Tuch, Sabres 'got to be better' facing elimination in Game 6

BUFFALO -- Tage Thompson skated in, all alone, no one between him and Jakub Dobes. It was 3:49 of the second period, with the Buffalo Sabres up by a goal. He came down the left side of the ice, diagonally through the left circle, deking his body back and forth, before circling around to Dobes' right. 

He shot the puck. Dobes stopped it.

It was a moment that could have changed everything, could have put the Sabres up by two goals, could have cemented their lead, given them breathing room, pushed them to a Game 5 win.

But it didn't, another moment that didn't quite work from one of the biggest names on the Sabres roster. 

Thompson is, of course, not alone in his struggles in the Eastern Conference Second Round, where his Sabres trail the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in the best-of-7 series, with the Canadiens having a chance to clinch on home ice at Bell Centre on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, ABC).

Rasmus Dahlin has had a tough series. So has Alex Tuch.

But all three, three of the biggest names on the Sabres roster, will need to show up and show up big if Buffalo wants to force a Game 7. 

"We know this time of year, there's a heightened awareness on all your top players," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "Every opportunity, every mistake is being critiqued. We've gone through the game as coaches. There's some things we feel we can help our top guys out with. And you've got to be able to put the game behind you that you just played and be ready to move on to that next one."

In five games in this series, Tuch has zero points and is a minus-8. Thompson has four points (two goals, two assists) but is minus-9. Dahlin also has four points (one goal, three assists) and is minus-1 with 12 penalty minutes in five games. 

They're having trouble producing, having trouble staying disciplined, having trouble bolstering their team when it has been needed most. 

And they're not shying away from it. 

When asked if their best players have to be their best players to win Game 6 on the road, Dahlin said, "Yup. Simple as that."

Tuch, who is a pending unrestricted free agent, was particularly honest after Game 5.

"Offense has been hard to come by for me," Tuch said. "Think I've had a couple opportunities in the last few games. (Game 5) was nothing til really late, honestly. I've got to bear down. I've got to be better. … I can't play the way I'm playing right now. Just going to be will and determination, but I've got to move past it. I've got to move on to the next game, and I've got to be better for the guys in this room."

He added, "I feel like I've been easy to play against. That's not my game. I haven't been playing to my game. I've just got to elevate."

Part of that could be a loss of confidence, for Tuch, for everyone. 

That was what Ruff pointed to, on Thursday, when he discussed Tuch's lack of production after a regular season in which he had 66 points (33 goals, 33 assists) in 79 games and seven points (four goals, three assists) in six games in the first round. 

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who made his second straight start after Alex Lyon started the series, allowed five goals on 23 shots in Game 5, setting up a question about who will start Game 6 in net. He, too, took the blame on himself.

"I've got to be better," he said. "The whole team has to be better. I don't think it's much more complicated than that."

For these Sabres, this is mostly a first. Thompson hasn't been in the playoffs before this, certainly hasn't felt the pressure of the second round. Neither has Dahlin. Tuch has, reaching the Stanley Cup Final with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018 and the Western Conference Final in 2020. 

Perhaps that's the reason for the downturn. Perhaps it's that lack of confidence, that lack of execution, the poor decision making at the worst of moments. Perhaps it's inexperience.

It could be injuries. When asked if he was healthy earlier in the series, Thompson said, "I don't think that's any of your business," after he had a particularly bad outing in Game 2, a game filled with poor decision making, poor puck play, falling down, mistakes after mistakes after mistakes. 

"It's just the execution, trying to make a difference," Ruff said Friday. "When you look at the game being 3-2 and Thompson walks in alone, it could've been a difference maker. I mean, he scores there, it's 4-2, we're pretty happy. … This is the time of year when, you get the opportunity, you have to take advantage."

So far, the Sabres' best haven't taken advantage. They haven't pushed the team forward, not like they did in the first round, not like they've done all season. And that has left the Sabres in this position, where one more loss sends them home for the summer. 

So there is, to Ruff, only one way forward. One way to attack Game 6. 

"We have to play on our toes," Ruff said. "We've got to play to win. Can't be afraid. Got to play to win."