By new look, does this mean Lindy is going to pull their heads out of their asses?
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Changes are in the offing for the Buffalo Sabres in the wake of Thursday night's 4-1 loss in Ottawa.
When the Sabres meet the Washington Capitals on Saturday in Capital One Arena, Alex Lyon is expected to be in goal after Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen played the last three games to end the club's alternating goalie tandem. And judging by practice Friday, there's going to be some tweaks to the forward lines, as well.
Josh Doan was up on the top line with Peyton Krebs and Tage Thompson, reuniting a trio that played well during Buffalo's 10-game winning streak in December. Alex Tuch was back with Josh Norris and Jason Zucker. And Tyson Kozak was centering the fourth line in place of Josh Dunne, between Jordan Greenway and Beck Malenstyn.
The Sabres' Josh Doan, left, skates with the puck as the Senators' Jordan Spence tries to push him off during Thursday's game in Ottawa, Ontario.
Sean Kilpatrick, The Canadian Press via AP
"I look at our 5-on-5 scoring. I think it just needs a little freshness," coach Lindy Ruff said after the workout at Medstar Capitals Iceplex. "I think the lines have been together a long time. I think it's time just to tweak them a little bit and just let them go out and play."
The Sabres will be in their second straight win-and-get-in game to end their playoff drought, and might have their berth secured before faceoff if the Detroit Red Wings lose a matinee to the New York Rangers.
"We were slow (in Ottawa)," Ruff said, " Not making excuses, but maybe the pressure of being there (at the clinching point), just a little bit of that caught up to the guys. Today was about just getting up to pace, playing fast, playing our game. I thought the energy was great. I thought the pace was great. I thought we skated better because we had nothing to gain today."
"It's one of those games where it's a 1-1 game heading into the third and right there, and I have a couple chances that I miss," Doan said. "That's something that I got to be better at right now. And I think there are a lot of guys in the room that were excited for last night's game, and we just didn't get the job done. But I don't think there's much panic in our room, right now, with where we're at."
Lyon is 20-9-4 this season and is one win shy of tying his career high, set two years ago in Detroit. His 2.69 goals-against average is a career best, and his .910 save percentage is just off his personal best of .914.
"There's a million sliding scales playing around with the edges," Lyon said of his skating in the crease. "I think when things aren't going the way you want, it's really important to get back to kind of ground zero and reset the gears a little bit and just focus on the things that make you good, just simplify a lot and be really competitive."
Lyon said players should relish some adversity as they head toward the playoffs. The Sabres are just 2-2-2 in their last six games after going 33-6-2 in one of the most dominant half-seasons in recent NHL history.
"As long as I've been in the NHL, that was the longest sustained run of success that I've ever experienced as a group," Lyon said. "That's extremely rare, and so we just kind of have to keep sight of that and remember that when we were in September and October and November, there were difficult times."
Sabres will give a different look for matchup against Caps
When the Sabres meet the Washington Capitals on Saturday in Capital One Arena, Alex Lyon is expected to be in goal. And judging by practice Friday, there's going to be some tweaks to the forward lines, as well.
Changes are in the offing for the Buffalo Sabres in the wake of Thursday night's 4-1 loss in Ottawa.
When the Sabres meet the Washington Capitals on Saturday in Capital One Arena, Alex Lyon is expected to be in goal after Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen played the last three games to end the club's alternating goalie tandem. And judging by practice Friday, there's going to be some tweaks to the forward lines, as well.
Josh Doan was up on the top line with Peyton Krebs and Tage Thompson, reuniting a trio that played well during Buffalo's 10-game winning streak in December. Alex Tuch was back with Josh Norris and Jason Zucker. And Tyson Kozak was centering the fourth line in place of Josh Dunne, between Jordan Greenway and Beck Malenstyn.
The Sabres' Josh Doan, left, skates with the puck as the Senators' Jordan Spence tries to push him off during Thursday's game in Ottawa, Ontario.
Sean Kilpatrick, The Canadian Press via AP
"I look at our 5-on-5 scoring. I think it just needs a little freshness," coach Lindy Ruff said after the workout at Medstar Capitals Iceplex. "I think the lines have been together a long time. I think it's time just to tweak them a little bit and just let them go out and play."
The Sabres will be in their second straight win-and-get-in game to end their playoff drought, and might have their berth secured before faceoff if the Detroit Red Wings lose a matinee to the New York Rangers.
"We were slow (in Ottawa)," Ruff said, " Not making excuses, but maybe the pressure of being there (at the clinching point), just a little bit of that caught up to the guys. Today was about just getting up to pace, playing fast, playing our game. I thought the energy was great. I thought the pace was great. I thought we skated better because we had nothing to gain today."
"It's one of those games where it's a 1-1 game heading into the third and right there, and I have a couple chances that I miss," Doan said. "That's something that I got to be better at right now. And I think there are a lot of guys in the room that were excited for last night's game, and we just didn't get the job done. But I don't think there's much panic in our room, right now, with where we're at."
Lyon wants to get back to being king
There were no issues with Luukkonen's game on Thursday, as he only gave up two goals before the Sens' two empty netters. Lyon, meanwhile, has struggled in his last two outings, giving up 11 goals in losses to Anaheim and Detroit and posting a sickly .808 save percentage in them.Lyon is 20-9-4 this season and is one win shy of tying his career high, set two years ago in Detroit. His 2.69 goals-against average is a career best, and his .910 save percentage is just off his personal best of .914.
"There's a million sliding scales playing around with the edges," Lyon said of his skating in the crease. "I think when things aren't going the way you want, it's really important to get back to kind of ground zero and reset the gears a little bit and just focus on the things that make you good, just simplify a lot and be really competitive."
Lyon said players should relish some adversity as they head toward the playoffs. The Sabres are just 2-2-2 in their last six games after going 33-6-2 in one of the most dominant half-seasons in recent NHL history.
"As long as I've been in the NHL, that was the longest sustained run of success that I've ever experienced as a group," Lyon said. "That's extremely rare, and so we just kind of have to keep sight of that and remember that when we were in September and October and November, there were difficult times."