Cozens: Sabres showed 'what we're all about' during step into spotlight

Dylan Cozens admitted he might not have delivered the hit under different circumstances.
The Buffalo Sabres had their Heritage Classic victory in hand, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 by the time Auston Matthews came drifting with the puck toward the red line. Cozens delivered a hit that sent the NHL's leading scorer to the ice and the game into a melee.
It was a retaliatory hit, delivered just over a minute after Matthews had exited the penalty box for his cross-check to the throat of Rasmus Dahlin. (Matthews was suspended two games for the play.)
"In a normal game, if nothing had happened before that, I probably wouldn't have taken that hit," Cozens admitted Tuesday. "But just seeing what he did to Ras, that was a really dangerous cross-check and a dirty cross-check by him, so I decided to go out there and finish my check on him.
"Obviously a couple guys didn't like that, but I'd do it again if I had to."

The message, alternate captain Kyle Okposo said, was clear.
"The cross-check from Matthews was not good," Okposo said. "I don't care that he's their best player. When you do it to arguably our best player, you're going to get a response. I don't care who you are on the other team. I think that's what that showed."
Cozens' hit - and the image of him banging on the boards from outside the rink as the final horn sounded on the outdoor win - stood as the exclamation point on a four-day span in which the Sabres introduced the hockey world to what is being built within the confines of KeyBank Center.
The bond between players will be the subject of the latest Sabres: Embedded presented by Highmark BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York, which premieres Wednesday night at 7 p.m. on Sabres.com and the team's social channels.

Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams spent the summer outlining a plan that was predicated on building around players who want to wear the uniform. He spoke about creating a culture of selflessness like the one he saw up close as a member of the Stanley Cup winning Hurricanes in 2006.
The fruits of his plan began to show during Buffalo's foray into the national spotlight. The Sabres won an emotional game at home against the Golden Knights and former captain Jack Eichel and then beat the rival Maple Leafs in one of the NHL's marquee events.
"I think we showed a lot of people what we're all about," Cozens said.
Which is?
"I think we just all have the same vision," he said. "We're not about ourselves. We're about bringing this team to something successful and bringing this city a Stanley Cup. That's our goal. … We're not about all that personal stuff. We want to come together and do this the right way and we want to win a Stanley Cup."

Okposo pointed to the end of practice at LECOM Harborcenter on Wednesday as the latest example of the brotherhood being formed inside the Sabres' dressing room. A small group of players who had been scratched of late began doing extra drills in the corner after the session had concluded.
"Next thing you know, you got 15 guys down there doing one-on-ones with each other because we love the game and we just want to play and we want to be better," Okposo said. "I think that says a lot about our group."
The feeling is reminiscent, Okposo said, of when he was a young player coming up with the New York Islanders. He was 20 years old when he played his first full season in 2008-09. The Islanders finished last in their division for the second straight season.

They finished last in the division three more times as young players continued to develop around Okposo - names like John Tavares, Michael Grabner, and Travis Hamonic. They hit their tipping point and made the playoffs in 2012-13, then exceeded 100 points two years later.
"A lot of us grew up together there," Okposo said. "And I look out and I see Dylan and Rasmus and Henri and Krebsy and all of our young players, and it reminds me a lot of when I was their age and we started to form this bond.
"And you have to have the right group of veterans to mix in that and show the guys how to do it correctly. But definitely reminds me of that, but it's obviously a completely different set of guys. But it's forming, for sure."
The mix the Sabres have landed on includes 19 players age 25 or younger who have appeared in an NHL game this season. Cozens, Dahlin, and Krebs are all 21. Henri Jokiharju and Mattias Samuelsson are 22. The elder statesmen of the group are Casey Mittelstadt (23), Thompson (24), and Alex Tuch (25).
Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka, both currently in Rochester, are on that list too at age 20.
The veterans this season have included on-ice tone setters in Zemgus Girgensons and Vinnie Hinostroza. Mark Pysyk leads with his ability to appreciate the moment and keep things light. Craig Anderson is like an extra coach when he chats at the bench between whistles. Cody Eakin ordered the Flint Tropics costumes the team wore to the Heritage Classic on Sunday.
Then there's Okposo, who young players describe as their rock.
"My job as an older guy and a leader on this team is to try and create a culture where those players are going to become the best players that they're meant to be," Okposo said after a loss to Florida earlier this month. "If that's giving them a kick in the ass sometimes, it is. If it's patting them on the back, then that's what I'll do."

A mix of both might still be required with 22 games to play. Okposo wrote in a letter to fans during the first week of the season that he knew there would be ups and downs for their young team. He emphasized Wednesday that the Sabres had not yet arrived.
These last two wins were simply two more steps in the right direction.
"We still have a long way to go," he said. "This isn't a finished product by any means. We're going to have to continue to take steps throughout the rest of this year and over the next few."