The Buffalo Sabres seemed a big sluggish after the first period of their first game after the Christmas holiday break, but in a second period in which they took control of the game, the unlikely Sabres scoring star was blueliner Mattias Samuelsson, who assisted on goals from Ryan McLeod and Peyton Krebs before scoring a career-high sixth goal of the season in a 4-1 victory at KeyBank Center on Saturday night.
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Samuelsson, who had seven career goals in 212 regular season games going into the campaign, is tied with Bowen Byram in defensive scoring with 18 points and has more goals than regular defense partner Rasmus Dahlin, but unlike his teammates, he has been stout at the defensive end of the ice, which is reflected in his team leading +15 plus/minus rating.
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“His physicality has been really good this year. I think he ends a lot of plays. He’s really on top of his game,”Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. “From what he’s done, chipping in offensively and the work he just done on the PK, then playing against every top line and big minutes every night, he’s really playing a good brand of hockey for us.”
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Samuelsson’s contribution was necessary with Dahlin still not back from Sweden. The Sabres eighth win in a row has them back to within range of an Eastern Conference playoff spot, as they are tied with the Florida Panthers for the last wildcard spot, but they need to keep winning, as they are only three points from second-last in the conference.
Dahlin is expected to meet the Sabres in St. Louis, where they will take on the Blues in the first of a three-game road trip on Monday.
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