The Sabres had every opportunity to win Game 5.

Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres had Wednesday off, but Lindy Ruff did speak to the media. He had unfortunate news on Noah Ostlund who left Tuesday’s game after Casey Mittelstadt accidentally landed on his leg. Ruff said,

“He’s going to miss a period of time, news wasn’t good, I don’t know exactly how much right now, but he’s going to miss some time.”

Ruff confirmed Josh Norris is ready to go, so I would anticipate Norris back on his line with Josh Doan and Zach Benson for Game 6 in Boston on Friday.

The Sabres missed a chance to Tuesday to close out the Bruins losing in overtime 2-1. Jason Zucker had a glorious chance in overtime to win the game as he has just about half the net to shoot at. He said he had thought he had scored, but one thing got in the way,

“It kind of popped out and unfortunately it hit Quinny, I thought it was going in but it’s just one of those bounces and I thought I had an empty net and that’s the way it goes.”

Zucker hasn’t scored in this series and has had awful luck. In 57 career Stanley Cup Playoff games the winger has scored nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points. He had playoff games with the Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins and Minnesota Wild. In this series he’s hit posts, legs, bodies and goalies. He said,

“It’s the playoffs, it’s the way it works, you’ve just got to stick with it, we’re still confident in our group and we’re in a good position right now and we’ve got to win one game.”

As far as Tuesday goes, either team could’ve won in an evenly matched game there were still things Zucker didn’t like,

“I didn’t think our forecheck was as good as it was the last couple of games, but it’s a long series, everyone’s making adjustments and trying new things and we’ve got to regroup."

Ruff didn’t think his team reacted well to the pressure of an elimination game. He said,

“I thought the start of the game, the power play goal we got off to a good start, but I just sensed a little bit of nerves with our guys, our puck play wasn’t as good as it was in Boston, so just get them to relax, play our game and be ready to go.

“I thought with the lead we sensed we’ve got this lead and I thought at times we were just a little bit safe with our play where we needed to just stay on our toes and stay aggressive and more puck pressure I thought we deferred to playing a safer game.”

The road team has won 21 games in the playoffs so far with the home team winning 15. That means the home team has just 42% of the time. Ruff said,

“There’s a lot of distractions at home, and it’s hard, you have a lot of family, you’ve got friends, there’s a lot more going on at home for you as a player I believe than there is on the road. You’re kind of in quarantine, you’re at the hotel, we have team meals, you’re a little more in isolation, you’re away from family and friends and kids, but that’s all things you have to deal with.

“I think sometimes the road team can play a little bit different game and it can frustrate the home team too at times.”

The Sabres will have practice in Buffalo on Thursday before leaving for Boston.