Sabres ready to ‘relax’ back on road for Game 6 of Eastern 1st Round

BUFFALO -- The Buffalo Sabres have felt right at home on the road.

After being unable to end the Eastern Conference First Round at KeyBank Center on Tuesday, the Sabres will head back to TD Garden in Boston for Game 6 against the Boston Bruins on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, TVAS2, SN360). Buffalo won Games 3 and 4 there to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series before a 2-1 overtime loss at home in Game 5.

The Sabres won 24 road games during the regular season (24-13-4), tied with the Tampa Bay Ligntning for second-most in the NHL behind the Colorado Avalanche (29).

“There's a lot more going on at home for you as a player, I believe, than there is on the road,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “You’re kind of in quarantine and you’re at the hotel. We have team meals. You’re in a little bit more isolation; you're away from family and friends and kids, but that's all things you have to deal with. And I think sometimes the road team can play a little bit different game, and you can frustrate the home team, too, at times.”

Buffalo won 3-1 at Boson in Game 3 after a goal early in the third period from Alex Tuch, then cruised to a 6-1 victory in Game 4, scoring four in the first period. David Pastrnak’s goal at 9:14 of overtime in Game 5 denied the Sabres in the first attempt to win a playoff series for the first time since 2007.

This is their first postseason appearance since 2011.

“We knew there was going to be a desperation level inside the game,” Ruff said. “I thought the start of the game, the power play got off to a good start. I just sensed the little bit of nerves with our guys. Our puck play wasn't as good as in Boston, so just get them to relax, play our game and be ready to go (on Friday).”

The return to Boston will not include rookie forward Noah Ostlund. The 22-year-old left midway through the first period on Tuesday with a lower-body injury after he got tangled up with Bruins forward Casey Mittelstadt. Ruff said Ostlund will miss “a period of time.”

Ostlund missed the first two games of the series because of an upper-body injury that sidelined him for 12 games (regular season and playoffs) but returned in Game 3 and made an immediate impact with a goal and an assist. He had 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists) in 60 regular-season games.

“The news wasn’t good,” Ruff said. “Don’t exactly know how much right now, but he’s going to miss some time.”

However, center Josh Norris, who has missed three games recovering from an undisclosed injury, is ready to return. Ruff also hinted that there could be tweaks coming to his lines, which have essentially remained the same for the better part of the past few months.

Norris had 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 44 regular-season games.

“Overall, if you look at where our lines have been on the 5-on-5 play, all the lines have had great opportunities,” Ruff said. “Some lines have taken advantage of it, some haven’t. There’s no hesitation with maybe flipping a piece around here or there.

“We’ve looked at the game and there’s parts we need to get better at, whether we reevaluate where our lines are at and flip a few pieces around, we’ll get to that tomorrow.”