Lindy Ruff laid out the sort of desperation he wants to see from the Buffalo Sabres when it comes to cashing in on net-front chances after a couple of low-scoring games.
“Stick the puck in your teeth and dive into the net headfirst,” Ruff said.
The Sabres will look to reverse their scoring fortunes – and the tenor of their season-long, six-game road trip – when they visit the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday.
Buffalo has scored a combined three goals in two losses to begin the road trip despite a litany of chances in both games. The most recent loss, in Winnipeg on Friday, saw the Sabres finish with a 19-8 lead in high-danger chances (according to Natural Stat Trick).
That 4-1 loss to the Jets included multiple situations in which the Sabres drew goaltender Eric Comrie out of position and created a loose puck in the blue paint, neither of which converted to a goal.
“You look at the couple situations where the puck was loose in their crease in Winnipeg, I didn’t think our desperation was good enough,” Ruff said.
Ruff shook up his forward lines for Sunday’s practice as a result, including the addition of physical winger Jordan Greenway to the top line alongside Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch.
Greenway has been playing every other game as of late, part of a load management plan designed to allow the forward to rebuild strength as he continues his recovery from offseason hernia surgery. He had four hits and three shots in the loss in Winnipeg.
“We’ve got to be sick of losing, sick of letting games get away from us,” Greenway said. “I think just wanting a win, needing a win, is truthfully all the motivation that I think we need.
“We haven’t scored as much as we wanted to in the last couple games and I think it’s frustrating guys, frustrating us as a whole. So, I expect our motivation going into tomorrow night to be very high.”
The puck drops at 9 p.m. Here’s what you need to know in the meantime.
