Sabres look to pick up pace, be 'loose' in Game 3 against Bruins

BUFFALO -- The Buffalo Sabres know what their identity is. 

They play with speed and pace from the first line to the fourth line and the top defense pair to the third pair. They can strike quickly, especially with an active and mobile back end, not allowing the opposition time to set up.

It’s what they’ll look to get back to Thursday when they visit the Boston Bruins for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round (7 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, NESN, MSG-B, TVAS2, SN360) following a 4-2 loss in Game 2 that tied the best-of-7 series 1-1 on Tuesday.

“We hung on to pucks a little bit too long in the neutral zone where I thought we could have got going up ice a little bit quicker,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “But that identity was that any line could beat the other team, and I think that still is our identity.”

The Bruins were harder and more aggressive on the forecheck in Game 2, neutralizing some of the Sabres’ ability to attack.

“We use the term, ‘You’ve got to play behind them’, and we’ve made a lot of good decisions, we’ve made a couple decisions we’d like to have back,” Ruff said. “I’m pretty sure there’s a couple probably they’d like to have back in the last couple games. We know that they’ve got five people back. We faced that for most of the year with almost every team we played in the second half. …

“We were getting pretty good at creating opportunities off of offensive-zone play. Again, I think the key to that is you’re going to have to control the puck a little bit better. I think we missed plays that we don’t normally miss, and part of that was our puck play wasn’t as good as the previous game.”

Perhaps being on the road will help them get back to what allowed them to have the best record in the NHL over a four-month stretch from early December through the end of the regular season. 

After going 0-5-2 through their first seven road games and 2-9-2 through their first 13, the Sabres went 22-4-2 in their final 28 games away from home, from Dec. 9 on. With 24 road wins, they finished tied with four teams for second in the NHL, behind the Colorado Avalanche (29).

“I think maybe playing free isn’t the right term, but it seems like when we’re on the road we’re loose and (playing with) lots of energy,” defenseman Logan Stanley said. “We kind of get four lines and three D pairs are rolling and (we) play with a lot of pace and energy, and I think that’s helped.”

In addition to solving Boston’s tight defensive structure, Buffalo is looking to break through on the power play. The Sabres are 0-for-9 in the series and 0-for-31 in nine games dating to April 1.

“Obviously, we'd like to get on the board,” said center Josh Norris, who is typically on the right flank on the first power-play unit. “I thought we had a couple really good looks last game. We tried to generate some momentum for our team, but, yeah, like I said, we'd like to be better. Power plays are huge, obviously, in the playoffs and we’ve got to find a way to put one in and just be better next game.”

The top unit features defenseman Rasmus Dahlin at the blue line, forward Jack Quinn on the left flank opposite Norris, forward Jason Zucker at the front of the net and center Tage Thompson as somewhat of a rover between the high slot and the goal line. The second unit has defenseman Bowen Byram working up top, forwards Zach Benson and Ryan McLeod on the flanks, forward Josh Doan at the net and forward Alex Tuch as the rover.

There have been power plays over the course of the drought where the Sabres have had good looks. Overall, though, the lack of production and potential loss of momentum as a result has been an issue that’s led to Ruff being asked about it regularly in recent weeks.

“It's always a concern, for sure. I think we'll have to tweak some things,” Ruff said after the game Tuesday, when Buffalo went 0-for-5. “… Some of our execution, some of our puck play hasn't been good enough. I think we stabbed a few pucks that we need to hang on to that would give us more zone time. That's just the realization that you know where the pressure is coming from again, but obviously at this stage, it's going to be a conversation in the coaches room, for sure.”