Here’s the second edition of this new feature we’re trying out here on Die By The Blade. We’ll be posting this on Sunday mornings.

Honorable Mentions

The Sabres had four players pick up four points this week going 3-1-0 with some pretty balanced scoring up and down the lineup. The two honorable mentions this week start with a rookie quickly making a name for himself.

In just his second game for Buffalo, Konsta Helenius set Broadway on fire against Nashville, setting up Noah Ostlund for two before slamming home his first NHL goal, all in an explosive first period. The 19-year-old is certainly making a strong case for staying up in the big leagues on the HBO line with Ostlund and Zach Benson.

On his return from injury, goaltender Alex Lyon immediately looked like he’d not gone anywhere at all. He seemed well on his way to a shutout against the Predators before Ryan O’Reilly sparked a second period mini-comeback. Lyon then did his best ‘impermeable wall’ impression as he stymied the Islanders time and again on Saturday afternoon to get his second shutout of the season as he finished the week 2-0-0, .950 sv percentage and 1.50 GAA.

Player of the Week

The Buffalo Sabres’ Player of the Week for last week is Jason Zucker. The forward’s aggressive forechecking sets the tone for how the Sabres are playing the game, and it doesn’t hurt one bit that he has the ability to hurt teams in more than one way.

While the power play misfired on all cylinders this week, Zucker instead made the Canadiens and the Islanders pay for sleepwalking after breaks. Lindy Ruff kept rolling out the Zucker – McLeod – Quinn line coming back from period breaks and the forward scored once against the Habs after 44 seconds, and then popped up from behind the net after 33 and then 25 seconds against the Isles on the Saturday matinee.

Zucker’s two-way value to the team cannot be understated – aside from his strong defensive play, he’s also tied second on the team with Alex Tuch for points scored per game (over twenty games played).

Drop a comment below on what you think of this feature, the picks this week and anything else you’d like to see here.