Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - At Wednesday’s practice, Mattias Samuelsson was paird with Henri Jokiharju on the blue line. The two defensemen were healthy scratches in Tuesday's win over the Ottawa Senators.
Samuelsson has struggled all season long, and it does make you wonder if injuries have taken its toll on him.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff says he had long talks with both players, and told them they’re not playing up to the standard. Samuelsson says he didn’t need Ruff to tell him.
"If you asked me before I got scratched, I would’ve told you I need to be better anyways. It’s not like it was a secret before the game," said Samuelsson following Wednesday's practice. "You can say it’s a little added motivation, but it’s just get back to work. I plan on playing in the NHL for a long time, so you’re going to have your ups and downs. I’m not too worried about it."
Samuelsson knows he has to be better, and he knows where in his game he has to be better.
"It’s moving the puck up North, being harder to play against, more physical, just cleaner, smarter with the puck is a big one," Samuelsson noted.
Samuelsson is used to playing over 20 minutes per-game, but this season, he’s only been over 20 minutes twice, averaging just 16:51 per-game.
"It’s been a hard adjustment," Samuelsson admitted. "When you’re playing more minutes, you don’t really think out there. You just get into a rhythm. And when you play less, you find yourself thinking a lot, which can definitely be bad when you’re in your head a bit. So it’s been an adjustment, for sure, but I’m just figuring it out every day."
Ruff understands where Samuelsson is coming from when it comes to how much he’s playing.
"I think it can be hard. I think sometimes when you’re cast in a different role or you’re not getting quite the ice-time, it’s an adjustment for any player," said Ruff following Wednesday's practice.
I’ve been noticing the ice-time of Beck Malenstyn and Sam Lafferty has gone up the last two games. That means Ruff has been using all four of his lines, and data is telling him it’s working.
"Weighing where energy levels are, I’m just trying to figure out if that works or not. And, to me, it looks like a little more of a four-line approach," Ruff said. "Our energy is higher, more guys stay involved, we seem to play better, and the numbers kind of say the same thing too."
Malenstyn went from 5:31 to 10:06 to 14:35 of playing time, while Lafferty went from 6:44 to 9:31 to 14:16. Malenstyn also got a lot of penalty killing time in Tuesday’s game.
The lines and the defense were the same in practice, so I would expect the same lineup Thursday in New York against the Rangers. That would mean Jacob Bryson and Dennis Gilbert would get to play again.