Practice Report | A change on PP1; catching up with Peyton Krebs

BOSTON – The Buffalo Sabres continued their preparation for Game 4 against the Boston Bruins with a practice Saturday afternoon at TD Garden.

With no morning skate before the 2 p.m. Sunday puck drop, Buffalo held a full-team session and doesn’t appear to be making any lineup changes from the Game 3 win. Alex Lyon again occupied the starter’s net, and forward Josh Norris was again absent – he remains day to day with an undisclosed injury.

Here’s how the Sabres lined up at practice:

Buffalo quickly jumped into power-play work, which saw Noah Ostlund join the top unit on the right flank. Alex Tuch remained with the first unit in the bumper, while Jack Quinn dropped to the second group. Some new looks, the Sabres hope, will jumpstart a man advantage that’s 0-for-14 in the playoffs and 0-for-36 since the beginning of April.

“The hands match up. His playmaking ability,” coach Lindy Ruff said of the left-shot Ostlund. “We had some great opportunities last game; I think we have to bury our opportunities. But just another try of maybe catching a little bit of fire.”

Ostlund finished his rookie regular season with six power-play points (2+4), and his exceptional passing – his play to set up Bowen Byram’s even-strength goal in Game 3 was a great example – should add some creativity to the top unit. Check out his power-play highlights from this season (especially the pass at the end versus Toronto).

“He sees the game really well,” Ruff continued. “I think he understands where people should be on different plays. And his ability, a lot of times, to make the plays under pressure and find the next player are good.”

Here are some more notes from Saturday’s practice.

5 thoughts from Peyton Krebs

Peyton Krebs has made his usual, all-around impact in his first Stanley Cup Playoffs action, as he’s plus-five with three points (1+2), eight hits and nine faceoff wins in 16 tries (56.3 percent). On the decisive goal in Game 3, Krebs battled for a loose puck around the offensive zone before dropping off to an uncovered Alex Tuch.

Sabres.com caught up with Krebs on Saturday to discuss the series so far.

On Thursday’s game-winning assist: “Felt some pressure on me, and I saw Tuchy in the corner of my eye and just tried to lay it into space for him, take away the pressure that was on me. Great shot by Tuchy, and it’s the type of goals we need.”

On his first playoff experience: “It’s fun to be a part of that conversation to win a Stanley Cup – an opportunity to. Never had this opportunity, and it’s a lot of fun, I’m loving it, and I want to keep it going.”

On breaking through Boston’s defensive structure: “They do a good job in the neutral zone of clogging it up – and in the D zone. We’ve just got to make sure we’re confident and holding onto pucks and making those plays. A lot of times, maybe in the start of the series, we dumped it into places where we can’t get it back. And I think we’ve allowed ourselves to figure out what they’re doing, what we need to do to be successful.”

On pressuring Boston’s defensemen into turnovers: “I think we’re one of the fastest teams in the league – not only with our speed, but our puck play. And when we can get on those D, it’s not easy. … They’re not gonna be perfect every play, and they’re gonna make mistakes, and you’ve got to capitalize when they do.”

On the Sabres’ most surprising playoff beards so far: “I’ve seen people say [Zach Benson], but he started his about two months ago. I think [Michael Kesselring’s] is coming in not bad, actually; I didn’t know if he could grow one. ... Mine will be patchy, it’ll be pretty ugly, but it’ll be good.”

Practice sound

Up next

MSG's Game 4 pregame coverage starts at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The game is available locally on MSG and nationally on TNT, truTV and HBO Max. Full Sabres-Bruins broadcast schedule