It may not have been pretty for much of the contest Tuesday night in New Jersey, but the Buffalo Sabres were able to close out the game when they needed to in a 5-3 win over the Devils at the Prudential Center.
While Buffalo got outshot 10-4 in the final 20 minutes of play, 30-18 overall in the game, the Sabres managed to capitalize on their opportunities.
It was Casey Mittelstadt who was the beneficiary of a nice play from Rasmus Dahlin at the point, as he kept a puck alive on the power play and managed to find some open space in the offensive zone. The Buffalo defenseman was able to then find Mittelstadt camped right in front of the Devils' net, and all the young forward had to do was tap the puck into a wide-open net.
The play throughout the night was carried primarily from Buffalo's young group of players up front and on the back end.
Mittelstadt was, arguably, Buffalo's best player in the win, as he finished the night with a goal and an assist, while also registering a shot on goal and winning 55% of his faceoffs in 16:47 of total ice-time.
However, it was Mittelstadt's line that was completely dominant throughout the evening.
Buffalo started the game playing with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, listing Mittelstadt on a line with only Tage Thompson. As the game got started, the two immediately found chemistry with Rasmus Asplund, and the trio did not spend much time away from each other throughtout the rest of the night.
It was Asplund who got Buffalo on the board after falling behind 1-0 early in the opening period. Thompson went to work putting pressure on Devils forward Andreas Johnsson as New Jersey looked to exit their own zone. However, Johnsson's pass was intercepted by Asplund, and the puck immediately found the stick of Mittelstadt for a 2-on-1 rush. Mittelstadt managed to float a great pass back to Asplund, and the Buffalo winger wasted little time scoring his fourth goal of the season.
Overall on the night, the Asplund-Mittelstadt-Thompson line finished the game with six of Buffalo's 13 scoring chances on the night, while also generating a good amount of offensive zone time.
This may be a line combination that interim head coach Don Granato will look to stick with going forward, as the trio dominated the pace of play from start-to-finish
Heading into Tuesday's contest in New Jersey, one of the storylines was the matchup between Tage Thompson and his brother, Tyce Thompson, who was making his National Hockey League debut after signing his entry-level contract with the Devils a week-and-a-half ago.
The younger Thompson brother got into the game early, as he picked up his first NHL point on just his second shift of the game. Tyce managed to take the puck along the boards into the Buffalo zone and fire a shot on Linus Ullmark. His shot was a low-lying chance that was kicked away, but went right to the stick of defenseman Damon Severson, who scored the game's opening goal.
However, older brother Tage managed to get in the last laugh with the win, as he finished the night with an assist, four shots on goal and a hit in 15:25 of total ice-time. Thompson is starting to put together a nice stretch of games here for the Sabres, as he now has two goals, one assist, a shootout deciding goal, and 12 shots on net, while averaging 15:30 of total ice-time.
Dahlin also put up one of his better games of the 2020-21 season on Tuesday night, registering a two-point night, which included a beautiful second period goal to tie the game at 3-3.
For a good portion of the season, we've seen Dahlin become a complete shell of what he was when first arriving in the NHL at the start of the 2018-19 season. The 20-year-old blue liner showed zero confidence in his game, and it showed with a number of lapses in his defensive game, and little to zero production in his offensive game.
Since Granato took over as the interim head coach, Dahlin has been allowed to play more of the game that made him such a great prospect when entering the 2018 NHL Draft. With his ability to be more free with the puck and get involved offensively, Dahlin's confidence has skyrocketed, and it showed with his third goal of the season.
Dahlin finished the evening with 19:09 of total ice-time, and his pairing with Henri Jokiharju continues to remain as, arguably, the best defensive duo on the team through this recent stretch of games.
One fun detail from the end of this game was that all three players named Rasmus on the roster managed to score goals in the win. First it was Asplund, then it was Dahlin, and finally it was Rasmus Ristolainen, who put the game on ice late in the third period with an empty-net goal.
