Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - It took five games, but the Buffalo Sabres got head coach Lindy Ruff his 900th NHL coaching win, beating the Philadelphia Flyers on the season’s final night, 5-4.
Ruff hasn’t wanted to talk about that, or anything other than winning hockey games and learning how to play better. But with no more games left this season, he decided to comment after Thursday’s game.
"It’s a number for sure. It just means I’ve coached a lot of hockey games," said Ruff during his postgame comments. "I had a lot of good players, a lot of good coaches, from management down, they’ve put a lot of trust in me. So it isn’t about me, it’s about the team I’ve had and the people around me."
There’s no question that this year’s team regressed, and fell well-short of all expectations. Many felt this was the year the Sabres would break their playoff drought, but it didn’t work out that way.
"We didn’t get where we wanted to go. We’re not where we wanted to be," Ruff said. "That stretch of games that we went through, (0-10-3) pretty well killed us for the year, and I take full responsibility for where we’re at, and how long it took us to get out of there. I don’t offer up any excuses, and I think we use that as the low part to start building for the rest of the year."
For whatever reason, the Sabres have stopped giving out team awards on Fan Appreciation Night.
Some milestones were reached during Thursday's win over the Flyers.
Alex Tuch tied a career-high in goals with 36, but he set an NHL record for the most blocked shots by a forward. Tuch had 113 blocks, beating the old record of 111 held by Mathieu Dandenault.
JJ Peterka thought he had tied his career-high of 28 goals, but the goal was disallowed thanks to Jack Quinn’s goaltender interference. Peterka never had more than 22 assists in a season, but this year, he had 41. He had never had more than 50 points, but this year he had 68.
Ryan McLeod set a career-high with his 20th goal and 53rd point of the season.
Peyton Krebs had four breakaways in the game and scored his career-high 10th goal, shorthanded in the first period. His 28 points was also a career-best mark.
Rasmus Dahlin was fourth in NHL scoring among defensemen this season with 68 points.
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The players will spend Friday and Saturday cleaning out their lockers and meeting with Ruff and general manager Kevyn Adams.
However, some will continue to play hockey this spring.
Noah Ostlund, Isak Rosen, Tyson Kozak and maybe Jiri Kulich will go back to Rochester to join the Americans for the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Meanwhile, Tage Thompson will play for Team USA at the 2025 World Championship in Denmark. Others that may play for their countries are Tuch, Dahlin, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Jason Zucker.
Bo Byram, McLeod and Peterka are restricted free agents, and they aren’t going to go play without contracts.