Colten Ellis made his National Hockey League debut as goaltender for the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday, helping the team secure a 4-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings at KeyBank Center. Ellis, 25, stopped 27 shots, several of which came at crucial points in the game, and became the first Sabres goalie this season other than Alex Lyon to start.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff praised Ellis’ preparation and performance. “He’s done a lot of good things in practice, made a lot of good saves and he’s worked extremely hard,” Ruff said. “I just thought he looked comfortable.”
Ellis faced his first shot over 10 minutes into the game and later turned aside breakaway attempts from Marco Kasper and Dylan Larkin, maintaining a tie and keeping Detroit from building momentum. “The boys came out strong, and they were playing so good, and I was kind of like, ‘Gee, I need a shot here at some point to get me into it a little bit,’” Ellis said. He added that he stays engaged by watching who is on the ice for the opposing team.
Buffalo’s Jason Zucker and Tyson Kozak scored in the second period after Detroit took an early lead. Detroit’s Emmitt Finnie tied the game before the end of the second period. Early in the third, Kozak drew a penalty that led to Jack Quinn scoring on the power play, giving Buffalo a 3-2 lead. Ellis then stopped a close-range attempt by Alex DeBrincat before Josh Doan added another goal for Buffalo.
Ruff noted the significance of Ellis’ saves: “Those are the type of saves you build off of. You get a big save, and then a lot of times you go down the other way and score. Bench was fired up. The crowd was fired up when you see a save like that. So, it was a big momentum swing in the game, I thought.”
Ellis said reaching the NHL was meaningful not only for himself but also for his family and supporters. “It’s huge for me, but it’s also huge for everybody in my family,” he said. “They’ve made so many sacrifices to help me get to this moment. And there’s so many supporters – too many to name. It’s been crazy, the support I’ve had since I was young, that played instrumental roles and helped me get to where I am. It’s not only my moment; it’s all theirs as well.”
Jack Quinn matched his career high with three points in the game and has recorded four points over his last two contests. Quinn described his focus: “That’s the biggest thing I’m trying to focus on: getting myself looks, playing on the inside, getting those shots.” Ruff commented on Quinn’s performance: “When Jack gets to the middle of the ice, you know we’re going to see a real good play. But he is skating better right now than probably all of last year.”
Tyson Kozak scored in consecutive games after netting three goals during his 21-game debut last season. Ruff credited Kozak’s positioning near the net for his success: “He’s being rewarded for going to the right place and going to the right place hard.” Ruff added that Kozak is one of Buffalo’s best defensive forwards.
Jason Zucker left Wednesday’s game with an upper-body injury after scoring in the second period. He did not return for the third period, and Ruff had no further update after the game.
The Sabres will host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night at KeyBank Center. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be available exclusively via streaming on ESPN+ and Hulu.
