Buffalo Sabres left winger Zach Benson has been very annoying in the playoffs so far. It's working very well.
BUFFALO - The player who describes his style as "annoying" and "tenacious" had a reddish-colored welt the size of a quarter planted underneath his left eye as he spoke to reporters Wednesday night.
It's unclear how Zach Benson got the mark. Or even when it occurred.
When you play the style that Benson plays, it could have come from any number of ways: a high stick, a punch or maybe even the baseball-style slash that he received in the first round of the playoffs.
Either way, the 20-year-old wore the bruise like a badge of honor following Buffalo's 4-2 win against Montreal in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal.
It was evidence that the Sabres left winger, who is ranked second in the playoffs with 28 penalty minutes, has been getting under the skin of his opponents. But with two goals and five points in seven games, it's the secondary offense that he and his linemates — Josh Norris and Josh Doan — have been providing that has been particularly annoying for opponents.
"Just be hard to play against," Benson said of what has made his line so effective. "I think all three of us are tenacious players, all over the ice, all over pucks, so it gets annoying to place against."
In the playoffs, annoying wins hockey games more than skill does.
Matthew Tkachuk was annoying two years ago, when Florida won the Cup. Sam Bennett was even more annoying last year when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy. And Benson, who said he models his game after Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel, who in turn models his game after the even more annoying Brad Marchand, has been really annoying in the playoffs.
He's also been really effective.
In Buffalo's first-round series against Boston, Benson had two goals and an assist in six games. That was in addition to four minor penalties and two misconducts he received, including a slew foot against Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, which led to McAvoy retaliating by winding up and swinging his stick in Benson's direction.
"If I were on the other side, I wouldn't want to be coaching against him," said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff.
In Game 1 against Montreal, he kept up the annoyance.
Benson, who is tied with Sidney Crosby with a league-leading nine drawn penalties in the playoffs, was tripped on the opening shift. A few minutes later, he set up Doan at the side of the net to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead.
"It was a good D-zone draw. It starts with a win back there by (Norris) and then (Owen Power) makes a good, smart decision to go up the wall," said Benson. "Obviously, (Lane) Hutson lost his footing, and I saw him fall there, and I took the puck and tried to make the best play."
Less than 10 minutes later, Benson made a similar play when he found Ryan McLeod at the side of the net on the power play to put the Sabres up 2-0.
"I thought his effort was tremendous," said Ruff. "I know he made that great play on the opening goal, but he was in on drawing that first opportunity that got a power play. He had a heck of a series. When you look at a first playoff series, he was very good. He got off to great start in this series now in Game 1. That line gave us a great night. His effort on a lot of different plays made a difference in the game."
Indeed, whether you call them rats, pests or just plain annoying, it's the players who aren't afraid to get bloodied or bruised who are making the biggest impacts. And in Benson, Buffalo has a guy who opponents cannot stand.
Luckily for Sabres fans, they don't have to root against him.
"This is one of the best hockey cities in the world obviously," said Benson. "It's so electric right now, it's so fun to play in front of our fans every night. That's the word I would use: it's unbelievable."
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