Benson Has “That Kind Of Smirk On His Face That Irritates You”

The Buffalo Sabres practiced on Tuesday in preparation for the opening of their second-round series against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night. The club finished off the Boston Bruins in six games, while Les Habitants went the full seven games with Tampa Bay. One of the keys to the Sabres’ victory over the Bruins in the series finale was the play of youngster Zach Benson, who scored the insurance goal in the third period to give Buffalo some breathing room.

Throughout the series, the BC native was the focal point of the Bruins ire and an irritating presence on nearly every shift, something that Boston should be familiar with since they had Brad Marchand on their roster for 16 seasons. That pestiness provoked Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy to take a baseball swing at Benson after the Sabres winger tripped him near the end boards.

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“He’s hard to play against. There’s the pest that’s real annoying, there’s a pest that’s really hard to play against, and I think he’s a real hard player to play against,” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said. “He plays the game the right way. He has the puck a lot. He can score. I mentioned yesterday that he’s annoying, because he gets to the net all the time. He gets to the puck. He’s the first touch. If he’s not the first touch, he’s all over you to try to get it back. Then he’s got that kind of that smirk on his face that he irritates you too as an opposition player. It makes me smile when it annoys other people.”

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Benson has played over 200 games in the NHL since being drafted 13th overall in 2023 and posted a career-best 43 points (13 goals, 30 assists), but has slowly evolved into the role of an irritant and seems to enjoy chosen path.

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“It’s part of the game that he likes. Being in another team’s face and being annoying and being called a pest. I don’t think it’s something that bothers him one bit.” Sabres linemate Josh Doan said. “He enjoys this part of the game. It’s that competitive side of him. He’s not going to be the biggest guy and blow you up, so if he’s going to get in your head, it’s going to be from being annoying and stripping you or or crashing into your paint and being around your goalie as much as you can. I think he doesn’t get as much credit for how strong he can be in those areas. It’s not very easy to get him out of there, so over a long over a long series, it gets tiring.”