'He was amazing' | Breaking down Tuch's late PK in win over Coyotes

LAS VEGAS - Alex Tuch stepped over the boards for a crucial penalty kill with the Sabres protecting a one-goal lead during the third period against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday. He lined up to the right of Tage Thompson, who took the opening draw on the left dot in the defensive zone.
What followed was a 31-second exhibition of speed, strength, and willpower that Sabres coach Don Granato deemed to be as impressive a shift as any he had seen all season.
"I've not seen as dominant a performance from an individual this year watching through the league," Granato reiterated inside T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.
"He was amazing, up and down the ice and past 30 seconds when you'd normally have fatigue, he was still overpowering guys to get a job done. It was skill-based, and it was based out of determination to just be better than the competitor."

The Sabres had pulled ahead with their own power-play goal - scored by Thompson with an assist from Tuch - less than a minute prior against a hard-working Coyotes team that had already beaten them earlier this season. The Coyotes were beginning their fifth power play, having scored once.
Thompson won the draw straight back into the right-side corner, where defensemen Mattias Samuelsson and Casey Fitzgerald battled for the puck and shuffled it to the opposite side of the net. Tuch pressured the left corner, boxing out Coyotes forward Matias Maccelli and working with Samuelsson to shovel the puck forward to Thompson, who cleared it down the ice.
Coyotes defenseman J.J. Moser chased the clearing attempt down the ice but Tuch, beginning deep in his own zone, hunted him down from behind and beat him to the puck at the other end, forcing goaltender Connor Ingram to play it to the far side. Tuch again beat Moser there, then retreated back to the defensive zone as the Coyotes regrouped.
Arizona carried the puck back over the offensive blue line, only for Tuch to immediately pounce on Lawson Crouse from behind and force a turnover. Maccelli attempted to settle the puck at the half wall, but Tuch swung his stick and cleared it back down the ice before changing.
"It just goes back to that work ethic, second effort," Thompson said. "That's a big time in the game. His reach and his speed too, he gets on people so fast and he takes away time and space. That's a staple of our game. That's how we want to play as a team. When he's going, he's somebody that we can look to and he's kind of leading the way in that regard."
Tuch has averaged 1:27 of shorthanded ice time per game during his two seasons with the Sabres after never serving as a full-time penalty killer during his career in Vegas. The role is a testament to Granato's belief in the 26-year-old's ability as an all-situations player, which extends to the top line at 5-on-5 and the first power-play unit.
Tuch is rewarding that belief with career-best offensive numbers this season. He has 15 goals and 34 points in 31 games - putting him on pace for 39 goals and 89 points. Both numbers would far surpass his career-high totals of 20 goals and 52 points set in 2018-19.
Granato believes Tuch's still only scratching the surface of his potential.
"There's so much potential in him," Granato said. "I mean, lots of times we talk about these younger guys because they're 21 years old and we forget that some of these guys that are 24, 25, especially in this sport, can get better. Way better.
"Alex, because of his incredible athleticism, because now of his incredible experience, we're trying to get him to look at that and see, 'OK, how can this bring you to the next plateau?'"
It's similar to how Granato spoke of Thompson in previous years, as he evolved from talented prospect to now ranking third in the NHL in both goals and points. Thompson echoed his coach when discussing Tuch's potential.
"The speed and the strength is just something that people don't have," Thompson said. "His size and how fast he is, he just takes away time and space from guys so much and he's so good at stripping guys of the puck that once he does get it, and he learns that he can hang onto it and no one's going to take it from him, he's just going to continue to get better and he's going to be really tough to stop."
Here are more notes from Sunday's practice in Vegas.
1.Mattias Samuelsson and Rasmus Dahlin both took well-deserved maintenance days after shouldering heavy workloads to begin the road trip. Samuelsson has totaled 60:01 in wins over Colorado and Arizona; Dahlin has totaled 58:42.
Granato pointed to a late timeout in Arizona to illustrate his trust in the duo. Granato called timeout with 1:28 remaining after Tyson Jost had scored an empty-net goal to put the Sabres ahead 4-2, knowing full well that it would allow the Coyotes top players to catch their breath.
He did it anyway, knowing it would also allow Dahlin and Samuelsson the opportunity to close the game.
"Not often would you call a timeout up four to two and allow the top line on the other team rest," Granato said. "But we feel so comfortable that, yeah, put the top line out against those two guys. They can handle it. They've done a really nice job in that regard."
2. Ilya Lyubushkin is expected to return to the lineup for the road trip finale against the Golden Knights on Monday. Lyubushkin has missed the last nine game with a lower-body injury.
3. Owen Power (lower body) did not practice and is still considered day to day. Jacob Bryson (lower body) did practice but has been ruled out for Monday.
"They've had some interesting injuries where the issues they've had could resolve within hours but it also could take days, a few days," Granato said. "Obviously, if it does take a couple of days, then you're talking about now you've got to get a little bit of practice time before maybe jumping in a game. So, very tedious from that standpoint, but they're both making progress."
4. The Sabres will have a chance to extend their winning streak to four games when they conclude their three-game road trip against the Golden Knights. Coverage on Monday begins at 9:30 p.m. on MSG with puck drop scheduled for 10.