BUFFALO -- With the Buffalo Sabres mired in an 11-game losing streak, coach Lindy Ruff gathered his leaders and most experienced players together to help the team get back on track.
It’s a group that includes captain Rasmus Dahlin and alternates Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Dylan Cozens, and Mattias Samuelsson.
“We've met,” Ruff said. “We met again today and I said, ‘It's you guys,’ this group of five or six that I have been around more than the (Jiri) Kulichs and the (Zach) Bensons and those types of guys. It's you guys that I'm handing the puck off to. You're the guys that have to be the difference-makers.”
The Sabres are 0-8-3 during their skid. They’ve been outscored 45-24 and have struggled to hold on to leads.
On Monday, with the streak then at 10 games, owner Terry Pegula met with the team in Montreal, a day before they were to play the Canadiens. Players spoke Tuesday after the morning skate and, though they didn’t divulge what Pegula said, they noted him doing so was important and meant a lot.
They lost the game 6-1, falling to 11-17-4 and last place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Montreal.
“I believe in this group. I think we all believe in this group,” Cozens said. “We just have to be better. I do think that, looking at every guy in here, we have the team to win and we have the players to do it. But we’ve been saying that for a while now. It’s about time we go [expletive] do it."
The Sabres are expected to get a boost Friday when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SNO), with Dahlin on track to return after missing seven games with back spasms.
“I think the leadership snowballs from there, with a player like that that can step on the ice and he can garner part of that play,” Ruff said. “He's the guy that you count on to make the right play 90 percent of the time. He's vocal.
“I think that leadership snowballs from your top guy whatever sport you're in. Your top guy is the guy that a lot of times will dictate. Like if you've had a bad shift, your leader wants to go on the ice the next shift and say, give the ball to me.”
The defenseman, who has 19 points (six goals, 13 assists), played one shift to start the third period of a 5-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 3 before exiting the game. The Sabres led 4-1 at the time.
“That’s been a big thing on this streak we’ve had is when we give up one, we give up another, and then sometimes another,” Cozens said. “When we have a lead like that, we can’t play scared to blow the lead. We just have to try and push for the next goal. … We can’t sit back and try and not let them score.”
Buffalo was 11-9-1 on Nov. 23 and third in the Atlantic Division following a 4-2 win at the San Jose Sharks. It was the final game of a 7-2-0 run that began Nov. 5.
“Honestly, I think the best thing is to put [the losing streak] behind us,” Dahlin said. “Everyone has got to put it behind them. You can’t control what’s been done. ... you can’t do anything about it. All we have to do now is move forward. We have to start on a new page and build. You’ve seen a lot of games this year, we are a good team. This is not who we are.”
