Alex Tuch marvels at Josh Allen after pitching in on another Sabres victory

Dec. 19—LAS VEGAS — The Buffalo Sabres had just finished hearing coach Don Granato congratulate them for Saturday's 5-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes and reporters entered the dressing room at Mullett Arena to a lot of noise, but virtually no players.

Almost the entire team was in a restricted area with the TV locked on the finish of the Bills-Miami Dolphins game in Highmark Stadium. Suddenly, a big roar came from the out-of-sight group to celebrate Tyler Bass' game-winning field goal.

Diehard Bills fan Alex Tuch, a major cog in the Sabres' victory, emerged hooting and clapping among a group of smiling players. Yelled someone from across the room, drawing more laughs: "Tuchie, remember you're not on the team."

Tuch has developed a friendship with quarterback Josh Allen and marveled about him again Sunday after practice in T-Mobile Arena. He said most of the team saw two plays prior to the Bass field goal and that he was blown away by Allen's clock management to get the Bills in position to run it out and win.

"He's one of the best players in the world, not only as a quarterback, but in football, in general," Tuch said of Allen. "To be able to, like, watch him and see how he sees a play, and next thing you know no one's open and he's throwing it perfectly in (Stefon) Diggs' hands. Wow. The confidence, coolness, calmness. You see him growing over the past few years. Everyone notices it. And I think the entire BillsMafia nation has faith that he was going to develop into the player he is today."

Tuch continues to develop into a standout all-around player for the Sabres, with 15 goals and 34 points in 31 games. He had three assists Saturday, and created several quality scoring chances. And playing with Tage Thompson on a third-period penalty kill with the Sabres nursing a 3-2 lead, Tuch made several strong plays on the puck to keep the Coyotes at bay.

"He was dangerous, over and over. He was a beast, and when he gets going, it's impressive," Granato said after Saturday's game. "The penalty kill was as impressive a 30 or 40 seconds I've seen out of any player this year in any situation. He was there in three different spots, winning physical battles and races. He's impressive when he gets going like that."

With Tuch on pace for career highs of 39 goals and 89 points, Granato reiterated his belief in him here Sunday.

"Lots of times, we talk about these younger guys because they're 21 years old," Granato said. "And we forget that some of these guys that are 24, 25, especially in this sport, can get better. Way better. Alex, because of his incredible athleticism and now his incredible experience, we're trying to get him to look at that and see, 'OK, how can this bring you to the next plateau?' "

Tuch said he's building chemistry on the penalty kill unit with Tage Thompson, just as he does at 5 on 5 or on a power play.

"On the PK, you're able to read off guys, you're able to pressure together," Tuch said. "I thought we had a lot of momentum. And we weren't letting them set up."

Defense

The Sabres are expecting to get some help on defense Monday night against the Vegas Golden Knights with the return of defenseman Ilya Lybushkin for the first time since Nov. 28, when he was struck by a shot from Tampa Bay's Steve Stamkos.

Owen Power and Jacob Bryson both remain off the ice with lower-body injuries. Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson were both kept off the ice Sunday to rest. With four defensemen injured, Samuelsson has averaged 30 minutes and Dahlin 28:56 per game in the two contests on this trip.

After Tyson Jost's empty-net goal put the Sabres ahead of the Coyotes 4-2, Granato actually called a timeout to give his top two blueliners more rest.

"Not often would you call a timeout up 4-2 and allow the top line on the other team rest," Granato said. "But we feel so comfortable that it's 'Put the top line out against those two guys.' They can handle it.' "

Eichel-less Vegas struggling at home

The Golden Knights are an NHL-best 14-2-1 on the road, but only 8-8 at home, including 1-5 in the last six. It's a huge talking point here, and is equally baffling to Tuch, an alumnus of Vegas' 2018 Stanley Cup finalists.

"Maybe it's just luck," Tuch said. "The fans are unbelievable. It's one of the loudest, if not the loudest, building in the league. They're going to be coming out hard tomorrow because they want to make it a hard place to play. That was always a key focus when I was here, to make this building the hardest building to play at, and they've done a good job for years. So I'm sure they want to get back to it."

Former Buffalo captain Jack Eichel is expected to miss his fifth straight game with a lower-body injury. Eichel has a team-high 13 goals and 29 points in 27 games this season.

Soccer fans get their kicks

There was plenty of dressing room chatter about the Argentina-France classic in the World Cup final earlier Sunday. Granato said the players were riveted at the hotel and quickly hustled down the street to prepare for practice so they could catch the dramatic penalty-kicks finish in the arena.

Near the end of practice, Granato called for a shootout drill by joking, "World Cup. Five shooters."

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