BUFFALO — Sabres coach Lindy Ruff likens diminutive winger Zach Benson’s ability to get under opponents’ skin to an annoying bug that keeps flying around you.
“He’s like that insect that won’t go away,” Ruff said following Sunday’s practice in KeyBank Center. “You keep swatting at it, but you just can’t quite get it, and it keeps landing on you.”
The tenacious Benson, 20, landed on the Boston Bruins’ you-know-what list during the first-round playoff series, giving them fits as he hounded the puck and navigated to the front of the net.
He also scored twice, including early in the third period of Friday’s 4-1 series-clinching win to restore the Sabres’ two-goal lead.
Then with 91 seconds remaining in Game 6, after Benson tripped Charlie McAvoy as they raced to the puck, the defenseman got up in a rage and gave Benson a two-handed whack, likely earning himself a multi-game suspension.
To Ruff, the aggressiveness the 5-foot-10, 177-pound Benson possesses can’t be taught.
“I think it’s DNA-driven,” said Ruff, whose Sabres open the second round Wednesday at home against the Montreal Canadiens. “I think it’s inside him. I think he has fun doing it. There’s lots of guys inside the league that have that quality they’re irritating guys to play against, and he’s become one of them in a short period of time here.”
Every team needs a rat, especially at playoff time. Benson has morphed into one of the NHL’s foremost agitators.
How much does he aggravate opponents? In the Sabres’ six-game series win, he drew eight penalties, a number that trails only Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, who drew nine, in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
While he puts opponents in the box, Ruff said Benson has improved at “not crossing the line.” Early in his career, Ruff said the youngster took too many “foolish penalties.”
His penalty minutes from 60 last season to 42 this year. He did, however, play in 10 fewer games.
“He’s realized that there’s been times he’s hurt the team, and now he’s got that part of his game in a real good place,” he said. “He’s drawing penalties, he’s using his speed. He’s been irritating people because of how hard he’s been playing, and when he has the puck, he’s a tough guy to get it away from, too.”
Benson said he aggravates opponents by “just playing the game.”
“Our line can be a pain to play against,” said Benson, who plays left wing alongside center Josh Norris and Josh Doan. “Nothing to do with chirping or anything, it just comes down to battle, compete.”
Doan also annoyed the Bruins by backchecking, stealing pucks and winning races.
“I think Doaner’s so good at picking guys’ pockets that that can be frustrating over six games, or however long you play. It’s never fun to play against guys that compete and battle every shift like our group did all series.”
Doan illustrated that compete to create Benson’s goal in Game 6.
Almost six minutes into the third period, with the Sabres clinging to a 2-1 lead, Doan and two Bruins took off down the ice when the puck slid out of the Buffalo zone.
After zooming past the Boston blue line, Doan moved between McAvoy and David Pastrnak as the puck approached the left side of the end boards.
As Pastrnak tied up Doan, McAvoy took a swipe at the puck and missed, allowing Doan, who heard Benson calling for the puck, to backhand the puck to the front of the net as Pastrnak slammed him into the boards.
Benson quickly beat goalie Jeremy Swayman alone in the slot at 5:58.
“That’s Doaner to a T,” Benson said. “I knew he was gonna win that race, and obviously it was a super special play on his behalf. That goal was all him, obviously. That’s one of many perks of playing with the ‘Doan Show.’”
Following the goal, Benson and his teammates skated to Doan, helped him get up off the ice and celebrated.
“There’s a chance you’re getting hit pretty hard there, but, yeah, you got to find a way to get a puck through there to Benny,” Doan said. “That’s a big-time play, a big-time goal there.”
Doan was referring to Benson shooting the puck into the top corner of the net, not his own dogged effort to create the goal.
Benson has recently enjoyed the best goal-scoring stretch of his three-year NHL career. He scored six of his career-high 13 goals in the final 13 games of the regular season.
“I don’t if it’s something that clicked,” Benson said of his increased output.