"When you get over the boards and you see those top players … you want to shut them down no matter how you can," Fitzgerald said. "It's a great opportunity every time you step out there. That's just what I think every time, is I want to shut their best players down. I'm happy I got the opportunity to."
Fitzgerald, who turned 25 on Friday, has had a gradual ascension to the NHL. He was a four-year player at Boston College. His first two pro seasons were spent entirely in Rochester.
He was one of the last players sent down in training camp prior to this season, a sign that his Sabres debut was on the horizon. After opening the year in a top-pair role with the Amerks, his call came ahead of a game in Pittsburgh on Dec. 17.
He played four contests for the Sabres, entered COVID-19 protocols, and then went back to Rochester for two weeks in January. Since being recalled a second time on Jan. 29, he has played 11 straight games. Friday marked his third time surpassing 20 minutes.
The consistent presence in the lineup speaks to how Fitzgerald - who instinctively plays an aggressive game - fits into the identity the Sabres are working to build.
"He's aggressive on gaps," Sabres coach Don Granato, who previously coach Fitzgerald at the U.S. National Team Development Program, said. "We want our team to be aggressive on gaps. He's aggressive killing plays. He doesn't back off a play. So, he does a lot of things what we want, we like.
"For him, it's getting acclimated now to the size and strength and speed of the league, because that's the only thing he hasn't had is repetition at that."
His aggressive nature manifests itself in more than one way. Fitzgerald fought forward Sam Lafferty during his debut against the Penguins and added another fight to his resume Wednesday in Montreal, this time challenging veteran Brendan Gallagher.
When the Sabres played the Vegas Golden Knights on Feb. 1, Fitzgerald got under the skin of top-line winger Max Pacioretty. Eventually, both players earned 10-minute misconducts.
"Everybody on that team knew who Casey Fitzgerald was and they knew when he was on the ice, and they didn't like it," Granato said of that game against the Golden Knights. "And it was the better players, that's the beauty of it.
"We can play him against better players and they're looking over their shoulder and they're chirping all the way back to the bench, so they're preoccupied with him. And he feeds on that. He'll just go right back at the guy."
Granato lauded the Sabres' physicality following their game in St. Louis. Fitzgerald credited Dahlin as a tone setter in that regard.
"He plays with an edge, which is great for a guy that's his caliber," Fitzgerald said. "You might see a lot of other guys that have skill like him, they might shy away from that. Not him. He's got a bite to his game and that's great as a D partner to see."
Jokiharju remained absent. Granato said Friday that he expects the defenseman to be miss Sunday's game against the Dallas Stars.
Here's how the group line up:
| October 16 vs. Arizona |
| --- |
| LW | C | RW |
| 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 89 Alex Tuch |
| 19 Peyton Krebs | 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 71 Victor Olofsson |
| 74 Rasmus Asplund | 24 Dylan Cozens | 21 Kyle Okposo |
| 96 Anders Bjork | 20 Cody Eakin | 15 John Hayden |
| | 17 Mark Jankowski | |
| LD | RD | G |
| 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 45 Casey Fitzgerald | 41 Craig Anderson |
| 8 Robert Hagg | 13 Mark Pysyk | 31 Dustin Tokarski |
| 23 Mattias Samuelsson | 78 Jacob Bryson | |
| 4 Will Butcher | | |
