Jordan Greenway and Alex Tuch will get the accolades, but the Buffalo Sabres defensemen Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju stepped up in the 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers. The Panthers were missing two of their top players, Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, due to injury and illness, respectively. The Sabres also faced backup goaltender Spencer Knight, who didn’t look good in his first start of the season. Still, Buffalo put together a complete effort to earn the victory.
After conceding the first goal to Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt, the Sabres responded with two quick goals from Greenway and Tage Thompson. Buffalo extended the lead in the second period with Jokiharju and Samuelsson scoring from distance. Florida’s Sam Bennett made the game 4-2 heading into the third.
With the goalie pulled late in the third period, Alex Tuch sealed the game with an empty netter.
Let’s dip into the Sabres grades to better understand each player’s performance against the Panthers.
Last season we implemented the grading system. That way, we can assign letter grades to each Buffalo Sabres player based on game performance. Sometimes our eyes deceive us, so the letter grades are assigned based on statistical computation, taking into account the following factors:
- Production
- Quality of offense
- Quality of defense
- Volume of offense
- Volume of defense
- Powerplay performance
- Penalty kill performance
- Penalties drawn and taken
- Role
- Minutes played
The game grades model is freshly reworked and improved for the 2024-2025 season to better account for production and more realistically detail a player doing what they’re asked to do by the coaching staff. Friday’s grades were not very good, and Saturday’s look even worse.
All game data via Evolving-Hockey.com
| Grade | Lower Limit | Upper Limit |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | 92% | 100% |
| A | 85% | 92% |
| A- | 77% | 85% |
| B+ | 69% | 77% |
| B | 62% | 69% |
| B- | 54% | 62% |
| C+ | 46% | 54% |
| C | 38% | 46% |
| C- | 31% | 38% |
| D+ | 23% | 31% |
| D | 15% | 23% |
| D- | 8% | 15% |
| F | 0% | 8% |
Studs
Mattias Samuelsson
Grade: B+
Production: C+
Offense: A+
Defense: A
Powerplay: N/A
Penalty Kill: F
Give Mattias Samuelsson credit, he played great after a suspect game against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. In the last edition of Sabres Grades, we even questioned whether he should play in Saturday’s game. He did get the call and responded going from the “Duds” to “Studs” column.
Despite any early mix-up on Schmidt’s goal, Samuelsson was Buffalo’s best play-driver. The Sabres created all kinds of chances when he was on the ice, and the team stayed in the offensive zone.
His goal may have been a result of some fluky goaltending, but he finished a very good sequence around the net leading up to the shot.
Henri Jokiharju
Grade: B+
Production: A-
Offense: B+
Defense: A-
Powerplay: A
Penalty Kill: D
Henri Jokiharju played the second-least even-strength minutes of any Buffalo defenseman, but his impact on the game was instrumental to the Sabres win. Unlike Samuelsson’s goal, Jokiharju’s slapshot from the point had some heat to it. It beat Spencer Knight clean to give the Sabres some breathing room.
Jokiharju was tied with Samuelsson in shot quality against rates, leading all Sabres defensemen. If it wasn’t for a slight dock for barely playing 13 minutes at even strength, he would’ve earned the first “A” of the season.
Jack Quinn
Grade: B+
Production: C
Offense: A+
Defense: A+
Powerplay: A-
Penalty Kill: N/A
If anyone needed to have a good game for the Sabres, it was Jack Quinn. Quinn went into the game with only one shot on goal all season. He tripled that total Saturday night.
A shooter’s mentality is not the only thing that was going for Quinn, as his defensive play was great. He and his line of Dylan Cozens and Jiri Kulich were smooth on zone exits and were able to transition it into offense.
Duds
Beck Malenstyn
Grade: C-
Production: F
Offense: F
Defense: A+
Powerplay: N/A
Penalty Kill: N/A
To no real fault of his own, Beck Malenstyn didn’t even play two minutes in the game versus the Panthers. The 1:52 he did play was clean, but head coach Lindy Ruff decided to roll only three forward lines throughout the game.
A combination of Zach Benson’s injury, dressing seven defensemen, and having three days before the next game all played into the decision. Malenstyn lands in the “Duds” column for simply not being able to contribute.
Owen Power
Grade: C-
Production: F
Offense: B+
Defense: C
Powerplay: B+
Penalty Kill: D
On the opposite end of the spectrum was Owen Power, who played the second-most minutes of any Sabres skater. Power’s been one of Buffalo’s best players so far this season, but he produced zeros across the board in goals, assists, shots, blocked shots, and hits.
In a game where the Sabres found a way to score five goals, Power’s production was oddly nowhere to be found.
Zach Benson
Grade: C-
Production: D
Offense: D-
Defense: A
Powerplay: D-
Penalty Kill: N/A
The aforementioned nagging injury played a role in landing Benson in the “Duds” column, despite a clean defensive performance. “I don’t think Benson’s 100%,” Ruff said after the game. “He’s playing, but for me, he doesn’t look 100%. So I just thought we’ll give [Peyton] Krebs a look there.”
Krebs earned a “B” grade filling in for Benson, who only had 10:01 of ice time.
Sabres Grades
| POS | TEAM | LETTER GRADE | GRADE | PROD | OFF | DEF | PP | PK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mattias Samuelsson | D | BUF | B+ | 76.7% | C+ | A+ | A | N/A | F |
| Henri Jokiharju | D | BUF | B+ | 76.1% | A- | B+ | A- | A | D |
| Jack Quinn | R | BUF | B+ | 75.6% | C | A+ | A+ | A- | N/A |
| Connor Clifton | D | BUF | B+ | 73.6% | B | A- | A- | F | F |
| Jiri Kulich | C | BUF | B+ | 70.0% | C | A+ | A- | D | N/A |
| Jordan Greenway | L | BUF | B | 68.5% | B+ | A | C | F | D+ |
| Peyton Krebs | C | BUF | B | 65.6% | C+ | B- | A | N/A | N/A |
| Ryan McLeod | C | BUF | B | 64.8% | B | A | C | D+ | D |
| Tage Thompson | C | BUF | B | 64.7% | C | B+ | B+ | B+ | D |
| Alex Tuch | R | BUF | B- | 58.6% | C | B- | B+ | A- | F |
| Rasmus Dahlin | D | BUF | B- | 57.5% | C- | A- | B- | A- | B+ |
| Dylan Cozens | C | BUF | C+ | 51.8% | D | A- | B- | B+ | F |
| Bowen Byram | D | BUF | C+ | 51.3% | D | B | B | A- | N/A |
| Jason Zucker | L | BUF | C | 43.9% | D | B+ | C | B+ | N/A |
| Dennis Gilbert | D | BUF | C | 43.1% | D+ | D | A | N/A | N/A |
| Devon Levi | G | BUF | C | 41.8% | |||||
| Zach Benson | L | BUF | C- | 36.8% | D | D- | A- | D- | N/A |
| Owen Power | D | BUF | C- | 35.9% | F | B+ | C | B+ | D |
| Beck Malenstyn | L | BUF | C- | 35.0% | F | F | A+ | N/A | N/A |
