Buffalo Sabres rising star Zach Benson will play in his 215th NHL game Thursday night against the Dallas Stars, and it's fair to say the winger has his routine down pat.
Benson recently appeared on NHL Tonight to discuss the Sabres' 2-1-0 start to the new season. The lighthearted conversation ended with talk about his favorite meals, and he named one of his most frequented local spots to grab a bite to eat.
"It's nothing crazy. I just go to 800 Maple the night before games, get the chicken downtown style," Benson told the NHL Network hosts. "And then before games I have some chicken with some Chick-fil-A sauce."
The 2023 first-round draft pick's career splits suggest the chicken may work a little magic.
Benson has played the same exact number of home and road games in his career (107), but he's scored 58 points at the KeyBank Center and just 44 points in away contests.
The restaurant's official website states: "800 Maple is Williamsville's go-to spot for New American cuisine in a sophisticated setting."
Benson's favorite dish, the large-plate chicken cutlets downtown style, comes in at $38.
"It's just vodka rigatoni with breaded chicken," he said. "Yeah, it's honestly unreal."
The @BuffaloSabres got a big comeback win tonight, and Zach Benson stopped by NHL Tonight to talk about it!
— NHL Media (@NHLMedia) October 7, 2026
📺: #NHLTonight on NHL Network pic.twitter.com/ha8L6M1B7F
The British Columbia native, who posted a career-high 43 points last season, has tallied no goals and one assist through the Sabres' first three games of the current campaign.
Zach Benson's line is driving play at an elite rate for the Sabres so far in 2026-27
Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff has been shaking up his lines quite frequently since the start of training camp as he searches for the right combinations after the high-profile departures of Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram over the offseason.
One forward trio has found a lot of success, though: Benson with Noah Ostlund and Jack Quinn.
They've generated a 65% expected goal share when on the ice at the same time, which ranks sixth in the NHL among lines who've played at least 30 minutes together, per MoneyPuck.
Yes, the sample size is incredibly small, but the top of the list is already littered with marquee names, including lines featuring Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers), Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights).
It feels like the Sabres' triumvirate has some staying power, too. Quinn appears to have taken his game to a new level this season, and putting him alongside a pair of puck-retrieving playmakers like Benson and Ostlund should unlock his full offensive potential.
Buffalo was hoping to see Benson's goal-scoring rate uptick in 2026-27 — while he posted a modest 34 goals across his first three seasons, he generated 53.2 expected goals (via Natural Stat Trick), suggesting better days may lie ahead — but even if that doesn't happen, his work has a forechecker, defensive menace and play-creator still gives him plenty of value.
That's why the Sabres front office, led by general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, signed the highly regarded forward to a seven-year, $52.5 million contract extension in June. He's now linked to the organization through the 2032-33 season.
So, 800 Maple better be prepared to keep that downtown chicken coming for the foreseeable future.
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