Youth movement positively impacting Sabres, Canadiens
The Buffalo Sabres will look to tighten the gap in the upper half of the Atlantic Division standings when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Buffalo is fourth in the division, four points behind third-place Montreal with a game in hand on its division foe. The Sabres, who have been on a tear since Dec. 9, going 16-3-1, pulled closer to the Canadiens on Jan. 15 with a 5-3 victory in Buffalo. Tage Thompson led the way that night, factoring in on each of his team's goals with a hat trick and two assists.
The Sabres then dropped their next two (0-1-1) before bouncing back Tuesday with a 5-3 win against the host Nashville Predators. That triumph was fueled by a pair of rookies, with 19-year-old Konsta Helenius notching his first three NHL points -- a goal and two assists -- in his second game, and 21-year-old Noah Ostlund recording his second career two-goal outing.
Zach Benson, 20, completed the line, made up of three first-round picks from recent NHL drafts.
"They were the best line, by far," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "Skated well, made every play. Every time they were on the ice, they were in the offensive zone. ... You look at back-to-back games, some guys have a little more (energy) than others. They had a lot of energy, and they made a lot of great plays."
Helenius, the No. 14 overall pick in 2024, earned his first NHL recall ahead of the game last Thursday but didn't suit up until Monday. He had 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) in 34 games with Rochester of the American Hockey League, leading all forwards in points on the Sabres' affiliate and second on the team overall.
"I mean, it's a dream," Helenius said of his tally. "You always dream about scoring a goal in the NHL and now it happens. It's a really good feeling."
Montreal knows a thing or two about successful youth, being the youngest team in the NHL.
Three of the Canadiens' top five scorers are 21 or younger, with 21-year-old defenseman Lane Hutson's 52 points (nine goals, 43 assists) second on the team behind captain Nick Suzuki (55), 20-year-old Ivan Demidov fourth with 43 points (11 goals, 32 assists), and 21-year-old Juraj Slafkovsky fifth with 40 points (19 goals, 21 assists).
Demidov leads all NHL rookies in points. He and linemate Slafkovsky have been key to Montreal's success, especially when the top line led by Suzuki and Cole Caufield has slowed down.
"It's not just the impressive plays; he's been doing a lot of good things for a while now," Hutson said of Demidov. "He's playing the right way, he's winning puck battles, and those great plays are the results of his play away from the puck."
Hutson had a goal and an assist in Montreal's most recent outing, a 4-3 win against the Wild on Tuesday in which Caufield tallied with 15 seconds left in regulation.
Caufield leads the Canadiens with 25 goals this season and entered Wednesday tied for the league lead with seven game-winning goals.
"I'm not surprised," forward Kirby Dach said. "There are guys who can do that in those moments and he is exactly that guy. It's pretty nice to have on our team."
The Sabres signed forward Josh Doan, 23, to a seven-year contract worth $48.65 million on Wednesday.
Doan, in his first season with Buffalo, is posting career highs in goals (15), assists (20) and points (35) over 49 games. He was traded from the Utah Mammoth along with defenseman Michael Kesselring in exchange for forward JJ Peterka on June 26. A second-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes in the 2021 draft, Doan would have been a restricted free agent following this season.