Zach Benson doesn’t need much convincing when it comes to appreciating the little guy who plays big.
So when Buffalo Sabres defenseman Zach Metsa, listed at 5-foot-9, squared up with Columbus Blue Jackets enforcer Mathieu Olivier on Thursday night, Benson saw more than a scrap. He saw a teammate refusing to back down after Olivier, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 232 pounds, tapped the puck into an empty Sabres net during a delayed penalty early in the second period.
Metsa answered right away, and Olivier responded by swinging away. The Buffalo blueliner was clearly at a size disadvantage, but he stayed in it until the officials finally broke things up.
“Unbelievable,” Benson told Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic. “He's an unbelievable teammate.
He fought the toughest guy in the league. That shows the dog he has in him.”
The sequence drew a sharp reaction from Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, who was not impressed with Olivier’s approach. Olivier was eventually hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
“I don't even know what Olivier was thinking,” Ruff said. “I mean, come on, it's Metsa.
I thought Metsa did a great job protecting himself. I give him a lot of credit for that because Olivier is a tough customer.
He stuck in there and did a heck of a job.”
For Buffalo, Metsa’s value goes well beyond that moment. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen rewarded the defenseman in early September with a one-year extension that runs through the 2027-28 season, a nod to the kind of reliable, team-first minutes he’s provided as the club’s No. 7 defenseman.
That sort of selfless edge is part of the Sabres’ bigger identity shift, too. Buffalo rarely showed that “all for one, one for all” response during its 14-year playoff drought, and in the NHL, that matters.
The Sabres still had a rough opening night, though. Columbus left Buffalo with a 6-3 road win, and the Blue and Gold now turn to their home opener Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks.
There’s also reason to think the Sabres’ defense should look different by then. Olen Zellweger was a full participant in Friday’s practice as he works through the final stages of the NHL’s concussion protocol, and he has a chance to make his first appearance in Buffalo’s colors on Saturday night.
That would at least give the Sabres the top four they projected: Mattias Samuelsson with Rasmus Dahlin, and Zellweger with Owen Power.
The rest of the group is still sorting itself out. Louis Crevier and Matt Grzelcyk were both making their Buffalo debuts Thursday, and Grzelcyk only joined the organization last week. Crevier, who recently signed a four-year extension, Metsa and Grzelcyk are in line to battle for the remaining spots.
Buffalo’s blue line was a major part of last season’s turnaround, and Ruff is going to need that group to be sharp and dependable again if the Sabres are going to keep up in the crowded Eastern Conference.
They weren’t there against Columbus. But with 84 games still to go, the Sabres at least get an immediate shot to reset against Chicago.
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For a player dealing with the jolt of a late trade, the performance carried extra weight because of how little preparation time he had before taking the ice. Knies and his teammates acknowledged the adjustment that comes with moving on short notice, but the first impression in Columbus was immediate, and it left Buffalo on the wrong end of a memorable opener. [Read more 🡒]