Zach Benson’s ‘character’ take on Sabres 9-game win streak after beating Blues

It was a rough start to the season for the Buffalo Sabres. After being tied for last place in the Eastern Conference in mid-December, the Sabres fired GM Kevyn Adams. Now, the team is riding a nine-game winning streak after defeating the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Monday night. They have climbed the standings, and forward Zach Benson gave insight into why they are winning.

“We have a lot of character in this room,” Benson told the media after the game, according to Lou Korac of NHL.com. “Everyone knows we have skill, but how many blocks we have on a night, pucks getting out on a wall, it’s just little things like that and it adds up throughout a game. We’re doing all the details right.”

The Sabres were down in the game against the Blues after Brayden Schenn and Jimmy Snuggerud found the back of the net in the first period, leading Buffalo 2-1. Alex Tuch tied the game late in the second period.

“We pushed the ‘D’ back, ‘Sammy’ found me, and I was able to find the back of the net,” Tuch said of his second-period game-tying goal.

In the second period, Buffalo controlled the game, doubling the shot total of St. Louis and shifting momentum. Then, Benson scored his fourth goal of the season in the third period to give the Sabres the lead. All four of his goals and two of his 13 assists have come during the nine-game winning streak.

“We outplayed them in the second. We turned the game in our direction,” head coach Lindy Ruff remarked on the team’s performance. “We stacked a bunch of good shifts together in the O-zone, and I thought we followed it up with an even better third period. We only gave up two shots. We got a little sloppy at the end on the power play, but other than that, our third period was rock-solid.”

With the nine-game win streak, the Sabres are now 20-14-4 on the campaign. That places the team tied with the Florida Panthers for fourth in the Atlantic Division, and for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. The character and small things Benson spoke of could lead to Buffalo breaking their 14-season playoff drought. The team will also be looking to run their win streak to ten games, as they visit the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night.

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