BUFFALO – Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin has always been his own worst critic, holding himself to the highest of standards.
Dahlin, one of the NHL’s most talented defensemen, has enjoyed a season that for just about anyone else would be considered pretty darn good.
But the Swede, 25, knows he can reach a much higher level.
Perhaps his two-goal outing in Wednesday’s 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers signals he’s ready to take off in the second half of the season.
“I’m in it right now, so I’m grinding every day,” Dahlin said of his season. “I’ve got a few more levels, for sure.”
Of course, Dahlin, as Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said, “been through a lot” over the past six months.
His fiancée, Carolina Matovac, has been rehabbing after experiencing major heart failure and undergoing a heart transplant in the summer. He has left the team twice to visit her in Sweden.
“There’s a guy that cares,” Ruff said. “He’s not happy with his game. What some would assess would be a good game, he says that’s not his standard. I think that’s a great place to be.”
Dahlin said he “had a good feeling going into the game.”
“I felt mentally good, and I was happy today,” he said.
Dahlin scored both goals on the man advantage, helping ignite a struggling power play that began the night having converted just one of its last 21 chances over the last nine games. The Sabres hadn’t scored two power-play goals in one contest since Dec. 9.
He opened the scoring 9:30 into the game, beating Flyers goalie Dan Vladar from the right circle.
He scored again from the slot 13:51 into the second period to put the Sabres up 4-1.
“I thought tonight he really skated well,” Ruff said. “You can look at the goals as an end result. The way he skated up ice, handled the puck, I think there’s more. That’s always the challenge with where you’re at as a team. Like, do you have more? I think he understands that part.”
The Sabres’ 14th win in their last 16 outings moved them into the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference (54 points).
A regulation win tonight at home against the Montreal Canadiens could move them within three points of their Atlantic Division rival.
The Sabres might be without oft-injured center Josh Norris, who left the game with an upper-body injury in the second period. Ruff said Nick Seeler’s cross-check knocked him out. He did not play after the 12:44 mark.
Ruff said Norris, who has played just 19 games this season, will be evaluated this morning.
“We’re hoping it’s nothing too serious,” he said.
It took the Sabres a bit to get going Wednesday before the crowd of 16,363 fans at KeyBank Center. They registered their first shot on goal 9:06 into the game.
They ended the opening period up 2-0 but had six shots on goal. They pumped just 14 shots on net the entire net.
At one point, the Sabres had two goals on four shots and had hit the post twice.
Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson replaced Vladar after the first period.
Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson’s eighth goal put the Sabres up 2-0 15:13 into the game. He began the season having scored just seven times in his first 212 NHL contests.
Sabres winger Josh Doan started the play by backchecking and stripping the puck in the neutral zone. He also created a goal Saturday by making a similar play.
“There’s a talent and there’s an effort compartment to both of those, where you got to have the will to go after it and not quit on it,” Ruff said. “Second part, he’s just good with his stick, good around the puck.”
Doan said “you’ve got to take pride in is getting back and supporting your D.”
Winger Jack Quinn put the Sabres up 3-0 4:22 into the second period just after a power play expired, his third goal in three games after scoring just once in the previous 18 contests.
Center Ryan McLeod scored an empty-net goal to seal the win. Owen Tippett and Trevor Zegras scored for the Flyers.
Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 20 saves, including an early point-blank stop on Nikita Grebenkin with the game tied at 0.
