Rasmus Dahlin, left, and Ottawa's Brady Tkachuk congratulate Florida's Jonathan Huberdeau for a goal Saturday in Las Vegas.

 Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

LAS VEGAS – It's an exhibition game, albeit one that paid the winning division a split of a $1 million prize. But one important thing this NHL All-Star Weekend did for Rasmus Dahlin is give him a glimpse of life among the NHL elite.

He liked the view. In fact, he thrived in it. It even had him thinking about a day when the Buffalo Sabres are getting gobs of attention in the hockey world.

The hockey part for this weekend, of course, is gimmicky. But Dahlin put on a good show during the Accuracy Challenge of Friday's Skills event, taking the lead in his contest before other players passed him and he finished fourth. And he fit right in during Saturday's 3-on-3 tournament, playing a key role for the Atlantic Division in their 8-5 loss to the Central.

"I had a lot of fun. They're great guys and played a good game," Dahlin said Saturday in T-Mobile Arena. "It would even be better if we if we had won that game but just to be around all these guys and enjoy it with my family, talk to new guys and have fun with them ... I think the whole experience was awesome."

By the numbers, Dahlin tied for team-high honors in playing 7 minutes, 41 seconds of the 20-minute game. Central went on to lose the final to Metropolitan, 5-3, with Philadelphia's Claude Giroux taking home MVP honors.

Dahlin scored a goal on a breakaway in the second half, sliding the puck between the legs of Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros, and registered an assist on a goal by Boston's Patrice Bergeron. Dahlin had a team-high four shots on goal and an even rating playing in the 3-on-3 event with Bergeron and Detroit captain Dylan Larkin.

Dahlin was also stymied by the best save of the day in any game, as Minnesota goalie Cam Talbot made a spectacular toe stop of a Dahlin backhand when it appeared the net was wide open.

"Desperation on him," said a smiling Talbot. "It was one of those lucky ones that looks good on TV. Not technically sound."

"It was a great save. I got robbed there. So I wanted it back and kind of got it back," said Dahlin, whose goal beat Saros at 1:02 of the second half.

Dahlin's parents, brother, sister and girlfriend all attended the game. The family will be returning to Sweden on Sunday. Dahlin will go back to Buffalo to resume the Sabres' season Thursday against Columbus in KeyBank Center and he'll have a lot of memories to take with him.

A big one was the chance to spend time with fellow Swede and Norris Trophy winner Victor Hedman of Tampa Bay.

"It was amazing sitting next to him on the bench," Dahlin said. "We talked a lot these two days. And he told me to have a lot of fun and talk to everyone. It was pretty cool for sure."

"He's got great skills. He's a great kid soaking it all in," Hedman said. "That was his first time, but plenty more to come for that guy."

Atlantic coach Andrew Brunette of Florida was equally impressed with Dahlin.

"I thought he played great," said Brunette. "Just so smooth. One of the players we haven't seen a whole lot (the Sabres and Panthers have played only one time the last two seasons) but you can see that he's got something special. As he gets older, it's going to be interesting to see how he develops."

The same can be said for so many of the Sabres. With Jack Eichel now here in Sin City, Sam Reinhart with Brunette in Florida, Linus Ullmark with Bergeron in Boston and Rasmus Ristolainen (Philadelphia) and Jake McCabe (Chicago) both still in the purgatory of losing, the Sabres have become an instantly transformed club in just a few months.

"You see after the trade with (Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs) ... all those guys in the locker room are doing great," Dahlin said. "We have such a good chemistry, everyone loves hanging out with each other and it's just a great vibe in the locker room. I'm 100% sure it will turn out really good in Buffalo.  

"We have so many young guys who are super skilled and really passionate about Buffalo, first of all. You talk to all these guys and we love Buffalo. We really want to be there and we really want to do something special there too. I'm super excited for the future."

Hmmmm. Wanting to be there. That's a theme for GM Kevyn Adams. Also a theme about those who departed. They wanted out.

The Bills know what it's like to win and be beloved in Buffalo, a certain 13 seconds aside. Dahlin's weekend also included a meeting with Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins, who came to the rink to check out some hockey while he was in town for Sunday's Pro Bowl in Allegiant Stadium.

"It was incredible. He was an amazing dude," Dahlin said. "I really enjoyed spending time with him and just having a lot of fun."

Dawkins was even trying to suggest some new celebrations for Dahlin.

"He was dancing and just laughing. We were just having a great time," Dahlin said. "I told him there were way too many cameras around me so I was kind of shy. We had a great time."

The theme of Dahlin's weekend. Like Hedman said, the Sabres hope there are many more of these for him.

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