Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres had their five-game winning streak snapped by the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, but they’re still 5-1-0 in their last six games.
Had they won, the Sabres would’ve been sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division. But the loss dropped them to the Wild Card No. 1 position in the Eastern Conference with a points percentage of .620, looking down at the Boston Bruins (.607), Columbus Blue Jackets (.565) and Monday’s opponent, the Florida Panthers (.546).
If you look up the standings, the Detroit Red Wings are at .625 and the Canadiens are in second place at .627.
The Sabres and Panthers have already met twice this season, but both instances have come in Buffalo, with the Sabres winning 3-0 and losing 4-3.
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One thing the Sabres have gotten better at this season is not letting a loss turn into a long streak.
"It’s part of just believing in the process, believing in how we play," said Ruff following Monday's morning skate. "Nothing’s going to change. We’ve got to keep working on our game. There were parts of our game that I didn’t think were that great against Montreal, especially in the third period, and we looked at some of that this morning on video and emphasized how we need to stay aggressive, and to take time and space away from the opposition. And just right back at it, stick with how we need to play and do it night-in and night-out."
Alex Lyon will be back in net after having his 10-game winning streak snapped by Montreal. Ruff confirmed Colten Ellis will also play this week.
Isak Rosen will be in the lineup after getting called back up from the Rochester Americans. He will play for Konsta Helenius, who got benched on Saturday after Montreal’s third goal.
"This is just part of a young hockey player’s journey," Ruff said of Helenius. "I think you can start off well, your emotions are running high, and then you get into the grind of the games and sometimes you just see the peaks and valleys. But it’s all part of how a young guy gets to where he wants to get to."
Ruff adds that center Josh Norris is progressing, but isn’t ready yet for this game.
The Panthers went on the road and won three-straight games, and then they came home to lose three in-a-row.
Florida has been alternating their goalies lately. If they continue that trend, it will be Danill Tarasov facing the Sabres on Monday. He’s 8-7-2 this season with a 2.67 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage.
Matthew Tkachuk is finally back for the Panthers, and has played eight games so far. He has points in just one of those games when he scored two goals against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Other key injuries for the Panthers include Aleksander Barkov, Dmitry Kulikov, Seth Jones, Anton Lundell and Brad Marchand.
MONDAY’S LINES:
Forwards:
Benson - Thompson - Tuch
Zucker - McLeod - Quinn
Rosen - Kozak - Malenstyn
Doan - Krebs - Ostlund
Tune in during "Schopp and the Bulldog" at 6 p.m. for pregame coverage on WGR, when you’ll hear from Lindy Ruff and Josh Doan.
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