Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Back in 2022, Bo Byram won the Stanley Cup in his rookie season with the Colorado Avalanche.
We’ve seen how this Buffalo Sabres team handles adversity in games, and it hasn’t been good. Every single team in the NHL has adversity during their season and during games, so I was curious how that Avalanche team and Byram handled adversity on the way to a championship.
"Everybody as individuals handle it a little different," said Byram on Tuesday following practice. "I think on that team, we were an older team with a lot of veterans in the lineup. So I feel like it was a little different, but I don’t think it changes how anybody deals with it. It’s tough, at times, and things aren’t going to go your way. But at the end of the day, it’s sticking to what you know best, sticking to your strengths as a player, sticking to your strengths as a team. That’s what we’ve got to start doing.
"In situations, I think sometimes we might stray a little from our game plan or what makes us successful. We’ve just got to play 60 minutes of good hockey. I feel like throughout the years we’ve had spurts of good hockey, whether it'd be a few games or a few periods. We just can’t seem to string it together."
There are many reasons why in the past two seasons, there have been sudden and fatal crashes within games. Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff knows why, but the players have to execute it.
"Really by trusting where your teammates are at, that they have to be at a certain position at certain times. There’s a lot of pressure that you can get, put under inside of a game, whether you’re breaking the puck out, whether you’re tracking back. It’s a D-partner knowing where his fellow partner’s at, it’s our strong side D going back, knowing where our weak side wingers going to be on a certain play. We need to trust that, and maintain that trust," said Ruff on Tuesday.
"Another piece is don’t overextend shifts. Overextending shifts has hurt us, where you might think you’re having a good shift and go on one more rush. But if you end up going back to your own end and playing tired, we’ve had a lot of goals scored against us because of a tired line on the ice."
The Sabres have had four three-game winning streaks this season, but they haven’t had a four-game streak since January of 2023.
"The only way you can go on a run is being predictable or consistent with your play, and a big part of that is your 5-on-5 play," Ruff said. "The part that has hurt us when we have lost is our management of the puck at key times of the game. I think if we’re going to become consistent and get on a real good run, it’s being predictable and managing the puck in key situations."
Ruff did drills on Tuesday stressing predictability, and getting pucks quickly to around the net.
When I talk about a mentally soft team, it’s having the mentality of not wanting to be the guy that makes the big mistake instead of just trusting your instincts and just go play. These guys didn’t become NHL players by being scared, but that’s what they’ve developed into here.
"It’s not easy when the team’s struggling. You don’t want to be the guy that’s dragging everyone down or making the big mistake that ends up giving the other team momentum. But at the end of the day, when you’ve got leads on teams, whether it'd be one goal or two goals or five goals, it doesn’t matter. You should keep playing the same way. There should be no hesitation in your game. It’s something that’s necessary to continue to win in the NHL, and it’s never going to be easy," Byram said.
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Don’t forget Wednesday’s home game against the Carolina Hurricanes is a 6:05 p.m. start. It’s also a radio only game with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.