Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres will likely have Tage Thompson back in the lineup on Wednesday when the team hosts the Minnesota Wild.
Thompson says he told the team in San Jose he was ready last Saturday to play against the Sharks if they needed him. However, the team decided it would be better to give him four more days of rest before returning to game action.
"It was one of those things that has been frustrating," said Thompson on Tuesday following practice. "It’s nice to see that the boys get six points on the road trip (3-0-0), obviously I’d have liked to have been in the lineup helping them out, but it’s just one of those injuries that was nagging me. I thought I was close, but I still feel it every once in a while. I was just better off making sure I could go, so taking that week to make sure I’m 100%, I feel good. I had a good day today, and I’m ready to go tomorrow."
Or course it's difficult to watch, but the team was 4-1-0 without Thompson, and he enjoyed what he saw.
"We played hard," he noted. "It was a big road trip with a lot of important games for us, and I just love the compete and the will to not give up, especially being down in a couple of those games. It just speaks to the character of the guys in our room, and I think there’s no doubt from the guys inside these walls that we can do something special. It’s just being consistent."
From a team standpoint, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff says many things went into the decision not to use Thompson in San Jose.
"It was the process of getting him to where we needed to get him, and on a back-to-back game and not practicing before that, he even felt he needed a couple of really good practices. So it was going to be really hard to evaluate where he was at," said Ruff following Tuesday's practice.
"I know he said he felt better, but he did say he would prefer to have a couple of practices. It was all part of that decision."
Jiri Kulich has been centering a line with Jason Zucker, and they seem to talk after every shift. That communication has been a great resource for the team to have.
"I think it’s great for everyone on the team. I think that’s how you get better, talking whether it’s positive or something you could’ve done better," Thompson said. "It just shows we’re all pulling in the right direction, that we want to get better and we want to win. And we have a guy like that that’s bringing guys into the fight. It’s something you need, and something winning teams have."
Ruff was hard on the team during Tuesday’s practice, especially in the beginning. He stopped practice and let them know, in no uncertain terms, that what they were doing wasn’t good enough.
I’ve seen Ruff during good streaks, and he can be even harder on the group. He says just because they’re 7-2-0 over the last nine games, doesn’t mean they have it made.
"The way we started practice today, it wasn’t like we were out to improve. To me, I thought we had to start going harder," Ruff said. "After a long plane ride and a day off, I didn’t like the way we started practice. We have an extremely tough schedule coming up, and the teams we are playing are extremely tough to generate opportunities against.
"We found ways to win, and there was a lot of good in those three games. But there’s a lot of opportunity to improve. We’ve got to generate more opportunities. I think the intensity and the dirty goals, stuff is kind of dried up. We’ve got to get back to getting inside and getting more people around, like the [Dylan] Cozens goal or [Zach] Benson right around the net front. And probably the last thing is making the next play. When that next play is there, our execution part, I thought, lacked a little bit. So today’s practice was trying to ramp up the scoring opportunities inside of a game."
Related
The Wild come into Wednesday's game with a road record of 9-1-3.
On Friday, the Vancouver Canucks are the opponent, and as of Tuesday morning, they’re 7-1-0 on the road. That's before a road matchup with the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.
On the other hand, the Sabres are 7-1-0 against the Western Conference, with the only loss being in the home opener against the Los Angeles Kings. Despite severely outplaying the Kings in that matchup, Buffalo lost, 3-1.
Jordan Greenway had a procedure for his mid-body injury, and Ruff says it could possibly help him. They’ll see what happens in the next couple of days.
The Sabres had to make a roster move to activate Thompson for Wednesday’s game, and they sent Isak Rosen back to the Rochester Americans.
Rosen played one game on the road trip in San Jose, where he got 6:29 of ice-time.
TUESDAY’S LINES:
Forwards:
Peterka – Thompson – Tuch
Krebs – Cozens – Benson
Zucker – McLeod – Kulich (Quinn)
Malenstyn – Lafferty –Aube-Kubel (Rosen)