BUFFALO, N.Y. — In one way or another, every team in the National Hockey League has dealt with adversity.
However, it’s how you learn to overcome it, that defines you as a team.
“It's going about it the right way and making sure that you're trying to just play the game the right way," Sabres forward Jason Zucker said. "If you focus on just winning, you're typically focusing on the wrong things and you're not gonna get those wins.”
Buffalo Sabres Head Coach Lindy Ruff admitted earlier in the week this team has been struggling at the face of adversity once again this season. Ruff, however, certainly understands both the mental and physical steps these players will have to take to get over it.
"Trusting where your teammates are at," Ruff said. "They have to be in a certain position at a certain time. There's a lot of pressure that you can get put under inside of a game where either you're breaking the puck out, whether you're tracking back. It's a 'D' partner knowing where his fellow partner’s at.”
“Probably another piece is don't overextend shifts," Ruff said. "Overextending shifts have hurt us where you might be having a good shift and you might think, 'I can go on one more rush,' but if you end up going back to your own end and playing tired, we've had a lot of goals scored against us because of a tired line on the ice.”
Currently in last place in the Eastern Conference now sitting nine points out from a playoff spot, the Sabres know they don't have much time to waste.
“At the end of the day when you have leads on teams, whether it be one goal or two goals, five goals, doesn't matter," Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram said. "You should keep playing the same way and there should be no hesitation in your game. It's hard, but it's something that's necessary to continue to win in the NHL. It's the best league in the world for a reason, so it's never gonna be easy.”
As for an injury update, every player was on the ice for practice on Tuesday. Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson is on track to make his return to the lineup on Wednesday night when the Buffalo Sabres host the Carolina Hurricanes at 6 pm.
