Zach Benson has already settled into the kind of pregame routine that feels made for a young NHL winger finding his lane. The Buffalo Sabres forward, set to skate in his 215th career game Thursday night against the Dallas Stars, says his go-to meal is simple and repeatable.
On NHL Tonight, Benson talked through the Sabres’ 2-1-0 start and eventually landed on food. Not just any food, either, but a Buffalo-area stop he keeps coming back to.
"It's nothing crazy. I just go to 800 Maple the night before games, get the chicken downtown style," Benson told the NHL Network hosts. "And then before games I have some chicken with some Chick-fil-A sauce."
He added a little more detail on the dish that keeps showing up in his routine.
"It's just vodka rigatoni with breaded chicken," he said. "Yeah, it's honestly unreal."
The restaurant Benson mentioned, 800 Maple, bills itself on its official website as "Williamsville's go-to spot for New American cuisine in a sophisticated setting." His order, the large-plate chicken cutlets downtown style, is listed at $38.
There may be something to the chicken. Benson has played exactly 107 home games and 107 road games in his career, but the production split is noticeably different: 58 points at KeyBank Center and 44 away from home.
The British Columbia native, a 2023 first-round draft pick, has started this season without a goal and with one assist through Buffalo’s first three games. That comes after he put up a career-best 43 points last season.
Even so, the Sabres appear to have found a line that’s clicking. Benson has been skating with Noah Ostlund and Jack Quinn, and the numbers back up what’s happening on the ice. That trio has posted a 65% expected goal share together, which ranks sixth in the NHL among lines that have played at least 30 minutes together, according to MoneyPuck.
The sample is still small, but the company near the top of that list is elite, with combinations featuring Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Jack Eichel of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Buffalo has been shuffling its forward groups often since training camp opened, with head coach Lindy Ruff trying to sort through new combinations after the offseason departures of Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram. Benson, Ostlund and Quinn may have given him one trio worth keeping together.
Quinn, in particular, looks like he may have taken another step, and Benson’s puck-retrieving, forechecking style fits neatly alongside him and Ostlund. That setup could help unlock more offense from Quinn while letting Benson keep doing the little things that make him valuable even when the goals aren’t coming.
That broader value is a big reason the Sabres moved to lock Benson up long term. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen and the front office signed him to a seven-year, $52.5 million extension in June, keeping him tied to Buffalo through the 2032-33 season.
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