Sabres Second Line Snaps Out Of It In Win Over Rangers

The Buffalo Sabres stunned the New York Rangers in a 6-1 victory at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, scoring 26 seconds into the contest, scoring four times in the second period to chase goalie Igor Shesterkin and getting contributions from all four forward lines.

The goals that were most welcomed came from the Sabres struggling second line of Zach Benson, Dylan Cozens, and Jack Quinn. The trio had a collective five points in the first 13 games of the season, but against the Rangers, Cozens scored his second goal of the season, Benson set up the goal and notched his first of the year, and Quinn added a pair of assists.

“You’re not going to lose many games when you get an effort like that out of every line,” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. “The Cozens line was really good, (they) made a lot of plays down low, created some really good opportunities, a lot of their shifts were spent in the offensive zone. I thought their compete from the top of the circles down was something that (the Rangers) were having a tough time handling.”

Buffalo has been getting consistent offense from the top unit of JJ Peterka, Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch and better than expected contributions from the bottom six, but the ineffectiveness of the second line has been a major factor in the Sabres streaky start and under .500 record.

Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was sharp in a 25-save effort and with the Sabres schedule fairly spread out until their West Coast trip later this month, it is likely that he will continue to get regular work as long as the club keeps winning.

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