One of the Buffalo Sabres major flaws last season was their lack of depth, but with the addition of some veteran forwards this summer and the contribution of some of their young prospects, the Sabres have been able to survive the absence of key contributors Tage Thompson and Jordan Greenway.
With Thompson and Greenway out, Buffalo has been bailed out by their secondary scoring. Veteran Jason Zucker was expected to be mostly a support player when he signed a one-year, $5 million deal in July, but the 32-year-old was inserted on the Sabres struggling top power play and has been opportunistic when elevated into the top-six.
The well-traveled winger scored Buffalo’s only goal in a 1-0 victory over Los Angeles on Wednesday and scored again late in the second period on Saturday to tie the game in Anaheim after the Sabres fell behind 2-0.
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Center Ryan McLeod has exceeded expectations offensively after being acquired from Edmonton, scoring six goals and stepping up into an offensive role with Thompson out and Dylan Cozens struggling. Rookie Jiri Kulich was used primarily on the wing early this season before being demoted to Rochester earlier this month, but since being recalled, he has played up the middle for the first time, and head coach Lindy Ruff showed confidence to put the 20-year-old and that paid off with an overtime game-winner against the Ducks on Friday.
“If you looked at his game and where he was in the faceoff dot, he deserved to be out there,” Ruff said after the win on Friday.
The Sabres are 3-1 since Thompson was injured against Montreal and are tied for the final Eastern Conference wildcard spot. Buffalo went 3-5-1 without their leading scorer last November and that contributed to them falling into an early-season hole they could not climb out of. If they can get the big center back on Saturday or before Thanksgiving, it may go a long way toward their playoff aspirations.
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