Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - If you’re a Buffalo Sabres fan the good news after losing Game 2 to the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 this team has proven over and over again this season that they can rebound from a bad loss and let’s face it, this best of seven series is tied at one because in Game 2, the Sabres best players were their worst players instead of their best. Rasmus Dahlin would fall into the category, but he has no doubt how his team will respond Sunday in Montreal,
“We get angry for 30 more minutes, go to bed and sleep and move on, it’s a big day tomorrow.”
As for having the confidence they’ll rebound the captain said,
“Definitely, usually we get better from games like this. We’re good at learning so even though I’m pissed now, I’m positive about the future.”
Dahlin appeared to have Alex Newhook tied up early in the second period, but he just let him go for a layup tap in Dahlin didn’t hide from the mistake,
“Wrong decision, terrible read, can’t happen.”
Tage Thompson was at his absolute best in Game 6 against the Boston Bruins and Friday he was at his absolute worst. Three horrible turnovers have led directly to three Montreal goals in two games. On Friday he had two as he looked like he was trying to do too much and stickhandle through the whole Montreal team. Dahlin and Thompson are close and they are always pushing each other to be better and the captain has no doubts about the team’s 40-goal scorer,
“He’s such a pro, everybody can have bad games, I’m sure tomorrow he will come to work and grind and he’s probably going to be our best player next game so I’m not worried at all.”
In Buffalo’s regular season 5-3 win over Montreal, Thompson was in on all five goals with three goals and two assists. As far as what he thought about his game he like Dahlin did not try to hide from it,
“It was a flip side of the first game, we fall behind early and then have to chase the game, we try to force plays that aren’t there, I wasn’t executing, it seemed like everything I touched turned into a disaster, so tough one, we’ve got to be better, it’s a simple as that, just flush that one and move on.”
In Game 1 vs Boston, Buffalo won, but they were being shutout 52 minutes into the game. I think one of the reasons they were able to come back and score four goals is they never got frustrated with how the Bruins were playing them. They stuck with it and finally got rewarded. On Friday, it looked like frustration definitely got into their game,
“It’s frustration, you want to execute plays and impact the game, but just fighting it tonight, the puck bounces every time, try to touch it, can’t get a handle on it and it ends up in the back of your net, so we’ve just got to be better.”
Thompson hasn’t scored a goal in seven games and many feel that he’s playing through an injury. When asked he said,
“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
The team went through a practice on Saturday and Lindy Ruff spoke with reporters afterwards. He said Tyson Kozak missed practice due to maintenance and that Sam Carrick is available for Game 3 for sure.
He also discussed the power play units that he put in a blender. He said,
“Yes, we’re going to shake it up, we feel it’s the right time for it and putting ‘Doaner’ and ‘Benny’, he’s playing real well, he’s making a lot of small ice plays, we think that can be a factor, we’re looking at ‘Quinner’ coming off the flank, so why not?”
Here are the two units from Heather Engel of NHL.com:
Benson - Thompson - Doan - Quinn - Dahlin
Tuch - Norris - Zucker - McLeod - Byram
Ruff liked what he saw in practice and isn’t overreacting after one loss. He said,
“Last I checked the series is 1-1. The whole year we’ve answered the call, we had a couple of stretches after our 10-game winning streak we played a terrible game in Columbus and we bounced back with real good hockey, so it’s really just reset, refocus, let’s take the temperature down a little bit knowing we can all be better.”
Ruff had no problems with Alex Lyon in Game 2 despite giving up four goals. He said he talks to him about the work load,
“I think he’s handled it really well and I really do feel that you have a deflected shot and you have one that’s going through a mess of players that he doesn’t pick up until late, on the second goal. He’s given us excellent goaltending and I’ve had conversations with him and he feels good.
“I know he’s seen a great number of starts which is unusual for us, but at the same time, we wouldn’t hesitate to turn to ‘UPL’ either.”
The NHL said Game 4 on Tuesday in Montreal will be a 7:05 faceoff.
They seem fully confident they'll rebound in Game 3
They seem fully confident they'll rebound in Game 3
