Storylines
1. Revisiting Tuesday’s comeback
A combination of penalties and posts put the Sabres in a tough spot – a 2-0 deficit – through 40 minutes. But they surged back with third-period goals from JJ Peterka, Alex Tuch and Henri Jokiharju, each of which featured a Dylan Cozens assist.
In grinding through some unfavorable puck luck for their fourth third-period comeback win of the season, Buffalo exhibited its growth from earlier this season; months ago, Tuch and Ruff admitted, those frustrations might’ve amounted to an ugly defeat.
“It would’ve been a 5-1 loss, honestly,” Tuch said. “You just see the maturity, you see the change, you see no one was down. We were pushing each other, we were pressing each other, we were making sure each other were held accountable … and it was awesome.”
More adversity awaits the Sabres, who must make Tuesday’s effort the standard if they're to claw their way back into the playoff race.
2. Even-strength excellence
In two games since the break, Buffalo at 5-on-5 has outscored the Rangers and Ducks a combined 10-1 and outshot them 57-30.
Ruff attributes that dominance to won puck battles and, as a result, lengthy offensive-zone possession. Peterka’s goal Tuesday, which brought the Sabres within one, began with Owen Power digging a puck out of the left corner and feeding Cozens at the circle. With multiple Ducks having engaged Power against the boards, Peterka found himself wide open for a one timer.
Shortly after, the Sabres had such extended zone time at 5-on-5 that they executed a full line change while keeping the puck in Anaheim’s end.
“I thought we had a couple shifts offensively last night in the third period that you’d just like to bottle (up),” Ruff said. “… You get that type of play and you’re gonna have some success, for sure.”
That success didn’t begin Saturday for the Sabres, who rank third in the NHL this season in 5-on-5 goals scored (131) and ninth in 5-on-5 goal share (52.6 percent).
3. Scouting the Hurricanes
Thursday marks the second of three games this season between Buffalo and Carolina. The Sabres won the first matchup 4-2 on home ice Jan. 15, led by Ryan McLeod’s first career hat trick and 35 saves from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Jaccob Slavin scored Carolina’s first goal in that game. The American blueliner made headlines with his stellar defensive performance in the 4 Nations Face-Off, but that’s been his M.O. throughout his career. This season, with Slavin and veteran partner Brent Burns on the ice at 5-on-5, the Hurricanes have owned a 59-percent share of shot attempts and 58-percent share of high-danger scoring chances.
Carolina’s other goal Jan. 15 came from Martin Necas, who’s since been traded – along with Jack Drury – to Colorado in exchange for Mikko Rantanen. That deal also included Chicago, bringing former Sabres forward Taylor Hall to the Hurricanes.
Rantanen has 21 points (8+13) in 15 career games versus Buffalo, including a goal and two assists this season. He has just one goal and two assists in eight games with Carolina, although he’s led the team with 25 shots – and ranks second with 3.22 expected goals – during that span.
They’ve gone 3-5-1 since the Rantanen trade, most recently losing 4-0 in Montreal on Tuesday. But at 33-21-4 (70 points) this season, Carolina is tied with New Jersey for second in the Metropolitan Division and still sits comfortably ahead of Columbus (64 points).
Raleigh has not been kind to the Sabres, who’ve lost 10 straight games there dating back to 2016.
“You’re dealing with a team that gets all their matchups in their own building,” Ruff said. “They play a game that limits the opportunities – they’re really good at what they do.
“We played a strong game against them here (in Buffalo) – we really have to try to replicate that… Decisions we make and how we handle the puck in the offensive zone is going to be huge.”
