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Zach Benson, affectionately known as the 'rat' by his Buffalo Sabres teammates, is proving to be a crucial player for the team. Despite his small stature, he has made a significant impact as the Sabres advance in the playoffs.

Zach Benson is Buffalo's 'rat' â and he's exactly who the Sabres need originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
BUFFALO, N.Y. â Zach Benson is the epitome of the athlete who you love when heâs on your team and hate when heâs on the other side.
Even his own Buffalo Sabres teammates lovingly call him their ârat.â Pick whatever noun youâd like: Pest. Annoyance. Pain in the you know what.
Benson may be small, 5-foot-10, but on this night, with the Sabres in the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 19 years, he was a giant.
The third-line winger was Montreal Canadiens enemy number one on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, a 4-2 win for the Buffalo Sabres to gain an immediate edge.
âHeâs one of the guys that you definitely donât want to play against,â Bensonâs lineman Josh Doan told The Sporting News after the game. âThatâs the biggest honor you can have as a player is hated to play against. Those are the guys that you want on your team. Weâre pretty fortunate to have Benny with us.â
Buffalo Sabres teammates call Zach Benson a 'rat' as a term of endearment, reflecting his pesky playing style that annoys opponents.
Zach Benson is 5-foot-10, and despite his smaller size, he plays with tenacity and skill, making him a valuable asset to the Sabres.
Zach Benson is significant for the Sabres as they reach the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 19 years, contributing both energy and skill to the team.
Zach Benson plays a crucial role as a forward, bringing a competitive edge and a disruptive style that benefits the Sabres' gameplay.

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Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff chose to start Bensonâs line on Wednesday, the nominal third-line group with Josh Norris and Josh Doan, for a quick burst of energy. Ruff was quick to question afterward, though â âWho said they were our third line?â
The number didnât matter.
Benson and his feisty linemates did.
It took Benson just 30 seconds to draw a tripping penalty on Lane Hutson, and while Buffalo didnât score on that powerplay, the tone was set.
Benson created Buffaloâs first goal soon enough. He had a nifty takeaway near the benches -- again making Hutson look bad -- drove into the offensive zone, then set up the easiest tap-in of Doanâs life for 1-0 Sabres.
âWeâre building together,â Doan said of his partnership with Benson. âYou get paired with a guy over and over again, youâre gonna start finding each other. We play the game very similarly.â
The âratâ had the primary assist on the second goal, too, dishing to Ryan McLeod for a 2-0 lead.
âIf he was on the other side, I wouldnât want to be coaching against him,â Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. âI thought his effort was tremendous.â
The only thing Benson couldnât manage on this night was a goal of his own.
He came closest to getting an empty-netter for Buffalo, but the timing in the offensive zone didnât work out quite right against a scrambling Montreal defense.
That didnât matter, though. Benson scores goals, but he isnât a goal scorer.
Heâs the guy who will do whatever it takes to win. Heâll get into scraps with defensemen who are eight inches taller than him. Heâll crash into the boards, fall down, and get right back up to take the puck away anyway.
Every time Benson touched the puck, or even approached it on Wednesday night, the Buffalo crowd buzzed in anticipation.
Heâs still just 20 years old, but heâs everyone in Buffaloâs favorite show right now. If Benson is on the ice, something is bound to happen, and right now, itâs almost always something good for the Sabres.
âThat line gave us a great night,â Ruff said. â(Bensonâs) effort on a lot of different plays made a difference in the game.â