Lindy Ruff’s unwavering confidence in his ability to fix any problem has served the 65-year-old coach throughout his three decades behind an NHL bench.
Ruff led the Sabres to within two wins of the Stanley Cup. They reached the conference final four times and earned the Presidents’ Trophy. No challenge has been too daunting, even though a few have forced Ruff to admit that he doesn’t have the solution.
Sabres defenseman Owen Power, left, watches Jack Quinn celebrate scoring a goal against the Senators on Tuesday at KeyBank Center.
“I can honestly say it drives my wife crazy when I think I can fix everything,” Ruff said, cackling in his postgame press conference Tuesday night. “I’ve had to call a few electricians over the years.”
The Sabres’ come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators at KeyBank Center supported Ruff’s stance that he’s making progress in his mission to fix the franchise that he decided to rejoin as coach in April.
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He watched from behind the bench as his players erased a pair of one-goal deficits and shut down a playoff contender after Tage Thompson scored 1:23 into the third period to give Buffalo its first lead.
James Reimer, the Sabres’ 37-year-old backup goalie, made 30 saves. Jacob Bernard-Docker, the defenseman who they acquired in the pre-deadline trade with Ottawa, scored his first goal with Buffalo. Jack Quinn, a 23-year-old winger benched two games earlier for missing a team meeting, buried a shot from the left circle and played one of his best games this season. The Sabres have won five of their last eight eight games overall and nine out of 11 at home.
The victory made Ruff only the second coach in NHL history to reach 600 wins with the same franchise, joining Al Arbour of the New York Islanders. Ruff needs only seven wins to become the fourth coach in league history with 900. His players were celebrating their 18th win on home ice when his latest milestone was announced.
Ruff waved to the crowd and used his postgame press conference to give credit to the owners, general managers, coaches, support staff and players who have helped him along the way. Then, as Ruff reflected on his season back in Buffalo, he acknowledged the disappointment that his team is last in the Eastern Conference at 29-35-6 and reaffirmed his commitment to accomplishing what he set out to do in April when he accepted the job.
He reminded reporters of the 13-game winless that ruined their season. If the Sabres earned 13 of those 26 points, they’d be a few points out of a wild-card spot. Take away those games altogether and Buffalo has a .535 points percentage, which is higher than any nonplayoff team.
“I haven’t been able to fix everything,” said Ruff. “This year has been a disappointment for me from day one. … That segment of games killed our club. I feel personally responsible that there were games that were right there that could have turned it and got it the other way and we didn’t get it done. I also feel that the way we’re playing now, these last 40, is conducive to winning those types of games. It’s been tough, obviously.”
The Sabres rank second in the NHL in first period goals and first period goal differential after bad starts ruined their playoff hopes in 2023-24 and eventually cost Don Granato his job as coach. Their top forwards are having bounce-back seasons, most notably Thompson, who scored his 35th goal of the season. Alex Tuch and JJ Peterka have 27 goals and 22 goals, respectively. Only four teams have scored more 5-on-5 goals than Buffalo. The Sabres are finally showing resilience in games. They outshot the Senators 9-0 in the latter half of the first period Tuesday night.
Additional problems sprouted as Ruff worked to fix ones that existed before he arrived. The Sabres have lost seven games in which they’ve led by multiple goals. They’ve won eight of their last 11 at home, but they’re 11-21-3 away from KeyBank Center. Their special teams are also bottom 10 in the NHL, and they’ve allowed 4.05 goals per game against division teams. They still have the occasional turnover-filled game, and the goaltending has been inconsistent.
Buffalo’s 755 penalty minutes are 25 more than any other team. Ottawa scored on two of its four power plays, starting with Brady Tkachuk’s goal 1:35 into the first period.
Twelve games remain in Ruff’s 24th season as an NHL head coach, and he has only one year left on his contract. Questions surround the franchise as its postseason drought reaches 14 years, but Ruff answered one emphatically after his club earned another win over a team that’s fighting for a playoff spot.
“I really want to get this right,” he said.
Here are other takeaways from the game:
1. Stepping up
Bernard-Docker has shown the past two games that he may be able to bring more to the Sabres than shot-blocking and penalty-killing.
The 24-year-old defenseman snapped the puck by Senators goalie Anton Forsberg for his first goal since his trade to the Sabres to tie the score 2-2. Bernard-Docker has three points in the past two games, and he’s shown Ruff enough to get more ice time. He’s played next to Owen Power, and his 14:08 of ice time Tuesday was his highest total in three games.
“It feels just unreal to be on the ice, honestly,” said Bernard-Docker, who went nearly three months without playing in a game because of an ankle injury. “I’ve had a tough year kind of prior to this, kind of just grinding and lots of skates by myself and work in the gym. It feels good to be back into games.”
2. Rebound
A rocky season for Quinn got worse Saturday in Minnesota when the 23-year-old winger was scratched for missing a team meeting.
Quinn had only 10 goals with 26 points and a team-worst minus-22 rating in 61 games entering Tuesday. He’s defended well, but he hasn’t won enough puck battles and needs to shoot more.
The goal that he scored in the first period Tuesday needs to be the start of a rebound. He didn’t hesitate to shoot when Peterka’s pass reached him. The Sabres need to see that version of Quinn over the final 12 games.
“I think it’s been better the last couple,” said Quinn. “A lot more plays being made, offense coming, so it’s a sign.”
3. Filling in
Ruff insisted that he wasn’t sending a message to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen by starting Reimer for the third time in four games.
“We know how important goaltending is for every team, and it is for us, too,” said Ruff. “So, just leave it there.”
It was a reminder, however, that Luukkonen hasn’t played well enough to be guaranteed the net. He has a 3.60 goals-against average and .863 save percentage since the 4 Nations Face-Off break, and he has an .869 save percentage against Atlantic Division teams. The start Tuesday was a reward to Reimer for his 33-save effort in Winnipeg, and he gave the Sabres a chance to beat the Senators.
4. Injury report
Josh Norris (middle-body injury), Jordan Greenway (undisclosed) and Sam Lafferty (groin) were not available for the Sabres.
They don’t know when they’re getting Norris back, either. He told reporters Tuesday morning that he’s feeling better, but he isn’t skating yet. The injury happened with Ottawa and he re-aggravated it after he was traded to Buffalo for Cozens. He’s missed six games, and it’s possible he won’t be ready before the Sabres play the Senators next week.
Surprisingly, Greenway wasn’t out because of the slap shot that he took off the foot Sunday in Winnipeg. He’s dealing with an unrelated injury that has the 28-year-old winger’s status considered as day to day, according to Ruff.
5. Next
The Sabres wrap the brief homestand Thursday with a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, then Buffalo hits the road for a three-game trip to Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Ottawa.
