Despite losing in return to Buffalo, Dylan Cozens thriving with Senators

OTTAWA — Sometimes, the real story is more than just the final score.

The much-anticipated return for Senators forward Dylan Cozens to Buffalo had a sour taste to it, as Buffalo defeated Ottawa 3-2 on Tuesday.

“A little emotional for sure,” Cozens told reporters. “I really wanted to win that game.”

Cozens was flipped to Ottawa in a multi-player deal sending Josh Norris and Jacob Bernard-Docker to Buffalo on trade deadline day. Unfortunately for Norris, he was unavailable to suit up against his former team because of an undisclosed injury, which highlighted why Ottawa traded Norris. Health, or lack thereof.

Meanwhile, Cozens and the Senators can go to the playoffs with a good finish. Buffalo is on track to miss for a 14th consecutive season.

The return to Buffalo looked promising for Cozens when he helped set up the opening goal on the power play with a quick pass to his new housemate Drake Batherson, who fed Brady Tkachuk backdoor.

That version of Cozens hadn’t been on display in recent seasons in Buffalo. The former first-round pick had 11 goals and 37 points in 61 games with the Sabres this season.

“I thought I was going to be there (Buffalo) for a long time,” Cozens said. “You know, I thought I was going to be part of the solution. I dreamt every day about turning things around there and being a successful team and what it would be like.”

When Senators general manager Steve Staios acquired the 24-year-old Cozens, he said he loved his size, physicality, and five-on-five offensive production. He believed Cozens would regain his form from the 2022-23 season when he scored 31 goals.

In Ottawa, Cozens has been almost a point-per-game player with eight points in his first nine games. Exceeding expectations would be an understatement.

“To be honest, (Cozens) might be a little better than what we’d hoped,” said coach Travis Green. “And I think there’s still a lot of growth in him.”

He isn’t the first player, and perhaps not the last, to leave Buffalo and then thrive elsewhere.

O’Reilly and Eichel won the Stanley Cup in their first full season with their new teams, and all four players eventually won a Cup outside of Western New York.

The hope is for Cozens to be a cornerstone in eventually winning a Stanley Cup in Ottawa, just like all those other ex-Sabres. It's a small sample size, but Ottawa has a higher winning and points percentage with Cozens than before he joined the team.

As Cozens and others have thrived away from Buffalo, one immediately feels for Norris, who was on the precipice of his first playoff push only to be sent to a team playing out the string yet again.

“It was kind of a shock when it happened,” Norris said.

“There is a team that wanted me and traded a really good player for me.”

That really good player — Cozens — also has helped bring out the best in Batherson. The two had chemistry from their time at the 2022 world championship with Canada. Batherson went from not scoring in seven games before Cozens joined, to four goals and eight points in nine games alongside the Whitehorse native.

“Since Dylan's come in, he's really helped me,” said Batherson.

The duo has built a successful line alongside David Perron, who scored on the power play in the second period against Buffalo. Perron, like Batherson, has been heating up with four goals in his last eight games. The line of Perron-Cozens-Batherson has outscored opponents 6-4 at five-on-five.

Not bad second-line production.  

Ottawa was second-best in Buffalo on Tuesday, but the Senators have their long-term, second-line centre. 

Defensive issues

At this time in the season, with a playoff spot on the line, you must play your best players. Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub have been Ottawa’s best pairing all season, yet Travis Hamonic and Tyler Kleven played one more minute than Sanderson-Zub at five-on-five against Buffalo.

As Nick Jensen returned to the lineup, Green elected to replace Nikolas Matinpalo with Hamonic, who slid onto the third pairing with Kleven. All season, Hamonic and Kleven have struggled, getting outscored 10-3 at five-on-five. The alternative pairing of Matinpalo and Kleven has been relatively neutral, getting outscored 8-7 at five-on-five.

You merely want your third pairing not to be a liability. Routinely, Green tries to insulate Kleven-Hamonic by starting them 52.63 per cent of the time in the offensive zone, in contrast to the pairing of Sanderson-Zub (starting 34.83 per cent of the time in the offensive zone).

Kleven and Hamonic were on the ice for two Sabres goals, including starting the third period out with Tim Stutzle’s line: both Hamonic and Kleven overcommitted in front of the net, leaving Tage Thompson wide open for the game-winner. It was preventable.

Meanwhile, Kleven and Hamonic were out on the ice with three minutes left with Ottawa trying to score. Perplexing.

“We’ll watch the game tape,” said Green post-game about his third pairing’s performance.  

Hamonic ranks second-last in the NHL, according to Evolving Hockey, in terms of wins above replacement (minimum 50 minutes played).

Ottawa’s Achilles heel all season has been the third pairing. It’s something that Staios will need to address if Ottawa hopes to move from playoff contender to Cup contender.