Sabres 5, Devils 2: Okhotiuk impresses in NHL debut

The Devils lost, Andrew Hammond struggled, and the power play was a disaster. But, hey, it wasn't all bad!

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A few observations from Buffalo’s 5-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils:

What a debut

We’ll start with a positive because, at this point, the development of young players is much more important than actually getting results as a team.

Nikita Okhotiuk was an absolute beast at both ends of the ice in his NHL debut.

Off puck he was smart, positionally sound, and physical when he could be. He consistently made good, accurate, outlet passes in stride to help the team successfully exit the defensive zone. He was also a lot more involved at the other end than I expected him to be; especially while still getting his feet wet.

He was holding the line effectively and not exactly shy when it came to shooting the puck. Only Dougie Hamilton (9) attempted more shots than Okhotiuk (7). The latter also piled up three scoring chances while netting his 1st NHL goal.

The coaching staff did not use Nikita on the penalty kill, opting not to put too much on his plate too soon.

He passed the initial test with flying colours, helping the Devils control *checks notes* 84%(!) of the expected goal share at 5v5 while being one of four players not to get scored on in that gamestate.

He’s not going to post underlying numbers like that every night but such a strong performance should give him confidence he can hang with the big boys down the stretch.