Cozens sought to provide spark on otherwise off night vs. Rangers

Dylan Cozens only fought once during his junior career with Lethbridge, in part due to a mandate from the coaching staff to keep its top player out of the penalty box.
It has taken less than a full season for Cozens to double that total in the NHL. So far, interim head coach Don Granato has had no qualms with the rookie's decision making.

"That's a quick choice and decision for each guy and each player," Granato said. "We would never advocate anything like that but, you know, he's in the emotion of the moment and to this point I've been fine with anything he's done with the emotion of the moment.
"… He's had a couple of fights. I thought both of them were inspiring to his teammates, to our team, and they were great. They were for good reason."

Cozens' rookie season will be the subject of the latest episode of "Buffalo Sabres: Embedded," premiering tonight at 7 p.m. on YouTube and Facebook. The episode can be found on Sabres.com later in the evening.
Cozens' first fight came against New York Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren on March 2, a spirited bout that earned praise from his veteran teammates. He dropped the gloves again at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, this time prompted by a Kevan Rooney hit on Drake Caggiula.
"I mean, the hit didn't look too good, and I wasn't too happy with my own play these last couple of games and especially that game so I felt I needed to get myself involved some way," Cozens said. "So, I saw it as a good opportunity to do so."
Cozens chalked up his success through two bouts as a matter of instinct.
"It's an easy way to gain respect and it's just something I think I can do to help the team, especially when I'm not doing good, I'm not feeling good," he said.

Reinhart continuing to develop at center

Sam Reinhart has increased his team-leading goal total to 22 in 48 games, just three shy of the career-best mark he set in 82 games in 2017-18. Five of those have come in the past three contests, including a hat trick against Boston on April 23.
Reinhart said part of his success can be attributed to moving back to his natural position over the past month. He entered the league as a center but spent recent seasons playing full-time on the wing, often alongside Jack Eichel.
"It's allowed me, really forced me to move my feet a little bit more," Reinhart said of the move back to center. "I think it was an adjustment at the start of my career, having to force myself to do it more moving over to the wing. … This part is almost more natural for me for my professional career."
Granato said the position has given Reinhart more room to roam offensively, allowing his creativity to flourish.
"Sam is not only a great goal scorer, he has more room to find different pockets because he's not wedged against the wall half the game," Granato said. "He can move east-west, left-right, and he has a creative side to him as well, a very deceptive and creative player.
"He has more opportunity offensively in that position. I feel we've seen that and we've been able to take advantage of that. As he's re-acclimated to that position, he shows signs of continuing to get better and more dangerous."

Luukkonen to start Thursday

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will make a second straight start in goal when the Sabres open their two-game set with the Boston Bruins on Thursday, Granato confirmed. Luukkonen made 36 saves to earn the victory in his NHL debut against the Bruins last Friday.

Wednesday's practice

Caggiula skated on a line with Rasmus Asplund and Casey Mittelstadt, taking the spot formerly occupied by Tage Thompson. Thompson replaced Caggiula alongside Tobias Rieder and Riley Sheahan.
Thompson tallied four shots on goal and seven attempts during Buffalo's loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday but took a cross-checking penalty during the third period. Mika Zibanejad scored on the ensuing power play to extend New York's lead to 3-1.
"I expressed to him that I did not like that penalty at all, and it contributed to us having less of an opportunity to come back in that game or at least tie that game," Granato said. "There was no question that that was an impact."
Granato said he felt Rangers defenseman Brendan Smith baited the penalty.
"It's a learning moment," he said. "I'm not punishing Tage by putting him on a line with Riley Sheahan, I don't believe that's punishment, because Riley and that line did well last night and generated some real good scoring chances last night."
Granato also announced that Cody Eakin is not with the team on its road trip and remained in Buffalo for the birth of his child.