Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres have needed center Ryan McLeod to step up after Jiri Kulich suffered a lower-body injury and is out week-to-week.
McLeod has done just that in the last two games with his overall play.
When McLeod was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers this past offseason for prospect Matt Savoie, it was because Buffalo needed a good two-way center with speed, and who can win faceoffs. McLeod fills that role, and was actually better for the Sabres in October than he was with the Oilers last year.
McLeod centered a line with Jordan Greenway and Jason Zucker to start, and it was a perfect two-way line that could shut down the opponent and complement the top-six.
Unfortunately, since the Sabres never addressed the top-six, Zucker had to be moved up the lineup and is now with Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens.
In addition, Greenway is out long-term with an injury, which meant McLeod has been all over the lineup. That resulted in his play suffering.
While McLeod played well over his first three games, he didn’t have any points. Over his next five games, McLeod had four goals and five points.
Over his first 15 games, McLeod had six goals and six assists for 12 points.
McLeod was also good defensively, but then starting around Thanksgiving, his play wasn’t as good.
In Buffalo's win over the Washington Capitals on Monday, McLeod played 21:44 and looked just like the player he was in October. He didn’t have any points, but really excelled with JJ Peterka and Alex Tuch. His penalty killing was also exceptional.
In Thursday’s 4-0 win over the Senators, McLeod had more chances shorthanded than anyone on Ottawa's roster on four power play attempts. He also had a career-high three points with a goal and two assists.
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McLeod averaged 20:14 over the last two games, the only ones all season where he’s been over 20 minutes, while also registering five shots on goal.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff had been impressed with the development of Kulich since he moved to center.
"It’s a loss for us because of how well he had played in the middle, and the speed he was generating," said Ruff earlier this week. "He was getting more confidence with the puck and making more plays, and finishing some really good opportunities."
Now enter McLeod, and Ruff knows how important he is in the mix.
"He becomes real important. We need him to really play the way he did the other night," Ruff said. "He defended well, used his speed. He gives us more of a two-line threat and a pretty tough line to track down."
In the Washington game, Ruff felt McLeod helped Peterka up his play.
"I thought JJ really skated well right out of the chute, and really the way they defended led to a goal and another 2-on-1 chance. Some of their defending created turnovers, which allowed good chances," he said.
With Tuch on the other wing, you have a guy that can really add to the offense, at times, and cause turnovers. After a long dry spell, Tuch has three points in these last two wins.
Ruff feels it's important for Tuch not to overthink things.
"I think there’s times, I mean, even the way we started the 5-on-6 [in practice] where we didn’t come off the faceoff quick enough, I stopped the drill right away. That’s just an area where he’s thinking contain, and we’re thinking let’s not give them any time. Let’s sprint to the blue line," Ruff explained. "He’s really good with his stick and he’s pretty calculated, and I think sometimes he needs more sprint, just go hard to different places."
One thing that may be helping all the players is Ruff and the coaching staff knew they had to change things from the first half of the season, where they were dead last in the Eastern Conference. Ruff outlined what they’re trying to do now.
"When you break it down, you get comfortable with it. And when you’re playing offensively, are we able to generate different ways in the offensive zone? There were some things that we didn’t think were working, so we changed a couple tactics," Ruff said.
"In our own end, it’s been the same. It’s just our habits have to continue to get better. The responsibility of the centermen to be down low, I mean too many times we were switching off and the center is the best guy, because he’s played his whole life down low. So we’d like that to be something that ends up being him low versus the winger, and also some neutral zone where we’re trying to stay above people, making it tougher for the other team to get up ice. And I would say a little less aggressive in some cases where we don’t give up the odd-numbered rushes, which we’ve cleaned up now again.
"I would reference the Toronto [Maple Leafs] game. I was so disappointed with the way we started that game. We gave them the odd-numbered rush right off the bat. So part of the systematic stuff is we just said, ‘No more.’ No more of that type of situation."
Beck Malenstyn missed the last two games due to sickness, but reporters say he was at practice on Friday. Mattias Samuelsson, who missed the Ottawa game due to illness, was not.