BUFFALO – The Sabres’ best defensemen through their first 10 games this season is also their youngest.
Owen Power, who turns 22 on Nov. 22, has quietly enjoyed the fastest start of his short career. Entering Tuesday’s schedule, his eight even-strength points ranked fourth among NHL defensemen.
Right now, he has a career-long five-game point streak in which he has recorded one goal and seven points. He also has a career-best four-game assist streak. He extended both in Monday’s 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers, assisting on defenseman Rasmus Dahlin’s second-period goal.
Monday’s outing might’ve his weakest this season. He was on the ice for three goals against. Late in the contest, he made an ill-advised pass up the middle from deep in his own zone.
Still, the 6-foot-6, 226-pound Power stood out for good reasons.
Late in the second period, only goalie Sergei Bobrovsky’s sliding save across the crease prevented him from putting the Sabres up. He nearly tied the game a few minutes later, grabbing the puck at center ice and carrying it into the Florida zone with authority. After splitting the defenders and beating another Panther, Bobrovsky made another terrific stop in close.
“When you’re down goals, you got to kind of press a little more,” Power said following Tuesday’s practice in KeyBank Center. “I think it’s a little bit of game management.”
Power, the first overall pick in 2021, possesses the mind and physical talent to manage a game on his terms.
Assistant coach Seth Appert, who joined Buffalo’s staff this season, said when you’re around Power, you appreciate how intelligently he plays on both sides of the ice.
“How many good situations he puts himself and his teammates in offensively and defensively because of his decision-making, because of his mind, because of his ability to manipulate his defenders, and then put his forwards or other players on the ice in offensively advantage situations,” he said.
It’s still early, but Power is producing at a 66-point pace over an 82-game season. In his first two full campaigns, he recorded 35 and 33 points, respectively.
He has registered his two goals and eight points this season at even strength.
So far, new Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, who said last month he wants Power to make quicker decisions, has utilized him a bit differently, starting him in the offensive zone 62.1 percent of the time, up from 51.2 last year.
A season of 50 or 60 or points would be easier to obtain if the second power-play unit Power quarterbacks gets going. It has produced zero goals this season. The top unit has scored in each of the last two games, their first tallies all year.
“Owen’s unit, for large portions of the season, at times, was looking even better in practice and in games (than the first unit),” said Appert, the assistant in charge of the power play.
Appert said as Dahlin’s unit has improved, it has started retrieving more pucks.
“That extends the time they’re going to stay on the ice because they’ve been in (the) zone for (an extended time),” he said.
So sometimes that top unit is on the ice for 80 or 90 seconds.
“I’ve liked (what) Owen’s unit … has looked like, and they’ve created a lot of chances in shorter windows of time,” Appert said.
Power, who usually plays alongside Bowen Byram, believes he has improved other areas of his game.
“I’ve been defending better than I have been kind of previous years,” said Power, who’s in the first season of a seven-year, $58.45 million contract.
He traces that to feeling more comfortable. While he’s the third-youngest player on the Sabres, he has already played 173 NHL games.
“The more games you play, the more comfortable you get, and I think as the years have kind of gone on I’ve just continued to get more comfortable out there,” he said.
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The NHL on Tuesday fined Dahlin $5,000, the maximum amount allowed by the collective bargaining agreement, for slashing Anton Lundell in Monday’s loss.