Owen Power

The former first-overall pick scored the first of his career on a shot that was assisted by Jeff Skinner and Tage Thompson in the third period. The goal stood as the insurance marker as the Devils could not find their offensive groove on Craig Anderson. Power has two points in five games this season. 

Power assisted on Alex Tuch's marker early in the second period. Unfortunately for the Sabres, they still went on to lose 6-2 to St. Louis. Despite the loss, Power took some positives from his second NHL game. "I think this was another step for me to get more comfortable in the league," said Power. "I thought it was a good night, but I thought I could do a lot better." Sabres coach Don Granato was also happy with Power's play, noting that there were some challenging moments for the rookie, but facing those challenges are part of the adjustment process to the NHL.

Power had a plus-two rating, a hit, and a block in 19:50 minutes of ice time. "I knew it was obviously going to be a step up but I think at the end of the day, it's just hockey," Power said. The Sabres took him with the first overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Rather than sign with Buffalo right away, he first served with the University of Michigan for the 2021-22 campaign, scoring three goals and 32 points in 33 contests. After finishing his NCAA campaign, he signed with the Sabres, allowing him to finish the season in the NHL.

That would seem to indicate that Power won't be eased into the lineup during his NHL debut on Tuesday. Jokiharju had been on the top pairing with Rasmus Dahlin, but Dahlin practiced with Mattias Samuelsson on Monday. Those are the probable top-two pairings for Tuesday's contest. "You don't want to get into his head too much," Jokiharju said of Power. "There's a reason why he's the first overall pick. I'm just trying to help him and he's got to do his own stuff. And I think that's why he's here, right? My job is pretty easy."