Buffalo's other goal scorer on the night was another defenseman in Brandon Montour.
Late in the second period, Montour was able to jump on a secondary chance in the left faceoff circle after an original shot from Colin Miller hit Thompson in front of the New Jersey net. The Buffalo defenseman was then able to toe drag the puck, forcing goalie Scott Wedgewood to bite hard and slide completely out of position in the crease. Montour had a wide-open net to shoot at, and he was able to net his fourth goal in the last five games.
With the NHL Trade Deadline fast approaching on Monday, the Sabres made the decision to sit forward Taylor Hall to avoid the risk of injuring him before a potential trade can be made with another team. It is likely that Hall has played his last game with the Sabres after a 37-game stint that saw his score just two goals and register 17 assists.
Montour is another name that has gained some considerable traction on the trade market, and his recent play on the Buffalo blue line could help his trade value increase before Monday's 3 p.m. ET deadline.
It may only be a matter of time before the Sabres make the same decision with Montour, to protect an asset from being injured ahead of a potential trade being struck.
Meanwhile, Ullmark played another great game in net for the Sabres since returning from his lower-body injury on March 27. The 27-year-old turned away 27 of the 30 shots he faced on the night, but made a number of brilliant saves to keep the Sabres in the game all night.
The Buffalo netminder has now won his last three starts in goal, and has posted a 3-1-1 record in his last five games with a 2.57 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.
As was mentioned at the start, Tuesday's game certainly was not the best of efforts the team has had in recent contests.
Buffalo's special teams failed early with a power play goal-against with just 0.3 seconds left in the opening period as the Devils goal was credited to Jesper Bratt. The New Jersey power play has been one of the worst units in the entire NHL this season, but that goal snapped an 0-for-16 stretch for the Devils.
Buffalo did manage to kill off the other two penalties called on the night, but to give up a goal that late in the period, while a man short and to one of the worst power plays in the league is quite unacceptable.
As for the Buffalo power play, the team did not force a single penalty in the opening 40 minutes of play in New Jersey. When Buffalo did get two power play chances, they moved the puck around and got some good looks, but only managed to muster one shot on goal.
Luckily for Buffalo, that one shot was the dagger for the Devils in the third period. The Sabres did hit a pair of posts on the man advantage, one from Miller and the other from Mittelstadt, but still didn't put up enough pressure against a penalty kill unit of New Jersey that has also been one of the worst units in the NHL this season.
While the youngsters on the roster were flying around the ice on Tuesday, some of the veterans of the group were completely missing in action.
Jeff Skinner was no where to be seen on Tuesday, as the winger only registered a shot on goal and a minus-1 rating in just 10:38 of total ice-time.
While Sam Reinhart did lead all forwards in ice-time at 19:40, he did not make much of an impact in the win, registering a minus-1 rating. However, he did manage to win 57% of his faceoffs, which is a positive given his recent go at center once again.
Victor Olofsson was also a non-factor for the Sabres in Tuesday's win, registering a quiet two shots on goal, a hit and a blocked shot in 17:39 of ice-time.
The one decision from Granato that seemed a bit perplexing on Tuesday was the decision to play seven defensemen and insert Matt Irwin into the lineup over forward Arttu Ruotsalainen.
During his pregame interview Tuesday morning, Granato said that Ruotsalainen would be ready for the Sabres if there was a need to sit Hall in the lineup. Once the decision was made to not play Hall, it seemed like a no-brainer to let the 23-year-old forward get in his first NHL game.
Instead, Irwin dressed and only played a total 4:52, registering a hit and a takeaway.
At this point of the season, with little-to-no chance of making the playoffs, it should be the time for the Sabres to get a look at some of their up-and-coming players in the system. The opportunity was there to see what Ruotsalainen could do at the NHL level after some considerable success with the Rochester Americans this season, but Granato didn't take that chance when he should have.
The Sabres will return to Buffalo and practice on Wednesday at KeyBank Center, before closing out their season series with the Devils on Thursday night in Downtown Buffalo.