Benson and Sabres ready to seize opportunity following All-Star break

Don Granato expressed confidence in his players in the wake of injuries to Mattias Samuelsson, who will undergo season-ending surgery to repair an upper-body injury, and Jack Quinn, who is expected to miss six to eight weeks after he underwent successful lower-body surgery during the All-Star break.

The Buffalo Sabres coach said it will be a team-wide effort to step up and seize the opportunity in their absence, which he shared comes at a time when the group is in a good place mentally to focus on filling the void.  

“I mentioned yesterday, we lost a couple of key players in Quinn and Samuelsson,” Granato said. “I think we’re in a better place psychologically than we were at the start of the year, at any point right now to fill in for those losses of those two players.”

Rookie forward Zach Benson has earned the first crack at filling in for Quinn as he stepped in on a line with Peterka and Cozens during practice on Sunday and once again joined the line for Monday’s practice at KeyBank Center.

The 18-year-old has been lauded for his consistent, two-way game and ability to stabilize several different lines with his strong hockey sense. After serving as a healthy scratch in Buffalo’s game in Los Angeles on Jan. 24 and getting a rest during the bye week, Benson is ready to make the most of the opportunities he is given.

“If there is pressure, it’s good pressure to have,” he said. “Quinner’s obviously a hard guy to fill in for. It can’t just be one guy. It has to be multiple guys in our group. Hopefully our line can click well.”

The Sabres’ line of Quinn, Cozens, and Peterka combined for 14 points in their last two games prior to Quinn’s injury, which he sustained in the third period against San Jose last Saturday, when he fell awkwardly on his leg after a collision with the boards.

Granato felt Benson was the right choice to complement Cozens and Peterka based on his positional awareness and skill.

“He’s got hockey sense, he’s got grit, he goes in front of the net,” Granato said. “He creates, forces plays that those two can capitalize on. … Positionally around the ice, he’s always positioned around the puck. The other team usually has to go through him. So, his play without the puck is exceptional, and we get it back faster and quicker.”

Benson has recorded 14 points (4+10) in 38 games during his first season in the league. While he has been held off of the scoresheet in his last 11 games, Benson said he wants to continue to focus on playing a complete game and not cheating the game. Granato believes the scoring will come as a result. 

“… His elite skill is to buy himself that extra one or two seconds that you don’t get in the NHL,” Granato said. “Benny has that type of intuition. He has very intuitive sense of how to manipulate situations. The scoring is going to come, there’s no question. I wouldn’t be a surprise if he scored and ended up with points tomorrow because he’s doing a lot of things that help enhance your potential of scoring.”

The Sabres kick off a four-game homestand on Tuesday when they host the Dallas Stars at KeyBank Center. They will look to build off their success in January, which saw the group post a 7-4-0 recording, including wins in their last two games before the break. 

Here's more from Monday's practice.

1. Forward Zemgus Girgensons and defenseman Erik Johnson have been cleared for game action and are expected to be in the lineup Tuesday against Dallas.

Girgensons missed the Sabres’ last game in San Jose with an upper-body injury while Johnson has been out for the past four games with an upper-body injury of his own.

2. Here's how the group lined up for practice, which Granato said will resemble the lineup for Tuesday's game. 

Forwards

53 Jeff Skinner – 72 Tage Thompson – 21 Kyle Okposo

9 Zach Benson – 24 Dylan Cozens – 77 JJ Peterka

12 Jordan Greenway – 37 Casey Mittelstadt – 89 Alex Tuch

28 Zemgus Girgensons – 19 Peyton Krebs – 50 Eric Robinson

71 Victor Olofsson

Defensemen

26 Rasmus Dahlin – 10 Henri Jokiharju

25 Owen Power – 75 Connor Clifton

33 Ryan Johnson – 6 Erik Johnson

78 Jacob Bryson

Goalies

1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

31 Eric Comrie

3. Following practice, Granato recognized Peterka as a player who has stood out in the past month.

Peterka has tallied seven points (5+2) in his last five games, including a pair of goals in each of his last two contests.

“JJ has had a good season all along, but he’s really elevated in the last 10 games. He’s gone to another level he hasn’t in his career,” Granato said.

4. Granato also emphasized how time on the penalty kill has helped Cozens settle into his game.

Cozens is riding a four-game point streak with seven points (3+4) in that span and has logged 11:26 of shorthanded ice time in his last five games.

“He’s really settled in, and where you see it is on the penalty kill,” Granato said. “You need to find a calm on the penalty kill to read and then be decisive and that’s a real balance. You see that he’s gained that over the last month, which translates into 5-on-5 game, into power-play game – that ability to be calm when needed and the ability to be decisive and aggressive when needed. When he adds that with his physical attributes, when he gets that, that’s experience. And when you get that and you get that poise with the skill set he has, it’s incredible.”