Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Lindy Ruff put his Buffalo Sabres team through a 45-minute practice on Saturday before a two-period scrimmage.
There was some good news for the Sabres on Saturday, as winger Alex Tuch participated in his first practice of the season, though he was held out of the scrimmage.
"I thought he really looked good, and I think tomorrow he’ll be a full go [in the weight room]," said Ruff following the scrimmage.
Ruff doesn’t think Tuch will play in the preseason opener on Monday against the Blue Jackets, but may be in the lineup Tuesday in the second game of their back-to-back with Columbus. Ruff says they just want to get him skating more.
Meanwhile, Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was still watching practice from behind the bench on Saturday.
"He’s really feeling good now too, so whether he’s ready to participate on Monday or not, we’ll see," Ruff noted with his goalie. "But a couple of really good reports on how he’s progressing."
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The scrimmage Saturday was pretty one-sided, as Team White goalie Alexandar Georgiev had an easy time shutting out Team Blue, 4-0.
Georgiev didn’t have to make a tough save until the final two minutes. That’s when captain Rasmus Dahlin found Josh Norris alone in front, and then Dahlin came cruising alone down the slot.
Jiri Kulich caused a neutral zone turnover and walked in down the slot, and used his great shot to beat goalie Alex Lyon.
Kulich made huge strides in his rookie season, and one thing Ruff said last year was they have to get him to use his elite shot more. He did that to score the goal, which impressed the Sabres head coach.
"We know he can rip it, and he just proved that on the first shot today," Ruff said. "You might look at that and say, 'It’s not a great goal,' but I think with Jiri’s shot, those are the types of goals he can surprise goaltenders with."
Ruff also liked Josh Doan’s scrimmage on Saturday. He was impressed with the line of Doan, Kulich and Jack Quinn.
The Sabres' No. 2 power play unit made it 2-0 when defenseman Bo Byram dislodged the puck from under Lyon, and got it to Doan, who tapped the puck into the yawning cage.
Right after that, Isak Rosen fired a bomb past Lyon to make it 3-0.
Dahlin made a horrible pass up the slot that was picked off by Anton Wahlberg. The big winger found Beck Malenstyn for the scrimmage’s final goal.
This has been a tough camp, and one of the things Ruff was trying to accomplish on Saturday was to put them out there with heavy legs and see how they react.
"We talked about it in our meeting this morning. You’re going to be tired, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be lazy getting off the ice for bad changes. If you’ve got to stay on the ice, stay on the ice," Ruff said.
"Yes, we’ve had hard days, and we’re going to have hard days during the year. When we get those times, if it’s hard now or even harder, it’ll seem a little easier when we get to the really hard days."
With preseason games right around the corner, different coaches treat goaltenders in different ways.
"We’ll probably go two periods, so if we give a goaltender two periods and give a goalie a period, and then everybody is going to get two periods [in two games]," Ruff explained.
We saw the two power play units for the first time in practice. The first unit had Dahlin as the quarterback at the point, Norris and Tage Thompson on the flanks, Jason Zucker in front and Tuch out high in the bumper spot. On the second unit, Owen Power was the quarterback on the point, Kulich and Quinn on the flanks, Byram in the bumper spot and Doan at the net-front.
If you’re questioning why general manager Kevyn Adams insisted that Doan be included in the JJ Peterka trade, I think you’re going to be surprised.
Last year as a rookie with the Utah Mammoth, Doan needed a minute to get used to the NHL. As the season dragged on, the 23-year-old seemed to get better. Fans ripping the trade just see seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points in 51 games.
Talking to hockey people around the league, they feel there’s a rather large upside to this kid.
Doan has an elite shot, which helped him score 26 goals in 62 games with the Tucson Roadrunners in the American Hockey League. He also is extremely hard to play against, and will be in the middle of everything agitating the other team.
When he heard Ruff wants to make this team a lot harder to play against, Doan was ecstatic.
"That’s something you’ve got to take pride in, and something as a kid that was preached to me that no matter what happens," said Doan. "You’re going as hard as you can, and it’s something I can look back on since I was five or six-years-old. There’s still parts of my game that I want to grow in, but no matter what I’m working on, it’s something that’s built into me and is who I am. It takes a lot of pride."
The question with the winger is can he raise his offensive numbers.
"It’s always growing," Doan said. "It’s been a couple of years now where I’ve had a little bit of success, and it’s taken a bit. But in Tucson in the AHL, I found my stride and in college, I found it (16 goals in 39 games with Arizona State). So at the end of the day, this league is a really skilled league. You’re getting an opportunity to produce no matter who you’re on the ice with. It’s something I worked on a lot in this offseason, watching videos of guys like a [Sam] Reinhart or a [Sam] Bennett that are good around the net and can score goals. I take what I can from them."
To get two full teams in the scrimmage, some of the Rochester Americans took part, including Rosen, Konsta Helenius, Noah Ostlund, Wahlberg, Tyson Kozak, Ryan Johnson, Josh Dunne, Jack Rathbone and two goalies: Devon Levi and Topias Leinonen, who didn’t play.
The team won’t skate on Sunday.
Part of the group will head to Columbus on Monday to play the Blue Jackets. The other part will practice.
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