buffalo for a Monday night tilt at KeyBank Center against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Pregame coverage on WGR with Schopp and the Bulldog starts at 6 p.m. ET. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. ET with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call of all the play-by-play action.
