BOSTON – In the aftermath of the Buffalo Sabres’ 4-2 home loss in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series, coach Lindy Ruff acknowledged that on the outside, he downplayed his team’s dreary performance a bit.
On the inside, however, players knew they played poorly on Tuesday against the Bruins after winning Game 1.
Ruff, whose Sabres roared back on Thursday and beat the Bruins 3-1 in TD Garden, grabbing a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, had a simple motivation.
“I didn’t want to create any more stress on our group,” Ruff said Friday in the Four Seasons One Dalton. “I didn’t want to give you guys any more questions to ask them about what went wrong; ‘How come this was bad?’ We’ll deal with that stuff on the inside.”
If the Sabres had a veteran-laden roster, then Ruff might’ve handled things differently. But they’re light on postseason experience. His roster is loaded with neophytes.
Thirteen players have made their debut in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this week, including centers Tyson Kozak and Noah Ostlund, both of whom played their first game on Thursday.
He wanted to remain calm and positive as the pressure ramped up and his team headed to a hostile environment.
“A lot of them played their first road playoff game in Game 3,” Ruff said. “My understanding was, let’s not get too carried away here, and know that we’ve responded when we haven’t played that well.”
Ruff knew the Sabres had more, and they proved it in Game 3, erasing a 1-0 deficit, grabbing the lead early in the third period and grinding out another victory.
“We knew we could have the puck a lot more,” he said. “I felt we could generate more. And I thought we got to a point where we were starting to wear them out last night. Our O-zone play and our puck movement was real good.”
Of course, early in his coaching career, Ruff likely wouldn’t have been so Pollyanna publicly following a disappointing loss.
At 66 – he’s now the NHL’s third-oldest coach behind the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Rick Bowness (71) and the Vegas Golden Knights’ John Tortorella (66) – Ruff has evolved and even mellowed a bit over the years.
If he hadn’t, he likely wouldn’t keep getting gigs. The modern player likes a softer, more personable coach.
He’s not quite the fiery Lindy everyone saw in his first tenure in Buffalo. Not that his passion has waned. He’s just learned over the years expending all that emotion and energy wasn’t always worth it.
“I’ve gained a lot of experience when it comes to being highly emotional,” he said. “… You learn. I’ve had to learn hard lessons about getting too emotional and maybe at times being too hard on players, hard on games.”
Ruff, for example, said he used to address his team after every game. These days, he hardly goes in the dressing room and talks.
He said he wants to “digest” everything first – “Take a look at it with the other coaches,” he said – and deal with it the next day.
Ruff, who also coached the Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils and served as an assistant with the New York Rangers following his first stint in Buffalo, said he decided no one benefited from his postgame talks except himself.
“It just came from deciding that the only guy that feels really good after a game when he goes in there and is a little upset is me,” he said. “It doesn’t do anything for anybody else. I, myself, have to take responsibility for my actions, too, at times.
“I think over the years you got to learn how to be a better person, better coach, and I think I’ve adapted to that.”
The Sabres did not practice Friday. Game 4 is Sunday afternoon at TD Garden.