Sabres coach Lindy Ruff: ‘Our ‘compete’ was terrible’ in a 3-1 loss at Boston
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff didn't mince words about his team's lackluster start in a 3-1 loss Saturday night to the Boston Bruins.
Lindy Ruff did not hold back when he evaluated the Buffalo Sabres in the wake of a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins.
“I thought our ‘compete’ was terrible,” Ruff said Saturday night at TD Garden. “Worst ‘compete’ in skating and moving our feet that I’ve seen.”
The words of Ruff, the Sabres coach, were warranted. His team came out with minimal urgency to start the game, which established a dubious tone for 60 minutes against the Bruins, an Atlantic Division rival.
Buffalo Sabres left wing Jason Zucker, right, scored the only goal in a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday at TD Garden in Boston.
(Joed Viera/Buffalo News)
The Sabres put only two shots on goal in the first period, and finished with 23, including 13 in the second. They had no crispness or fluidity in their puck movement. They didn’t have second men rushing to the front of the net to pick up rebounds or to create close-range scoring chances. Per NaturalStatTrick, the Sabres finished with three high-danger scoring chances.
Now, the Sabres return to Western New York, in serious need of a quick reset – and, if you were likely to ask some of them, a healthy shock to the system – as they prepare to host the Colorado Avalanche at 12:30 p.m. Monday at KeyBank Center. The Avalanche entered the weekend 2-0 and lost 5-4 in a shootout to Dallas, a Stanley Cup favorite, Saturday night in Denver.
“We’re past practice, at this point,” said Sabres left winger Jason Zucker, who scored his team's first goal of the season. “It’s a mindset thing. We’ve got to find our legs. We’ve got to think about holding onto pucks a little bit more, taking a bump and holding pucks, rather than throwing things away, and have a little bit more confidence with it.”
Two nights after the New York Rangers shut out the Sabres 4-0 in the season opener at KeyBank Center, Zucker helped the Sabres avoid opening the season by being shutout in back-to-back games for the first time since October 2003. Zucker scored his team’s first goal of the season at 9:46 of the third period on a shot from the right circle that deflected off Boston defenseman Andrew Peeke.
But consider the first period: The Sabres put only two shots on Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman (22 saves), and the Bruins outshot the Sabres 17-2 in the first 20 minutes.
“It just wasn’t good enough,” said Zucker, whose team was outshot 31-23, overall. “We weren’t winning battles. We weren’t skating. I don’t think we were supporting each other enough. We were a little too far apart offensively. We were throwing pucks away. We are not making many plays, offensively, right now. We’ve got to be better there.”
Alex Lyon, in his second start in goal with the Sabres, became the lone saving grace in those first 20 minutes. Lyon (28 saves) stopped just about everything he faced in the first, until Pavel Zacha beat him on a spectacular turnaround shot from the left circle off a feed from Jordan Harris in the corner 15:48 into the period.
“That first period was all Alex, really,” Ruff said.
A bad bounce foiled Lyon in the second. Mark Kastelic's shot from the right point deflected off Sabres defenseman Conor Timmins, then bounced between Lyon's pads to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead midway through the second.
The Sabres, though, need to create a sense of urgency from the first faceoff, not when they’re down by a goal or withstanding a barrage of shots.
And it’s not just one player who scores or a player who wins the opening faceoff. Zucker was ready to take on that responsibility, but also said the older players on the team share that mandate, to play with a sense of necessity from the opening faceoff, down to the final seconds.
“The urgency has got to be there,” Zucker said. “We’re saying the right things. We’re not executing properly, right now. It starts with me. We’ve all got to be a little better, look in the mirror and come ready to play on Monday.”
As far as the Sabres’ veterans and stars?
“It was not a good night for them,” Ruff said.
Right wing Alex Tuch had one shot on goal in nearly 21 minutes on the ice. Ryan McLeod, elevated to center on the No. 2 line, went without a shot and won four faceoffs but lost 11. The Sabres’ power play unit – primarily made up of Zucker, Tage Thompson, Tuch, McLeod and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin – was 0 for 4.
“We’re too much on the fancy side,” Ruff said. “Until we put the boots on and go to work and realize the only way we’re going to win hockey games in this league is to outwork the other team.”
Ruff will find out if his team will do just that Monday afternoon against the Avalanche.