Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews has been suspended two games by the NHL for his cross-check to the neck of Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin at the Heritage Classic.
Related
Dylan Cozens wasn’t amused with the incident, and when Matthews got on the ice again, the Sabres forward flattened him at center ice. Maple Leafs forward Mike Bunting took exception to that, but Cozens quickly wrestled him to the ice.
After the game, Dahlin wanted to talk about Cozens coming to the aid of a teammate, and how these guys have become brothers in the locker room.
This is the vision that general manager Kevyn Adams has had since Day 1.
Sabres head coach Don Granato acknowledges it’s his job not to get in the way of what’s going on in the room.
“As a coach and management, you can ruin that by overreacting to things, by not appreciating people or work that goes in. You can crush the opportunity for that," Granato said after Tuesday's practice. "Kevyn has really allowed us to have and create a family-type environment here.”
Cozens and Bunting were excused to the room after receiving 10-minute misconducts, but Cozens knelt right next to the door and waited for his victorious teammates.
“Your players are in the moment because we don’t want him thinking, ‘If I stay here, he’s going to be mad at me.' We don’t want any of that," Granato said. "We need these guys in the moment, so they read and react, and feel their emotions. We see that, and that’s re-assuring to us, because that’s what we want.”
Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons are the two captains on this team, and they have a front-row seat to watch these kids grow and get closer.
“It’s been awesome to see," said Okposo following Tuesday's session. "It’s something that can’t be faked, and it’s something that has to happen when it’s supposed to. You can’t force that. You can’t force guys to go hang out together or do things together. It's something that’s happened very organically, and that’s what I’m most proud of as one of the leaders on the team.
“It’s like today, we’re practicing after a day off, and a couple of guys that haven’t played that much are down there doing 1-on-1s. The next thing you know, you’ve got 15 guys down there doing 1-on-1s, because we love the game and we just want to play and we want to be better.”
As Cozens knelt waiting for the game to end, owner Terry Pegula walked over to talk to him. Okposo was in the penalty box when it happened, and he went wild cheering on his young teammate.
“I just didn’t want to miss the celebration," said Cozens on Tuesday. "In a game like that, an outdoor game, a great game by our team, it’s super exciting for everyone. I really didn’t want to miss the celebration on the ice.”
There aren’t many players in the NHL that will hit the superstars like Matthews. Cozens says it had to be done.
“At that point of the game in a normal game, if nothing had happened, I probably wouldn’t have taken that hit," the 21-year-old said. "But after seeing what he did to 'Ras', that was a really dirty cross-check, so I decided to finish my check on him. I’d do it again if I had to, because Dahlin’s a guy that’s a star player. That’s a guy that anyone on this team would stick up for.”
Cozens wasn’t offended that Bunting was sticking up for Matthews, but he wasn’t real impressed at the way he went about it.
“I think there were different ways he could’ve gone about it, if he really wanted to fight,” Cozens said.
The players liked that Dahlin acknowledged Cozens after the game. Dahlin also mentioned how they’re all brothers in that room.
“It means a lot," Cozens said. "I think we’ve shown a lot lately about how close we are as a team, and we are brothers. Even in practice, we battle like brothers and in games, we battle together. So we’re growing up together, and we’re going to do this the right way.”
Cozens was asked if there’s a characteristic that they all share.
“I think we all have the same vision," he said. "We’re not about ourselves. We’re about bringing this team some success, and bringing this city a Stanley Cup. That’s our goal.”
Granato said on Tuesday that Girgensons is ready to go and will likely play Thursday in Edmonton against the Oilers.
To make room on the roster for Girgensons, Buffalo placed Mark Jankowski on waivers.
Casey Fitzgerald didn’t practice Tuesday, and will likely not make the trip. He will likely be put on injured reserve to open a spot for Colin Miller.
Will Butcher has been practicing for more than a few weeks, but the Sabres haven’t had to activate him.
In a week, the Sabres can have as many on the roster as they’d like as long as they stay under the salary cap.
Tuesday’s lines:
Forwards:
Girgensons – Eakin – Okposo
Krebs – Cozens – Hinostroza
Skinner – Thompson – Tuch
Asplund – Mittelstadt – Olofsson
Bjork – Jankowski – Hayden
Defense:
Hagg – Pysyk
Dahlin – Jokiharju
Samuelsson – Bryson
Butcher – Miller
