The Buffalo Sabres were in an unfamiliar position, awaiting the results of a Game 7 contest between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens. In spite having a roster littered with Stanley Cup winners and outshooting the Habs 29-9, Alex Newhook’s third period sent the favored Lightning to the golf course early for the fourth straight postseason, and the young Montrealers to the second round for the first time in five seasons.
“Sometimes playoffs are just about winning the game. It’s not how you get it done,” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said on Monday. “You’ve got to find different ways. You watch that game last night. You got a crazy goal. You haven’t had a lot of opportunities…..Sometimes it doesn’t look real pretty, but you got to find ways to win games in the playoffs, and they found a way to win Game 7.”
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The Sabres split their season series with the Canadiens (1-1 at Key Bank Center and 1-1 at the Bell Centre), and were successful at playing effectively on the road in the postseason, winning all three games in Boston, limiting the Bruins to just three goals at TD Garden. That kind of success will be even more difficult to achieve in Montreal, in front of their rabid fanbase.
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“I think you (have to) manage to puck well and don’t give them the start they want. That’ll be a high energy building for sure. Every building in the playoffs is high energy,” Ruff said. “It’s one of the great places to play hockey, to be there for a game where (you’re) the home team (or) the road team. I couldn’t wait when I started my career to play in Montreal, because of the history of that place.”
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Ruff provided an update on his injured players on Monday. Center Noah Ostlund suffered a lower-body injury in Game 5 last week and has been ruled out for the second round. He had also indicated that Sam Carrick would be out for Round 2, but on Monday said that the veteran center is feeling further along than he said, and could practice with the club on Tuesday if he gets the go-ahead from the team’s medical staff.
Justin Danforth, who has been out since mid-October with a broken knee-cap, is working his way back, but Ruff would not rule out him returning if the club goes deeper in the playoffs.
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