Sabres shake up power play seeking spark in Game 4 against Bruins

BOSTON -- The number has grown unwieldy. Since April 2, before the Buffalo Sabres had even clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, let alone known that they'd be facing the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference First Round, the Sabres have not been able to capitalize on the power play.

The run is now 0-for-36, including 0-for-14 in the first three games of the postseason.

"It [stinks] because you need to score goals," forward Tage Thompson said, when asked if there was improvement on the power play. "Special teams in playoffs are difference makers. That's how you win games.

"We need to capitalize and put them in the back of the net. I think if we start doing that, we'll take over games even more. But definitely got looks and started to generate a little more chances than we have in the past. But I think it's just going to take one going in for us for us to start to feel it."

That was why the Sabres made an adjustment to their power play on Saturday, ahead of Game 4 against the Bruins at TD Garden on Sunday (2 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, NESN, MSG-B, SN, TVAS), even with Buffalo up 2-1 in the best-of-7 series. They moved Noah Ostlund from the second unit where he was in Game 3, to the first unit. He replaced forward Jack Quinn. 

"We had some great opportunities last game," Ruff said. "I think we have to bury our opportunities, but just another try at maybe catching a little bit of fire."

Ostlund returned to the lineup in Game 3 in place of the injured Josh Norris (day to day with an undisclosed injury), who did not practice on Saturday, and did everything the Sabres could have asked in his playoffs debut. The 22-year-old rookie had two points (one goal, one assist), with the goal coming as an empty-netter to ice the game at 18:36 of the third period. 

"He's a coach's dream because those are the type of players you don't really have to coach," Ruff said. "He pretty well knows where he's going almost every time. Very few times in the D-zone does he get out of position. His reads to his coverage or our part of our scheme are always really good. 

"I think any time you have players that get close to that mark where almost 90 percent of the time they're doing the right thing, you get pretty effective lines, and you get pretty effective centermen." 

Ostlund played 60 games this season after playing eight last season. He had 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists) in 13:58 of ice time. He's well regarded within the Sabres for his potential and his hockey IQ. 

"He was really highly thought of with the way he played in Rochester," Ruff said, of the Sabres American Hockey League affiliate. "(Rochester head coach Michael Leone) just said this guy does a lot of great things – plays well defensively, his reads and his playmaking ability are real good – and so I think the first 10 games, I really got an appreciation for the way he played and did he exceed them. I just was pleasantly surprised how well and how consistent he played after that."

Ostlund admitted that he had some nerves before the game on Thursday, his first playoff game, but hoped that he would feel more settled on Sunday, better able to know what was coming at him. 

But this will be a bigger role and a bigger responsibility, all the more notable for how long the Sabres have gone between power-play goals.

"That's something I want to have in my game and something I want to bring to the table," Ostlund said, of getting the chance. 

There's no question that the Sabres will get their chances on the power play. They have 14 so far over three games, and they're playing against a team that was the second-most penalized in the NHL in the regular season with 978 penalty minutes, behind only the 1,207 of the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

So there will be opportunities.

The question is what they do with them – and whether Ostlund can help.

"He's got a lot of skill," Thompson said. "I think everyone saw his game the other night. Plays extremely hard and he's got a lot of skill and thinks the game at a high level. Can shoot the puck well, so I think they've got to respect his shot over there. Now you have one-timers on both sides and I think just a little mix up too sometimes just to see if things click."