Center Dylan Cozens wins silver for Canada in Finland with seven goals five assists in 10 games played
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BUFFALO, N.Y. (5-30-2022) - Third-year Buffalo Sabres center Dylan Cozens took to the ice Sunday night against Finland for the gold medal match of the 2022 IIHF world championships.
Cozens scored Canada's only goal four minutes into the second period with an assist from New York Islanders standout Mat Brazal on the team's power play. It marked the only power-play goal Finland allowed in the entire tournament.
Despite playing on different NHL teams, Cozens said his goal was mostly due to the precision and puck handling from Brazal.
"Mat Barzal was the key. His deception, his ability to make that pass to me," Cozens said in an intermission interview with TSN. "All I've got to do is get good wood on it and it's in the back of the net. That's all Barzal on that pass there."
Despite Canada's strong effort, Finland won their second consecutive gold medal win in overtime on a power play goal from Sakari Manninen. Cozens finished the tournament with 13 points on seven goals and five assists. He had 38 points on 13 goals and 25 assists in the NHL regular season.
However, he only scored two goals in the Sabres final 37 games. What was different in this tournament.
"It's my linemates," Cozens said. "They've been great in my success."
Cozens Sabres teammates also participated in the tournament, with defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and center Rasmus Asplund representing Sweden. In eight games Dahlin had two goals and seven points while Asplund had six goals before Sweden lost to Canada in the first playoff round.
Cozens results from the tournament suggest with the right team he can be a productive center for the Sabres. As the team prepares for the NHL draft and free agency, team general manager Kevyn Adams looks to add instant impact players to build off Cozens and Dahlin's perfromance from both the season and the tournament.