Sabres embracing ‘villain mentality’ on the road

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – The Buffalo Sabres, who didn’t win a road game until Nov. 15, have become a dominant force away from KeyBank Center.

Their .520 road points percentage (12-11-2) ranks 16th in the NHL. That would’ve been a crazy thought in early December, when a loss in Calgary dropped them to .231 (2-9-2).

Ask Josh Doan, and this turnaround has been about embracing the road, not fearing it.

“It’s something as a group we worked on and talked about: I think you have to take a little bit of a villain mentality when you come on the road, and want to silence the crowd and have fun with it,” the forward said following Buffalo’s win at Madison Square Garden earlier this month.

The players are clearly loving it. As for the coaching staff?

“We have very little fun, I can tell you that,” Lindy Ruff joked after Friday’s practice at Northwell Health Ice Center. “Maybe a little after the game.”

Timely goals have done their part to silence those crowds. Like Mattias Samuelsson’s shorthanded dagger against the Rangers, Alex Tuch’s overtime winner in Edmonton – after the Oilers had tied it with one second remaining – and Peyton Krebs’ late empty netters in New Jersey, St. Louis, Nashville and Montreal.

It’s also about slowing things down before they spiral out of control. In the third period in Utah in November, the Mammoth scored three quick goals to flip the score and beat the Sabres. Thursday at Bell Centre, on the other hand, Ruff used his timeout to pump the brakes after Nick Suzuki had scored for the Canadiens and trimmed Buffalo’s lead to 3-2.

“I've seen it in this building where they score one, they score another one within 30 seconds,” Ruff said. “So really, part of that was buying time and trying to get the crowd out of it.”

Those intangible improvements have led to winning road hockey, as have tangible ones.

The Sabres shot 9.0 percent in their first 13 road games, 13.2 percent in their last 12 (NHL average is 10.9 percent). They had an .844 team save percentage in the first 13, .926 in the last 12 (NHL average is .891).

So, across the board, Buffalo has plenty to be confident about heading into another Eastern Conference road matchup, Saturday afternoon against the New York Islanders.

Here are some notes from Friday’s practice.

Friday’s practice lines

Rasmus Dahlin didn’t skate after blocking a shot late Thursday in Montreal, but he’s expected to play Saturday.

Buffalo plans to recall a defenseman from Rochester, but without Dahlin or Jacob Bryson (upper body) at practice, the pairs rotated with one another.

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Forward Zach Benson was a full participant. He was shaken up after taking an elbow to the face from the Canadiens’ Zachary Bolduc.

“Incidental or not, I felt it was a little bit of a cheap shot, but he’s back smiling and laughing this morning, so he’s doing good,” Ruff said.

Alex Lyon had his own net, suggesting he might get the start versus the Islanders. He beat them Dec. 20, making 32 saves in regulation/overtime and stopping four of five shootout bids.

‘Get the blood flowing’

The Sabres arrived on Long Island early Friday morning, but with practice time so scarce this month, they didn’t pass on the chance for a quick skate.

“Really, just try to have a light day, just get the blood flowing,” Ruff said. “Instead of just staying at the hotel with maybe an active release, just get on the ice, shoot a few pucks, and goalies get to feel good, too.”

Up next

MSG’s pregame coverage will start at 12:30 p.m. Saturday before puck drop at 1 from UBS Arena.