Zach Benson still hasn’t scored a goal this season, but that number hasn’t gotten in the way of his impact.
Through nine games, the 21-year-old winger has been one of the Sabres’ most useful players, stirring up offense, creating traffic around the crease and getting under opponents’ skin. He’s also settled into a hot stretch alongside Noah Ostlund and Jack Quinn, a trio that enters Wednesday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers at KeyBank Center riding a four-game point streak.
“I think I’ve gotten off to a good start,” Benson told the Times Herald following Tuesday’s practice in LECOM Harborcenter. “Obviously, the goal department (is) still at zero, but I feel like I’m creating a lot of havoc and creating plays. I’ve been in on some big goals that have kind of helped our club climb back into games.”
The production is there in plenty of other places. Benson has six assists, tied with defenseman Owen Power for the team lead and tops among Buffalo forwards. His 19 minutes, 52 seconds of ice time per game ranks second among forwards, just behind Tage Thompson by seven seconds.
The underlying numbers back up the eye test, too. Benson’s 65.37 expected goals for percentage at five-on-five leads the Sabres, according to NaturalStatTrick.com, while his 7.51 expected goals at five-on-five is first among forwards and third on the team.
The goals still haven’t come, though. Benson has put 18 shots on goal and attempted 41, but the first one remains missing.
“It’s just stick with the process,” Ruff said.
That’s nothing new for Benson. He went through a similar quiet start last season, not scoring until his 18th game. Once he got rolling, the goals came in bunches: six of his 13 regular-season goals came in the final 13 games, and he added five goals in 13 playoff games during his first taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
After that season, Benson signed a seven-year, $52.5 million extension.
For now, the production around him is enough to keep the Sabres moving. Ruff pointed to Benson’s work Saturday in Montreal, when he beat Noah Dobson to a loose puck deep in the Canadiens’ zone and helped set up Quinn’s short-handed goal midway through a 4-3 overtime loss. That play helped spark Buffalo’s third straight two-goal comeback and earned the team a point.
“That line has had a lot of success,” Ruff said. “Mainly the success has been going to Quinn on the goal department, but if a line is producing, usually you’re a big part of it, and I think he has been.”
Since Ruff put Benson with Ostlund and Quinn four games ago, the three have combined for four goals and 15 points. Benson has five assists in that span, while Quinn has three goals and seven points.
Ruff said the line’s pace and work rate have been key.
“They’re hitting the holes, supporting each other,” he said. “Their transition game has been real quick.
They’re quick to get open. They’re just a line that’s really connected right now where they know where they’re at.
“They’ve won a lot of battles, which is a big deal, and (they) jump in the holes in the offensive zone, which makes it really tough on the opposition.”
Benson sees the fit the same way.
“I think it’s just our hockey IQ,” Benson said of what has made them mesh. “I mean, I think all of us are super smart players that find spots where coverage isn’t, and we’re all skilled enough to make plays.”
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