BUFFALO – The confidence Sabres winger Jack Quinn has recently recaptured is evident as he moves around the ice with authority and shoots and distributes the puck.
Early in Friday’s 6-2 home win over the Chicago Blackhawks, Quinn carried the puck into the offensive zone before dropping it to a trailing Dylan Cozens. As Cozens grabbed it, Quinn kept moving forward, pushing his defender back and creating extra room for his linemate to unleash the puck and score from the top of the left circle.
Quinn, 23, had already scored in the game, utilizing his ultra-quick release to one-time Cozens’ feed.
In the second period, Quinn carried the puck into the Chicago zone down the left wing, cut to the middle and skated down the slot before shooting and creating a scoring chance.
“When he has that confidence … he’s an unbelievable player,” Cozens said following Friday’s win in KeyBank Center.
Quinn, the Sabres’ biggest early-season disappointment, has morphed into their hottest forward, compiling four goals and eight points in his last six outings entering Tuesday’s road game against the Dallas Stars.
His emergence has helped buoy the Sabres to three straight victories following a 13-game winless skid. They haven’t won four consecutive contests since a five-game streak from Jan. 19 to 26, 2023
After recording two assists in Sunday afternoon’s 4-2 road win against the St. Louis Blues – he earned the primary helper on winger Jason Zucker’s tie-breaking power-play goal – he has registered two goals and six points during a three-game point streak.
Remember, Quinn mustered just one goal, an empty-netter, and five points in his first 25 appearances before scoring twice Dec. 15.
So, what has recently changed in his game?
“I’m not sure,” he said following Saturday’s practice in LECOM Harborcenter. “Just, I think, finding my game as I go here. It’s been a lot better of late, some chemistry with the line. I think doing the little things a lot better has given me confidence, too.”
Quinn has regularly played alongside Cozens and winger JJ Peterka throughout his three NHL seasons. Right now, they’re giving the Sabres a formidable second line.
“We’re making a lot of plays, we’re using our speed, we’re getting plays made off the rush and kind of wearing on the other team,” said Quinn, the eighth overall pick in 2020. “I think … focus a little more on the defensive side, get more pucks back, and we seem to be able to have the puck more.”
When Quinn possesses the puck, he’s moving faster than ever. Earlier in the season, he said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff told him he needed to add “a little more pop in my game.”
Quinn, who sat out seven games as a healthy scratch, including one Dec. 21, responded to the challenge.
“It’s something that he’s been working hard on, the fitness part of his game, the explosive part of his game,” Ruff said. “When you look at back-to-back sometimes, it was a situation where we wanted to put fresh bodies in.
“I think his work away from the ice has really paid off. His quickness now, his jump, he looks like he’s getting close to being where we need him to be a real effective player.”
Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin, whose seven points, all assists, in three games last week tied for the league lead, has been named the NHL’s Second Star for the week ending Sunday.
Dahlin registered four assists in last Monday’s 7-1 road win over the New York Islanders, tying the single-game franchise record for defensemen. It was also the highest total by a blue liner this season.
A Sabres defenseman hadn’t compiled seven assists over a three-game stretch since Brian Campbell from Oct. 6 to 13, 2007.
Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele (four goals and six points in two games) and Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski (seven assists) earned the first and third stars, respectively.
