BUFFALO – Three days later, center Dylan Cozens still felt the sting of Saturday afternoon’s embarrassing 6-2 loss, an ugly game in which he registered a ghastly minus-4 rating as the Sabres blew an early two-goal lead.
As he has matured over his five-year NHL career, Cozens, an emotional competitor, said he has learned to stop dwelling on poor games.
“Or else it will just eat at you and kind of take over,” the Yukon native told the Times Herald. “So if I have a bad game, learn from it as much as I can that night, but try to put it in the past, as hard as it is, and just try to move on.”
Still, following Tuesday’s practice, Cozens, 23, acknowledged he hadn’t quite put away the Sabres’ shocking loss to the Seattle Kraken.
“I say I try to put it away, but I don’t, really,” he said. “I still think about it for a while. But, yeah, I mean, that one sucked.”
No wonder it has lingered.
Cozens and his linemates, Tage Thompson and Jason Zucker, each recorded season-worst minus-4 ratings while going pointless.
During a power play, Cozens missed an open net and perhaps a chance to change the complexion of the game.
“Put himself in a great position,” said coach Lindy Ruff, whose Sabres host the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at KeyBank Center.
Cozens, like a lot of his teammates, has experienced a trying season. He scored his first goal in the 11th game. He owns a team-worst minus-17 rating. Only 11 players in the league had a lower-rating entering Tuesday’s schedule.
Overall, he has compiled nine goals and 21 points in 43 games in the second season of his seven-year, $47.7 million contract.
As the Sabres have fallen from a wild card spot into the Eastern Conference basement, Cozens’ name has emerged as a player teams are interested in acquiring.
He set career highs two seasons ago by scoring 31 goals and 68 points. Centers capable of pivoting the first or second line are always coveted. He can also play an aggressive and gritty game.
While his numbers have dipped – he scored 18 goals and 47 points last season – he possesses plenty of potential and should have his prime years ahead.
“I’ve been off social media for a while now and tried to stay away from that and seeing that,” Cozens said of trade speculation. “So to be honest, I haven’t really seen much.”
Trading him makes little sense. The Sabres dished center Casey Mittelstadt to the Colorado Avalanche last season, a deal that netted them top-pair defenseman Bowen Byram.
They could part with Mittelstadt because they have Cozens and Thompson. Losing Cozens would leave them woefully thin down the middle unless they acquire another center with similar talents.
Right now, Cozens is serving as the Sabres’ top center because Thompson is nursing an undisclosed injury and Ruff has temporarily shifted him to right wing.
Ryan McLeod, who recently ended a 23-game goal drought, has moved up to center the second line.
Playing alongside the 6-foot-6 Thompson creates extra ice for Cozens and Zucker to maneuver.
“He opens up space by drawing guys to him, which allows me and Zucks to get more space when we get the puck,” Cozens said. “He draws a lot of attention to him.”
Cozens has scored just three times in the last 17 games. He’s on pace to score 17 goals over a full campaign.
He’s somewhat happy with his play – “I think it’s in a decent spot,” he said of his game – but is hardly satisfied.
“I know I still got more to give,” he said. “Obviously, I’m not thrilled with how it’s gone this season.”
Ruff believes the 6-foot-3, 207-pound Cozens and others can generate more offense by getting to the net. During Tuesday’s practice, the Sabres focused on having more bodies there for rebounds, screens and tips.
“We can spend all that time in the offensive zone, but I don’t think we’ve scored an offensive-zone goal off of a setup in like two or three games,” Ruff said.
In Saturday’s loss, Ruff said Cozens had an opportunity to attack off the goal line and also deferred to an outside play from the flank.
“So there’s been some opportunities there that he hasn’t taken advantage of,” he said. “I think the other part is you got to get yourself tighter to the net in situations where it’s your turn to be there.”
Notes: Tonight’s game starts at 6 p.m. and is being televised on TNT. … The Hurricanes are 16-2-1 in their last 19 games against the Sabres. … Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, who has missed the last two games because of illness, practiced again Tuesday as an extra.
Seriously, players need to be reminded to get to the net to tip pucks ?????
What a joke !!
Cozens contract is 7 years/$49,700 or $7.1/year.
He’s not worth it.
Do something. Fire Adams then !
Sabres have No Shot tonight.