Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres have had a streaky start to this NHL season after going back and forth between three game winning streaks, followed by three game losing streaks.
Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff joined the "Jeremy and Joe Show" with Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase on Tuesday morning following the Sabres 7-5 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Monday afternoon.
In the Sabres loss to the Canadiens, the team surrendered two separate leads, once in the final minute of the second period, and also again halfway through the third period. The team has had similar struggles throughout the season to this point, but have not found a way to consistently get out of these problems.
"We've got to become a better team at overcoming those tough moments. You can go back to the Calgary game, we gave up late goals that allowed Calgary to get back in the game and you've got to overcome that. You get into overtime and we took a tough penalty but, overcoming that meant we killed a penalty off. That allowed us to win the game in a shootout. Those are the types of moments that build character for your team and you've got to move forward. We play so many games in such a small amount of time, you really can't dwell on the tough moments. You've got to learn from them, you've got to learn to overcome them, you've got to become better just because of the hard moments inside of a game."
The Sabres have long been one of the youngest teams in hockey and are still trying to build experience with their young prospects. The current core of the team are close to transitioning from being considered young, to being regular NHLer's. This transition can be difficult for some and can cause road blocks when working through hard times in the NHL.
"We have plenty of youth, that has plenty of game experience, but we still have to become better. If you look inside of a game, sometimes we have to be smarter, sometimes we just have to work harder in a shorter period of time. Sometimes we have to be a little bit smarter inside of a game and I think that's the growth with what you would say with guys that have 100 games, 200 games, 300 games. There are guys that have more games or have the ability to put that play behind them and move on and get ready to win the next play inside of a game, which is usually your next shift."
Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin has had the tendency to be an emotional player at times in his young NHL career. Over the past few games, he has led the Sabres to some costly penalties, including one towards the end of the game on Monday against the Canadiens. However, if his emotions are properly controlled, he could showcase his full potential.
"Every player has a trigger, can you control that trigger? Whether it's an emotional trigger, physical, at a key moment. We have to be able to conquer those hard moments. That is a moment that he has to let go he's going to have to learn to let go. He hasn't been able to do it yet, but I think I would rather have a player full of emotion, than try to teach emotion."
