With Brian Boyle sidelined with a lower-body injury on a day-to-day basis, the door was opened for Sam Lafferty to play in his first game since Dec. 1, slotting in as fourth-line center for the Penguins game against the Sabres at PPG Paints Arena on Friday.
Following Friday's morning skate, Mike Sullivan said that he expected Lafferty to bring a "certain dimension" to the roster.
"For me his speed and his physicality is something that I think separates him from some others," Sullivan said. "When he brings that he's a very effective player."
Lafferty definitely lived up to those expectations in the Penguins' 3-2 overtime win.
The physicality stood out the most.
Lafferty recorded three hits -- tied for the team-lead -- in his 8:55 of ice time. And they were sizable. This one came in the second period on Vinnie Hinostroza:
He flattened Mark Pysyk in the third period:
Lafferty was challenged by Casey Fitzgerald for the hit on Hinostroza, and stepped up for his fourth career NHL fight:
"He brings a speed element. You saw the the physicality that he brought," Sullivan said of Lafferty's performance. "He had a pretty good fight there with with Casey Fitzgerald, and a lot of that stemmed from just his physicality."
The Penguins outshot the Sabres 48-21, including 36-18 at five-on-five, and all four forward lines were on the ice for more shot attempts and shots on goal for than they were against. But within that, Lafferty's line with Dominik Simon and Drew O'Connor was on the ice for the second-best ratio of shot attempts for vs. against and third-best ratio of shots on goal for vs. against of the Penguins' four forward lines at five-on-five. When those three were on the ice together, the Penguins recorded 11 shot attempts for and allowed five, and recorded six shots on goal and allowed four.
Smart backchecking by Lafferty played a role in limiting those on-ice attempts against:
The fourth line was on the ice for the Zemgus Girgensons rebound goal in the second period, but it's hard to fault any one of those players for the goal after the way Fitzgerald's shot initial shot through traffic pin-balled off of multiple players on the way in.
The Penguins utilized Lafferty on the penalty kill, pairing him with Jeff Carter as the second set of penalty-killing forwards during regulation. Lafferty and Carter were on the ice for 1:09 of total penalty-killing time, and the Sabres only attempted one shot during that span, one that was blocked by Carter.
The area of Lafferty's game that could stand to improve the most in this win was his work in the faceoff circle, not surprising given his limited experience as a center at the NHL level. He only took five faceoffs and lost the first four, finally decisively winning the final draw he took in the third period:
Sullivan thought overall that Lafferty played a "strong game," and he's hoping to see more games like this from Lafferty.
"When he plays the game hard like that, I think he has the potential to be a difference maker in our lineup."
