Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) – When Lindy Ruff arrived in Buffalo to coach this year’s team, he talked about one-percenters meaning little things players can do within games to help win games.
With nine wins in 12 games and 15 wins in their last 19 at home, we’ve been seeing a lot more of a commitment to playing the right way. To players supporting each other and doing the right things within Ruff’s system.
One player who always plays the game the right way is Alex Tuch. You look at his stats and see 33 goals which are 20th in the NHL, but there are two important stats where he leads the league.
Tuch leads all forwards with 187 blocked shots and 125 takeaways. Tuch is six blocks from the NHL record for forwards. He said.
“In my last couple of years I’ve really focused on the defensive side of things, especially when the offense isn't always clicking, I have to find a way to make myself effective.
"I just try to be a utility knife out there and be able to play in all different situations and be a guy that we rely on late in games or a big PK or a power play, a bumper in the net front and I think I’ve been pretty good 5-on-5 production wise, so I’m just trying to make it easier on all of my teammates.”
Tuch is 14th in the NHL with 21, 5-on-5 goals. Tage Thompson leads the league by seven with 32.
There are many things that go into being a good shot blocker. On defense, Connor Clifton, Bo Byram and Mattias Samuelsson are excellent at it. For Tuch much of it is his speed and length. He said it’s something he wanted to improve on,
“I think I’ve gotten better at it the last couple of years, it’s something that I’ve focused on and it’s not always just eating this big one-timer, it’s making sure that there’s not a lot of space between you and your defenseman, making it hard on them and I have a pretty long stick, so I try to use my stick as much as possible and I think there’s a lot of bocks where I have it off my stick as well.”
When it comes to takeaways, nobody in the NHL is more of a thief than Tuch. He amazes me how he sneaks up on players, strips them of the puck and is gone the other way. He said,
“It’s a timing thing, utilizing my speed and my length along with the stick I have and a lot of it is just timing knowing when I guy’s going to pass the puck or when he’s loaded up to take a shot, when he’s in a vulnerable position, so at times I try to impose my will physically or other times I try to sneak up on guys and put them into positions that they didn’t think they were in.”
Tuch’s 33 goals are just three off his career high while Thompson’s 43 goals are four off his career high. Tuch said the key is staying healthy,
“That was one of my main goals this year is to not miss any time. I think it’s something that goes unnoticed a lot, but I think one of the craziest stats is the iron man streaks.
“To be able to play a certain style of game and to be able to play each game night in and night out, I think it’s really huge and it really helps your team be successful because you can find consistency and find a little confidence when you’re not battling injuries, so I’ve really focused on my physical well being and make sure I try to play almost every game and I’ve been lucky enough to do so with six left and I’m going to try to finish it out here.”
Lindy Ruff appreciates those little things that Tuch brings to the ice. He said,
He’s got length, he closes quickly and I think he surprises a lot of people and it’s one of his greatest assets.
“When a player thinks he can get it by him, he’s got a really good stick and there aren’t a lot of players like that that have that kind of range, but he can get his stick on a lot of plays whether it’s blocked shots, whether it’s takeaways.”
Anytime one of us gets off topic, Ruff pulls us right back in. Whether it’s how many career wins he has or the fact that they go into Tuesday’s game with the Carolina Hurricanes 9-3-0 in their last 12 games or 15-4-0 in their last 19 at home, Ruff has one thing on his mind,
“I’m driven by the fact that I didn’t get this team where I needed to get this team soon enough, that’s what I’m driven by.”
The Sabres are just one loss or one Montreal win away from being officially eliminated from the playoffs for an NHL record 14th consecutive year.
Join “Schopp and the Bulldog” at 6:00 for the pregame when you’ll hear from Ruff, Tuch and Zach Benson.