Sabres' response to Marco Sturm comments, lineup and injury news for Game 1 vs. Bruins

AtlanticBruinsCanadiensLightningMaple LeafsPanthersRed WingsSabresSenatorsMetropolitanBlue JacketsCapitalsDevilsFlyersHurricanesIslandersPenguinsRangersCentralAvalancheBlackhawksBluesJetsMammothPredatorsStarsWildPacificCanucksDucksFlamesGolden KnightsKingsKrakenOilersSharksScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsFantasyNHL OddsNHL PicksPlayoff projectionsNHL Draft rankingRed Light NewsletterNHL Playoffs The Sabres showed they aren’t going to back down to the NHL's more physical teams, such as their first-round opponent. Dennis Schneidler / Imagn Images Share articleBUFFALO, N.Y. — On Friday afternoon, Boston Bruins coach Marco Sturm got the Buffalo Sabres’ attention with his comments about their first-round matchup in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. When discussing the idea of the Sabres having last change and getting the matchups they want with home-ice advantage in the first two games, Sturm took the opportunity to send a message. “We don’t really care,” Sturm said. “We know how we have to play. We’re ready to go. We’re excited. We are bigger, stronger. We are more physical. We just have to be smart. But we are going to go after them. Whoever comes in, first line, second, I don’t really care. We try to play our game.” It’s no secret that the Bruins are the more physical of the two teams. They were sixth in the NHL in hits, while the Sabres were 21st. That’s partly because the Sabres possess the puck at a much higher rate than the Bruins do. But Boston’s ability to forecheck and clog up the neutral zone will be key in trying to slow down Buffalo’s transition game. It also appears the Bruins are leaning into the idea that their heaviest hitters can intimidate the inexperienced Sabres in a playoff series. Discipline will matter, too. The Bruins were the second-most penalized team in the NHL this season, while the Sabres had the seventh-most penalty minutes. “I know a lot of teams are afraid of us,” Sturm said. “I can tell. You can see it. You can hear it. That’s what we have to do in Buffalo. I know they want to outskate us. It should be a fun series.” Perhaps these comments are just gamesmanship on Sturm’s part. Maybe he thinks he can draw the Sabres into a more physical game that plays into the Bruins’ strengths or impacts Buffalo’s lineup decisions. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff didn’t take whatever bait Sturm was putting out there. “That’s his take on his team,” Ruff said Saturday. “I have a lot of respect for what our team has done and how we play and the speed we play in the game. They’ve got a good team. They know who they are. We know who we are.” Whatever Sturm’s intent, the comments clearly have filtered into Buffalo’s dressing room. Players are aware of the comments but didn’t feel the need for much of a response. “We’ve all seen it,” Sabres forward Josh Doan said. “It is everywhere right now. At the end of the day, our group trusts what we’re doing here. We’ll just let that play out throughout the series, and we’re going to stick to our game plan. It’s one of those things that you see, but at the end of the day, there’s no real response from us in this room.” “That’s their opinion,” added Logan Stanley, Buffalo’s 6-foot-7 defenseman. “We’re going to come out and play our game. Every playoff series is physical.” And Sabres forward Alex Tuch: “That’s his analysis of it. When it comes to playoffs, everyone has to play big and strong to be able to win. So I think we have a lot of guys in here that are going to up the physicality. We’re just focused on us and trying to play our game and not listen to any outside noise.” In the past, Sturm’s words might have carried more weight. Beyond the fact that the Sabres can match the Bruins in height and weight, they showed this season that they aren’t going to back down to the more physical teams in the NHL. Against the Tampa Bay Lightning in March, the Sabres played a game with more than 100 penalty minutes and five fighting majors on each side. Players up and down the roster were willing to go toe to toe with the Lightning’s toughest players. The Sabres won that game 8-7. “They tried to come in here and bully us,” Ruff said. “It didn’t work out.” These types of comments are nothing new for the Sabres. As recently as a few weeks ago, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman quoted a player who referred to the Sabres’ playing style as “river hockey.” The Sabres were top 10 in the NHL in goals-against average this season and 15th in preventing expected goals at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick. Ruff is comfortable with the way his team has played defensively this season. Buffalo’s defensemen are actively involved in the rush and the forecheck in the offensive zone, but Ruff has seen a stronger commitment from the forwards to read plays and cover the right spots when necessary. He views the Sabres as a tough team to defend against because they take “calculated risks” in the offensive zone. “At times, we’ve been a real physical team,” Ruff said this week. “That’s part of our strength. We can wear people down. Part of our goal is to try to be physical, be hard, go through people. I think their answer is the same. They have a fourth line that can be physical. They have other guys up front. They have an (Viktor) Arvidsson, couple other players who come at you hard and are great forechecking players, but I think this is always the time of year where everyone gets elevated. Some of the guys who aren’t quite as tenacious become tenacious. There’s a lot of different things that can happen. Stuff we’re going to do, they may react to. Stuff they do that we may react to. That’s the fun part about the playoffs.” Here is how the Sabres’ lineup looked at practice on Saturday. Peyton Krebs – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Jack Quinn Zach Benson – Josh Norris – Josh Doan Jordan Greenway – Josh Dunne – Beck Malenstyn Rasmus Dahlin – Mattias Samuelsson Bowen Byram – Owen Power Logan Stanley – Conor Timmins The Sabres were doing plenty of rotating on the third defensive pair, but Stanley and Timmins got the first rep on multiple drills. That tandem makes sense. Stanley has gotten more comfortable with Buffalo’s playing style in recent weeks, and Ruff clearly has a lot of faith in Timmins and what he brings to the penalty kill. Ruff knows he has the option to switch that pair up if he needs to, with Zach Metsa, Michael Kesselring and Luke Schenn all viable options. The other notable decision from Ruff is to have Dunne, not Tyson Kozak, centering the fourth line. That’s another spot in which the Sabres could switch things up if needed, but Dunne is the heavier player and a willing fighter, which could come in handy against the Bruins. Greenway played seven games at the end of the season after returning from a core muscle injury. He played to a respectable 50.76 percent on-ice expected goal share at five-on-five during those games, and he’s also one of the Sabres’ best penalty killers. That, along with his physicality, is why Ruff is turning to him here. “When you looked at our fourth line when he played on it, and he played with various guys, his ability to hang onto pucks down low and be a real hard line to play against,” Ruff said. “That’s what he can add. The penalty killing, if you looked at today’s practice, I thought I saw him score four or five goals. I don’t know if that’s going to be his forte, but definitely in the playoffs, there’s going to be somebody that is going to poke their head through and you’re going to say, ‘Man, I didn’t see this guy coming, that this guy was going to score.’ There’s always one or two of those guys on every team.” The Sabres have already ruled out Sam Carrick for this series. He’s still dealing with an arm injury that will keep him out for a few more weeks. Noah Östlund was back on the ice at practice for the first time since he got hurt against the Bruins on March 25. Ruff said Östlund could play in this series. The Sabres also had Alex Lyon back at practice on Saturday after he missed just over a week. He sounded like he would be ready to back up Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in Game 1 on Sunday. Colten Ellis missed his second straight practice on Saturday, but Ruff said he expects him to be available for this series if needed. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Matthew Fairburn is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Buffalo Sabres. A graduate of the University of Missouri, he previously covered the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills for The Athletic. Prior to The Athletic, he also covered the Bills for Syracuse.com. Follow Matthew on Twitter @MatthewFairburn