Storylines
1. Out of the box
Buffalo went 12-for-12 on the penalty kill during the three-game California sweep. Still, the PK units were overworked, and the team returned home intent on improving discipline and avoiding short-handed situations.
“It’s a key area – discipline,” Ruff said after Wednesday’s morning skate. “We’ve taken some careless penalties, stick infractions that we’ve got to get away from.”
The Sabres responded with a zero-penalty performance that night against Minnesota, their first such game since Dec. 4, 2021 at Carolina.
Yes, Buffalo lost 1-0 on Wednesday despite staying out of the box, but its consistent offensive zone pressure and skating effort limited the potential for those unforced penalties seen in California.
“They’ve got a dangerous power play – if we give them power plays, that’s going to give them life,” Tage Thompson said postgame of the Wild. “I think minors are an indication of [not] moving your feet. I thought we were tracking well tonight, and usually when you’re doing that, you’re not taking stick penalties.”
2. Sticking with it
Results aside, the Sabres felt encouraged by their scoring opportunities versus the defensively sturdy Wild. After Kirill Kaprizov’s first-period, 4-on-1 goal, which resulted from too many Buffalo skaters crashing the net, the Sabres applied consistent offensive pressure without surrendering many odd-man rushes the other way.
“We didn’t put ourselves in a position where, all of a sudden, we were giving up crazy chances and making it a two-goal game,” Ruff said. “The opportunities were definitely there to at least get a point out of the game.”
A night of pressure culminated in a last-minute, 6-on-5 scramble in front of Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson, with Buffalo barely missing on several prime scoring chances.
“Sometimes you run into a hot goalie and you’ve just got to find a way,” said forward Alex Tuch. “We’ll learn from that experience and move on and find a way next time. We’ve got a couple really strong opponents coming up, so we have to turn the page on this one.
3. Scouting the Canucks
Like Minnesota, Vancouver has thrived on the road this season, posting an .800 points percentage (8-2-0) away from Rogers Arena – including an eight-game road winning streak prior to Wednesday’s loss at Pittsburgh.
Much of that success is attributable to goalie Kevin Lankinen, who in eight road games has gone 8-0-0 with a .941 save percentage and 1.62 goals-against average. His work in net behind solid defensive play has kept the Canucks (11-7-3) afloat during the absence of Thatcher Demko, who’s nearing a return from his April knee surgery.
“It tells you the depth of the team, and the type of job the coach [Rich Tocchet] has done there with that group, that you can lose a guy like that and still be able to win hockey games,” Ruff said.
Vancouver is also without a 103-point scorer in forward J.T. Miller, who remains away from the team due to personal reasons. In his absence, a new-look top line, with Elias Pettersson centering offseason acquisitions Jake DeBrusk and Kiefer Sherwood, has outscored opponents 5-1 at 5-on-5 in seven games together.
Reigning Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes leads the Canucks – and ranks second among NHL defensemen – with 23 points.
“I think they’re a lot like us – some mobile defensemen, they’ve got a little bit of depth in their scoring and they defend hard,” Ruff said.
