Buffalo’s 5-1 win against the Ottawa Senators came with a couple of noticeable healthy scratches to the lineup.
BUFFALO — After three straight losses that came after three straight wins, it was about time for the Buffalo Sabres to get things back on the right side. After all, the 2-1 loss in Detroit on Saturday saw one of their poorer efforts in the second period of that game and some terrible errors in judgment leading to two Red Wings goals.
But on Tuesday night, the Sabres looked like a much more disciplined and focused team, not to mention physical, in beating the Ottawa Senators 5-1. Scoring twice on the power play, going a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, and putting the Senators away when the game got close midway through were all great things to see.
What’s more notable about the win is that it came with defensemen Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju in the press box as healthy scratches.
The desire for accountability within the Sabres room at last saw repercussions for it with two key players, including an alternate captain, being sat out all while the guys who did play put together one of their most complete wins of the season.
“I want those two guys to raise their standard and I need their standard to be a lot higher,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.
More from a strong Sabres performance with a dramatic turn of events involved ahead.
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Sabres players made it clear following the firing of Don Granato that they wanted the next coach to be someone that will hold them accountable when mistakes are made and the quality of play and adherence to the system wavered or disappeared completely. That wish was granted when Ruff was brought in and, until now, Ruff has held off from making any sort of bombastic changes. Setting the tone and establishing the bar to reach was necessary.
But following three consecutive losses, the latter two of which featured the Sabres playing, at times, woefully poor hockey, Ruff had seen enough and dispatched Samuelsson and Jokiharju, two beloved and respected players in the room, to the press box.
“I think we’ve discussed what is necessary to win hockey games,” Ruff said. “I’ve probably been more patient than I’ve ever been just trying to figure these guys out. But there’s a standard you have to play to, and the standard hasn’t been good enough. Other guys have sat, I met with both players today and discussed what is acceptable and what will work if you’re in the lineup if you’re not. I thought the guys that have stepped in and did a good job.”
Against Detroit, Jacob Bryson entered the lineup and replaced Connor Clifton, but Clifton was back in on Tuesday night along with Dennis Gilbert. Bryson paired with Owen Power while Gilbert and Clifton were together on a physical third pairing.
That change didn’t spur the Sabres to score five goals by itself. The performance of J-J Peterka on the power play scoring twice on the man advantage, including a classic one-timer on a setup by Tage Thompson, allowed the Sabres the opportunity to make Ottawa pay for its penalties. If those scratches provided a shock of reality to the team that things will be different, the message was received clearly.
“That was a perfect response,” Thompson said. “That’s what you want to see. That’s kind of a textbook game on what we want to play. I think the last couple games we slowed it down a little bit too much maybe, more so just on Detroit. But we played fast tonight, we played quick, and we stayed above them on their breakouts, and I think it frustrated them. They kept trying to make passes through us and we picked them off and went back the other way. We’ve been on the other side of it too and that’s frustrating hockey.”
Making it hard to get through any zone on the ice has been an obvious problem for Buffalo over the years and in a few games this season. But doing that while also stepping up physically gave the Sabres the chance to be bullies of sorts. Jordan Greenway’s hit on Tim Stützle in the first period that was quickly followed by his former Boston University teammate Brady Tkachuk dropping the gloves with him set the tone.
Buffalo scored on the power play thanks to Tkachuk getting called for an extra minor for unsportsmanlike conduct allowed them to cash in on another team being too extra at the wrong time. Being able to rile up Tkachuk without things getting too out of hand requires a delicate balance of things to happen and Buffalo was able to toe that line well enough.
“My point with the players was get emotionally involved in the game,” Ruff said. “Get emotionally involved in the game. We were emotionally involved in the game tonight right from the start.”
There was a scuffle late in the third period when Tkachuk and Gilbert went at each other at center ice that left the ice looking like a yard sale once everyone else got into the mix. Tkachuk’s previous shift saw him take a couple of high-speed runs looking for a big hit only to come up empty twice. Late-game shenanigans in a decided game? Why, I never.
Still, this was the kind of game the Sabres needed to happen to snap them out of the malaise that settled in abruptly after a few losses. Being around a team that’s in a slide of any kind is not a good time, but this time around it had something a little extra to it. Whatever that may (or may not) have been was gone after such an emphatic win.
For as good as Buffalo played, it doesn’t wind up being a win going away without Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen coming up big when called upon. His 37 saves were tied for most in a game for him this season, but this time he came away with a win.
His save on a sudden 2-on-0 against Joshua Norris and Noah Gregor in the first period after a Thompson turnover at the top of the circle was a critical one after the Sabres had just taken a 1-0 lead.
“I’m happy that I made the save, I had a good read on it,” Luukkonen said. “That’s kind of how I want to continue. If you want to be a winning team, if you want to be a winning goaltender in this league, you have to make those.”
Luukkonen’s performance was critical, particularly after Ruff spoke on Tuesday morning about needing more from his goalies in key breakdown scenarios. He mentioned one of the goals allowed against Detroit as an example where he would’ve liked a save, but there have surely been a few others. That sentiment wasn’t one Luukkonen heard from Ruff, but the coach was happy to see it no matter what.
“I mean, that’s a save that – probably the save of the game,” Ruff said. “That probably gets them back in it at a critical time. Big mistake on our part but our goaltender helped us out. And I think that’s the type of save you need that can ignite your team.”
Ruff has made it a point to not hang any losses directly on goaltending and that’s for a good reason: it’s the easiest thing to do. It also lets the forwards and defensemen off the hook as well.
But after seeing the goaltending he had in New Jersey last season, he’s more than aware of how things can really go south between the pipes. But it’s about the standard, right? And goalies knowing they’ve got a standard to keep themselves is a good thing.
“It’s not always – you can’t say it’s the goalie’s fault, but goalies have the chance to change that, and I think today was a good example of that,” Luukkonen said.
Next up is a road game at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers on Thursday who are, again, looking like one of the best teams in the league early on and with one of the best goalies in the world in Igor Shesterkin. There are no easy games in the NHL, but a game with the Rangers is especially more difficult. But if the standard can be adhered, well… anything can happen, right?