Montour was exposed to more physicality in practice No. 2, a product of where the Sabres are in their schedule. They're currently amid of stretch of three days between games, the first such occurrence this season. They played 13 contests in 26 days concluding with Monday's shootout loss to Arizona.
Preparation for Washington - currently the only team above Buffalo in the league standings - begins Thursday. Wednesday was more about learning from their game against the Coyotes and continuing to form habits they have begun to instill during a 9-1-2 start to the season.
"More than anything, it's improving what's happened," Krueger said. "I thought we got a little bit softer on our defensive game after the quick lead against Arizona. We let a little bit loose. We found our way back in again and then a little bit loose at the end of the game again, the last four or five minutes. Then in overtime, we were strong again. So, we kind of drifted.
"We're not reinventing anything at all anymore. We're just trying to stick with our plan right through 60 minutes. That, I've told you all along, will be an issue for a while because the natural instincts, with a little bit of fatigue, end of a long shift or whatever, will take over. But it's really about just improving on the foundation that we've laid down."