It was clear through the first three games that the Buffalo Sabres were missing something. The problem was that there was a lot wrong, and a lot of players out due to injury, that it wasn't necessarily clear what exactly was that one thing that was missing.
Well, that question appeared to be answered on Wednesday night against the Ottawa Senators as Zach Benson would make his season debut. The forward missed the early part of the season due to an injury from the preseason and looked set to make his debut in the season opener against the Rangers.
However, he suffered an injury during practice the day before the Rangers game when he was hit in the face with a puck that would end up resulting in a trip to the hospital. He has been able to work his way back and made that debut against the Senators, and did so in historic fashion.
Zach Benson becomes second-youngest player on Buffalo Sabres with four assists in a game
While he didn't score any goals, he had an assist on half of the eight goals scored by the Buffalo Sabres. According to the Buffalo Sabres, Benson would be the second-youngest player in franchise history to have four assists in a single game. The youngest was Pierre Turgeon, who had four assists during the 1988-89 season at the age of 19.
Benson made an impact in almost every area of the game as he had almost 17 minutes of ice time in this game with 3:43 on the power play and 1:24 on the penalty kill.
What is more remarkable than anything, and shows his value in each area, is that he had the primary assist on Ryan McLeod's short-handed goal, along with an assist on one of Jason Zucker's two power play goals. He would have one assist in 5v5 on Jack Quinn's goal in the third period and then an assist on the empty net goal at the end of the game.
Even though he is only 20 years old, Benson has been in the NHL almost full-time the past two seasons. As a rookie, he had 30 points and followed it up with 28 points this past season, but if this game is any indication, he might be well on his way to a career season and will be a key part of the success the Buffalo Sabres are able to have.