'We're only scratching the surface' | 5 takeaways from Tuesday's game

Jack Eichel acknowledged a sense of relief upon scoring his first goal in nearly 11 months. He also maintained his belief that the best has yet to come.
The Sabres captain has preached patience since his first practice of training camp, a day that found him particularly rusty after missing the team's first four sessions to nurse an offseason injury. He kept that mindset as the first six games came and went with plenty of scoring chances and no goals to show for them.
"It's been a long year for a lot of people," Eichel said after scoring the game-winning goal in Buffalo's 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.
"In terms of preparing for the season, it feels like we're still getting our feet wet. I'm sure guys around the league would probably agree. It's tough for people to take that long of a time off from playing a game. I think my game's just gonna keep getting better."

Eichel entered Tuesday tied for the Sabres lead with seven points, all of which were assists. He ranked second on the team in scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. The fact that chances were coming kept him confident he was on the right track.
He finally found the back of the net Sunday in the form of a shootout goal in Washington, which proved to be the deciding score. Ralph Krueger had a hunch it would open the floodgates.
"He's got one now," Krueger said. "There's many more to come, I'm sure."
Perhaps Eichel's scoring is a microcosm of the Sabres' start. The Sabres passed the eye test from the third period of their season opener on and had the advanced metrics to match, yet missed opportunities left them with a 1-3-1 record to show for it.
With two straight wins now under their belt, Eichel sees things moving the right direction.
"We like where our group's at right now," he said. "We think we're only scratching the surface on the way we can play."
Here are five more takeaways from Tuesday's game.

1. Power play stays hot

The Sabres' power play is now 5-for-9 over its last two games following a 2-for-4 evening against the Rangers. Contributions are coming from both units, an aspect of the team's depth that Krueger has cited as an improvement over last season.
It was the second unit that struck first. Dylan Cozens put the Sabres on the board with the extra man during the first period, burying a one-timer from the slot on a feed from Eric Staal.

Eichel's goal, which gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead with 12:29 to play in the second period, came on a quick succession of passes from Rasmus Dahlin and Victor Olofsson. Eichel dropped to one knee to beat goalie Alexandar Georgiev with his own one-timer.

"We have two units firing right now," Krueger said. "That really is lethal. Very few teams have that kind of productivity from both units."

2. Rieder, Irwin show PK prowess

The Sabres put boosting the penalty kill near the top of their offseason priority list. Tobias Rieder and Matt Irwin were two of the additions made with that goal in mind.
Buffalo entered Tuesday as the least penalized team in the NHL, leaving little time to evaluate the penalty kill. But Rieder provided a glimpse of his shorthanded prowess with his breakaway goal in the second period, scored seconds after a penalty expired for too many men on the ice.
Irwin, who made his Sabres debut in place of an injured Henri Jokiharju, began the play by digging the puck out of the corner in his own zone and sending it up along the right-wing boards. The puck went all the way to the red line, where Rieder gained possession and let his speed and offensive instinct do the rest.

Rieder and Irwin both forced turnovers and cleared pucks during the Rangers' second power play, which occurred with the Sabres protecting a one-goal lead in the third period. They were called upon again after Taylor Hall was assessed a boarding minor with 1:37 remaining, which the Rangers then used to pull Georgiev and gain a 6-on-4 advantage to end regulation.
Rieder and Irwin stepped over the boards along with Brandon Montour and Cody Eakin for a defensive-zone draw with 32.5 seconds remaining. It was Eakin, another newcomer, who cleared the puck from near his own blue line as the final second ticked off the clock.
"We really felt on the defensive side we were weak last year," Krueger said. "As an example, we might have had up to 10 players in a lineup at any given time where pretty well all 10 wanted to play the power play. Whereas now we have real, clear role definition within the group.
"Everybody embraces the role that they have, is proud of that, and carries out with that kind of diligence, preparation. Tactically, we're a much stronger team at the moment just because of that depth."

3. Cozens comes back strong

Cozens was given a game off to rest on Sunday, a strategy Krueger said the team will use to keep young players fresh as they adjust to the demands of a compacted schedule and also to keep taxi squad players from going stale. Casey Mittelstadt made his season debut in Cozens' place, stepping right in on the power play and earning an assist.
Cozens was effective in his return to the lineup, skating 10:12 and tallying three shots. He tied up No. 1 pick Alexis Lafreniere to prevent a potential rebound chance during a first-period shift that ended with Buffalo drawing the game's first penalty, then scored on the ensuing power play. Later, he battled in front of the New York net and drew a cross-checking penalty against K'Andre Miller.

"As the games have gone on I've definitely got more confident each game," Cozens said. "The first few, just kind of getting my legs under myself, getting used to the pace and strength and intensity and everyone. And then each and every day I just look to get better and improve."

4. Ullmark shuts the door

The Rangers scored twice during the first period, first when Chris Kreider capitalized on a defensive-zone turnover and later when Miller beat Linus Ullmark with a shot from the point in the period's dying seconds.
Ullmark was lights out from that point on, including during a third period in which the Rangers outshot the Sabres 15-2.

"The important thing was Linus had to make the first save," Krueger said. "We did take away the secondary chances and I thought we collapsed back to the net. But it is the National Hockey League and teams are going to throw the house at you when they're down a goal with 10 minutes to go. I thought we weathered the storm really well."

5. Ristolainen turns in another strong outing

Rasmus Ristolainen continued his strong start to the season in his 500th NHL game, skating a game-high 23:20 while blocking three shots and factoring in on all three penalty kills. Shot attempts were in Buffalo's favor with Ristolainen on the ice at 5-on-5 despite the fact that he saw the majority of his ice time against New York's top two lines.
Ristolainen is the 31st player to appear in 500 games with the Sabres and the first to do so since Drew Stafford in 2014.