Skinner scores twice, Dell makes 29 saves in win over Predators

Aaron Dell seemed to ready his blocker for a fist bump. Instead, the goaltender was greeted with a big hug from Alex Tuch as the final horn sounded on his first NHL win in over nine months.
Dell - recalled on Wednesday with the Sabres down four goaltenders due to injuries and illness - made 29 saves in Buffalo's 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.

The win snapped a five-game winless streak for the Sabres since their elongated holiday break ended on a Dec. 29. They had 13 players miss games due to COVID-19 protocol during that stretch, including five of their top seven scorers in Tage Thompson, Kyle Okposo, Jeff Skinner, Vinnie Hinostroza, and Dylan Cozens. The list also included Tuch, who had three points in as many games since making his debut.
In that sense, their game Thursday represented a step toward normalcy. Thompson remained in COVID protocol, but Okposo and Tuch returned. Skinner scored a pair of goals. Hinostroza and Mark Jankowski (who also missed time with COVID) also scored.
The result was an outing far more reminiscent of the hockey the Sabres were playing prior to Christmas, before COVID interrupted the schedule. They had earned points in four straight games, including an impressive road win over the then-Central Division leaders in Minnesota.
Thursday marked a matchup with the new leaders in the Central, a Predators team that had won five games in a row and eight of its past 10 behind one of the NHL's hottest goaltenders in Juuse Saros. The Sabres drew first blood on Jankowski's first-period goal and never trailed.
"I felt our guys deserved the win," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "They worked for it. They earned it from the first drop of the puck all the way to the end, all the way to Hinostroza's (empty-net) goal. They battled and they stuck to a game plan, they had a real sense of objective and it was great to see."

Okposo tallied a pair of assists. Tuch earned an assist and skated on Buffalo's most dominant line alongside Cozens and Skinner, which generated a 12-9 advantage in shot attempts at 5-on-5. Okposo and Tuch both stepped right in on the top power-play unit.
Defenseman Robert Hagg returned from a seven-game absence on defense and tallied an assist while skating 2:18 shorthanded, part of a 3-for-4 night for the Buffalo penalty kill.
"Those are three very beyond stabilizing players," Granato said. "I mean, they stabilize the game but they make everybody else better and that was what you saw tonight."
If the litany of returns resembled a step toward normalcy, the two players in pads were a reminder of the adversity still facing the Sabres. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is week to week with a lower-body injury. Craig Anderson and Malcolm Subban are month to month with upper-body injuries. Dustin Tokarski has been practicing since Dec. 27 but has not been cleared to play due to lingering COVID symptoms.
The Sabres are moving forward with a new tandem in the meantime, recalling Dell and Michael Houser from Rochester on Wednesday. Houser was playing on an AHL contract and had to sign with the Sabres for the remainder of the season. The recall is a chance for him to continue his storybook run from last season, when - with the team down five goalies - he won his NHL debut at age 28.
Dell had already played five games for the Sabres this season but went 0-5-0. He was reassigned to the Amerks on Dec. 14. Since then, he and his wife welcomed a son, Jaxson, and he won a pair of starts to improve to 5-0-0 with Rochester. Granato was in the stands for one of them, a 28-save effort against Harford last Friday, and felt he was seeing a different goaltender.

The 32-year-old veteran looked confident against the Predators, so much so that he challenged forward Colton Sissons for a puck along the boards that resulted in an interference penalty. When Predators rookie Tanner Jeannot drove hard into Dell's body during the third period, a group of Sabres teammates were quick to respond behind the net.
"It was great to see him win tonight," Granato said. "Earlier in the year, he didn't look like himself. If we base it on what we saw tonight, he was very engaged tonight."

Skinner, Pysyk hit milestones

Skinner reached 500 career points with his two-goal outing. He has four goals in his last four games and 13 this season, which leads the Sabres.
"It's cool to sort of have that round number," he said.

Skinner buried a rebound with the Sabres on the power play for what would stand as the winning goal late in the second period. He added insurance which a breakaway goal in the third.
"He was fully engaged and he just keeps getting better," Granato said. "He keeps looking better. So, nice to see him have a multi-goal game and, like I said, he earned it."
Mark Pysyk earned his 100th point with an assist on Jankowski's goal. He tallied his first NHL point as a member of the Sabres in a 4-1 win over Pittsburgh on April 2, 2013, earning the secondary assist on a Cody Hodgson goal.

Dahlin on All-Star nod: 'It's a dream come true'

Dahlin was announced as part of the Atlantic Division roster for the 2022 NHL All-Star Game about an hour before puck drop. It is the first selection for the 21-year-old defenseman, who leads the Sabres in average ice time (23:56) and ranks second in points (23).
"It's a dream come true, for sure," Dahlin said. "It's awesome."
Dahlin led the Sabres in ice time (25:18) and hits (5) against the Predators. His three shots on goal ranked second on the team to Skinner.
"He has earned it and he deserves it," Granato said. "He's in that class and he's just going to keep getting better. He was great again for us tonight. But there's no question he's All-Star caliber."

Up next

The road trip concludes Saturday night in Detroit. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. The puck drops at 7. Fans can find the radio broadcast on ESPN 1520.