BUFFALO – In his first 217 NHL games, Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson scored seven times, an average of one goal every 31 outings.
He registered his first goal in his 64th appearance. He has never scored more than four times in a season.
So Samuelsson hasn’t enjoyed too many outings like his two-goal performance in Friday’s 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs before a bipartisan crowd of 17,211 fans in KeyBank Center.
He never had a two-goal game in college or the AHL before joining the Sabres.
“Really long time,” Samuelsson said of his last two-goal game.
If he keeps playing aggressively like he did against Toronto, he might regularly contribute offense.
His goals during the Sabres’ fourth win in their last five games had nothing to do with luck.
Samuelsson opened the scoring 4:38 into the game by moving to the inside of the left circle, where he converted center Ryan McLeod’s pass. He scored his second goal 13:10 into the second period by pinching into the left circle and connecting on captain Rasmus Dahlin’s pass.
“I think that was a big point for me this year, get involved,” Samuelsson said. “It’s no secret I’m not some offensive defenseman like Ras, but you can get up and be the (fourth) man and get your chances here and there.”
But these days, Samuelsson, 25, is doing more than scoring. He’s morphed into perhaps the Sabres’ best shutdown defender, recapturing the sturdy game he showcased when he arrived in Buffalo.
After years of battling injuries and ineffectiveness, he looks confident.
“(I) worked on some different stuff in the summer,” Samuelsson said. “I’m just playing with a little more confidence. … When you don’t have confidence and you’re out there every other night, it can be tough sometimes to kind of find it on the fly. And if you’re playing with just a little bit of swagger and confidence in yourself, it can go a long way.”
Coach Lindy Ruff said the 6-foot-4, 229-pound Samuelsson has helped the Sabres “in all areas.”
“He’s been great on the PK, him jumping in helping create offense, finishing those plays,” he said. “I mean, two great goals on his part. But playing against the big lines all the time, his physicality has really been good. He’s really played well for us.”
The Sabres as a team have recently overcome their dreadful 0-3-0 start and improved to 4-4-0. It’s still early, but Friday’s win vaulted them into third place in the Atlantic Division with eight points.
For much of the game, the Sabres, who never trailed, played faster than the Maple Leafs, for years one of the NHL’s slickest teams.
“We’re really trying to play with a lot of pace, but a lot of our focus is moving the puck quicker, getting it up quicker, forwards getting out of the zone quicker and ready to go north in a hurry,” Ruff said.
Center Jiri Kulich and wingers Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch scored their other goals.
With the Maple Leafs on a late power play down 4-3, Sabres goalie Alex Lyon made a point-blank save on Matias Maccelli. Seconds later, Tuch’s short-handed goal sealed the game.
“I think in those situations it’s about being in the moment and seizing the moment,” said Lyon, who made 31 saves in his seventh start this season. “That’s what good teams do in critical moments. They make the right decisions, they score goals or they make big saves. If you can do that over the course of a season good things are going to happen.”
In Wednesday’s 4-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings, the Sabres iced the game shortly after goalie Colten Ellis made a point-blank stop.
“The huge save can turn momentum for you,” Ruff said. “Tuch goes down and scores a heck of a goal for us.”
Ruff said the Sabres will likely recall a forward from the minors after losing Tyson Kozak to a lower-body injury in the first period. Ruff said Kozak will miss today’s game.
