‘“Off the ice, it’s been very smooth since I know the area,” Vanek said prior to Thursday night’s 6-3 win over the Sabres. “On it, we have a deep team and it reminds me a lot of my first couple years in Buffalo when we had those runs. We have veteran guys here like Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, ‘Pommer,’” meaning former Buffalo teammate Jason Pominville, “and we have young guys who can play. You look at Darcy Kuemper and he’s like a young Ryan Miller. He’s tall and big and can take games over. It reminds me of those years.”’