Kulich exits, Sabres make tweaks ahead of week-long road trip

The final practice at KeyBank Center for 10 days – as the Buffalo Sabres pack their bags for a four-game road trip spanning from the nation’s capital to California – was an eventful one. Preceded by what coach Lindy Ruff called the longest video session of the year for his team, practice was shaken up early on as Jiri Kulich was helped off the ice after taking a puck to the face.

Kulich was positioned in the slot as Buffalo was taking power-play reps when a deflected puck came up high on the 22-year-old. Kulich was bloodied from the play and was seeing the doctor when Ruff spoke to the media after practice.

Ruff didn’t have an update on Kulich, including on his status for Saturday’s game in Washington.

There were some tweaks to the Sabres’ line rushes in the aftermath:

Should Kulich miss Saturday’s game, Thompson could find himself back at center with a pair of linemates he’s yet to play with this season – Jason Zucker to his left and Konsta Helenius to his right.

Here’s more from Friday’s practice.

Luukkonen staying in the moment

While the Sabres were on the ice, big news took the NHL by storm – goalie Connor Hellebuyck was dealt to the New Jersey Devils, ending trade speculation that began this summer, when Hellebuyck requested a trade from the Winnipeg Jets.

Buffalo and goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen at times appeared in media reports surrounding a potential deal since Hellebuyck’s trade request.

"It's going to quiet a lot of conversation around the league,” Luukkonen said of the trade. “That’s part of sports and that's what makes sports great is that there's always those conversations and names thrown around, but I think there's just so much talk about it around the league, around our team. I think it's good for everybody that some of that noise quiets down.”

Luukkonen noted the noise around a potential trade was louder than anything he’d experienced in his career, but also  mentioned the “respect” he has for Jarmo Kekäläinen after a recent conversation between the Sabres general manager and Luukkonen that reassured the goaltender of his future in Buffalo.

Ruff praised Luukkonen’s recent play amid the noise – Luukkonen has now made four consecutive starts, going 1-1-2 with a .890 save percentage. He didn’t hit the 20-save mark in each of his first three starts, but had 35, 26, 30 and 24 in his last four appearances.

“There’s been just key saves at key times in the games for us that has really made a difference,” Ruff said. “We know that there's kind of a threshold he gets to when he plays a number of games, and we need to get somebody else in the net. But I think any time a goalie gets to roll a few games in a row, he gets a little bit of momentum. (He) starts to feel good about parts of this game.”

Pucks on net

After Wednesday’s loss to Philadelphia, Ruff’s main qualm was that his squad wasn’t hitting the net enough.

Ruff distinguished that he’s looking for more pucks to find goalie pads from beyond the high-danger scoring areas. Of Buffalo’s 12 misses on Wednesday, seven came from high in the zone – outside the dashes and beyond the circles.

“When you’re outside the dots and you're driving in, and we got drivers going to the net, the greatest value you can have is getting (the puck) off the (goalie)’s pads,” Ruff said. “If you shoot it and he just catches it and the play's over, it's done. So, what we're talking about is getting it in there where you're creating a rebound, where you're creating some chaos for the other team. … When we're coming in at tough angles, don't miss the net, because the other team is ready to go the other way.”

Thompson has 45 shots on goal through 10 games, 17 more than the next-closest Sabre and second-most in the NHL.

“It’s different for everybody,” said Thompson, who had one miss and three shots on goal against Philadelphia. “For me, I'm always going to shoot to score. If I see something there, I'm going to try to hit it, and sometimes you miss the net, and it happens. I don't think anyone's trying to miss the net, but in certain situations, there might not be a shot where you know you're going to score from. You might just try to get it to hit the goalie and spit a rebound in the slot with guys driving there.”

The Sabres’ lone goal on Wednesday came from just that – a tough-angle Quinn shot that rebounded from the goalie’s pads before ricocheting off Zucker’s leg and into the back of the net.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” added Thompson. “You’ve got to definitely hit the net, but we need more bodies around the net for opportunities when it does hit them, and the puck's just sitting there.”

An opportune trip

Ten games in, the Sabres are sitting at .500 (4-4-2) and will embark on a four-game, eight-day trip on both coasts.

There’s lots to improve upon, per Ruff. Hitting the net, for one, but also zone entries– Ruff noted that the group had their “longest” video session of the year breaking down the latter.

“We tried to squeeze plays into where there was nothing, which in turn fueled a little bit of their rush and playing in our zone,” Ruff said of Wednesday’s loss. "(We’re) making sure that we're making it a lot harder on the opposition, making sure it's a 200-foot game.

“We cut the ice to 150 (feet) too many times. We're just inside the blue line, we had pucks taken away, or picked off, or what I would call ‘hope’ plays into the middle of the ice that go to the other team, and they go the other way.”

This long stretch away from Western New York will be a test of taking things “one period at a time,” Ruff added. The Sabres were 24-13-4 on the road in their Atlantic Division-winning season a year ago, so that philosophy has certainly worked before.

“Just start winning periods,” he said. “Can we win the first period? Whether that's 1-0, 2-1, 5-4, can we win the first period? That can do a lot of damage when you're playing on the road.”

The trip is, of course, a chance to grab some points – but also to get closer as a group.

“It's usually a great time to bond as a team and hang out, spend time with each other, and we're going to make sure we play some good hockey, too,” said Rasmus Dahlin. “I think this this trip will be really good for us.”