BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres pushed hard for home-ice advantage at the end of the regular season. They wanted the franchise’s first playoff game in 15 years to be in front of the fans who had waited so long. They wanted to play in front of one of the rowdiest crowds in the league and feed off that energy.
As the Sabres’ first-round series against the Boston Bruins turns to Game 6, though, Buffalo has looked more comfortable away from home. The Sabres’ two best games of the series were Games 3 and 4 in Boston. The Sabres’ two worst games of the series were Games 2 and 5 in Buffalo.
Maybe that’s just happenstance, but Sabres coach Lindy Ruff thinks there could be something to it. Buffalo’s home environment has come with certain distractions and added pressure. It’s easy to feel how much all of this means to this fanbase and community. It’s possible that it causes a bit of tightness.
“My only thought is there’s a lot of distractions at home,” Ruff said this week. “It’s hard. In case you have a lot of family, you’ve got friends, there’s a lot more going on at home for you as a player, I believe, than there is on the road. You’re kind of in quarantine and you’re at the hotel, we have team meals. You’re in a little bit more isolation, you’re away from family and friends and kids, but that’s all things you have to deal with. I think sometimes the road team can play a little bit different game, and you can frustrate the other team, too, at times.”
That’s been the case in this series. The road team is 4-1 through five games. The Bruins have had their own struggles at home. Despite tying for the league lead in home wins during the regular season, the Bruins are 0-5 in their last five home playoff games, and dating to 2023, the Bruins are 3-10 in home playoff games. After David Pastrnak scored the overtime winner for the Bruins in Game 5, he was interviewed on the NESN broadcast and was asked for his message to the fans in Boston.
“Just be loud, please, and be patient,” Pastrnak said. “We’re gonna shoot the puck, don’t worry.”
Clearly the demanding home crowd was on his mind. In Game 4, the Bruins were booed off home ice after falling behind 4-0 in the first period. A healthy number of Sabres fans made themselves heard in TD Garden throughout the afternoon.
It seems almost counterintuitive, but the Sabres have played more loosely on the road. The team had two days between Games 3 and 4, and Friday was a day completely off the ice. They had a nice setup at the team hotel with recovery rooms. They had a couple of team dinners and spent time playing ping-pong, poker, video games and darts.
“Just a lot of spending time together, hanging out, watching other hockey games, team dinners,” Sabres alternate captain Alex Tuch said. “You just want to limit those distractions and be together. It forces your team to be closer. We had two good games in Boston now and just hoping for another one.
“You lock it down. You mostly spend a lot of time in the hotel or the rink. You’re not really doing much else besides that, just being together and hanging out and enjoying it. That’s some of my fondest memories of my earlier playoff runs is just hanging out at the hotel and being with the guys. Even the bubble was pretty cool. There wasn’t that much to do, but you’re around the guys all the time, playing video games with them, playing cards, just hanging out. It was a lot of fun.”
Even after a 2-1 overtime loss at home Tuesday, the Sabres were loose at practice Thursday. The 3-2 series lead helps with that. But maybe the way they’ve played on the road is contributing to it, too. Even the twists and turns of the series have been a refreshing change of pace for players who have been working toward these games for years.
“I love it,” Tuch said. “This is what I think of when I think of hockey. There’s nothing better, honestly. I think the whole world knows it, too. Everyone is giving everything they have, sacrificing their bodies, minds, everything. You’re just going out there and givin’ ’er.”
The Sabres were fresh off their worst loss of this series when they went to Boston the first time. Ruff said then he was confident the Sabres would win games in Boston. Before departing for the airport to return to Boston for Game 6, Ruff urged his team to embrace the moment.
“Somebody for us is going to be a big-time player,” Ruff said. “I can’t tell you who that is, but somebody will.”
Notes
• Logan Stanley missed Sabres practice Thursday with an illness. Ruff said the illness was worse Wednesday than it was Thursday but the Sabres would still monitor Stanley’s energy levels going into the game Friday. Even if he’s feeling better, he hasn’t been eating a lot the last couple of days. So at this point, his status for Game 6 is uncertain.
During practice, Michael Kesselring skated on a pair with Conor Timmins. Kesselring, a native of Nashua, N.H., who went to Northeastern and spends time training in Boston in the summer, could get a chance to make his playoff debut close to home. He was a healthy scratch toward the end of the season but got to play two games in the final few weeks of the season.
“It kind of depends how Stan is feeling, but Game 6 in my hometown, I couldn’t be more excited if I get the opportunity,” Kesselring said. “We’ll see how things shake out. But I’m really excited.
“I just prepare like I’m going to play, and we’ll find out what happens. But I think it will be good for me to get in that mindset of playing just in case he doesn’t or in the future someone gets banged up or whatever. I feel good. I feel like I’m skating really well again. And I really strongly believe I can help the team. If I get the chance, hopefully I can show you guys.”
• Ruff decided against a significant shakeup of the lines. With Noah Östlund out for a bit, Ruff put Josh Norris back on a line with Zach Benson and Josh Doan. The other three lines were the same as they’ve been since Game 3. Ruff said he liked how that Norris line looked early in the series and didn’t feel the need to overhaul the lines. He also liked how Norris looked in practice.
“We think he could be a difference maker for us,” Ruff said.
• The Sabres added seven American Hockey League players to their NHL roster after the Rochester Americans were eliminated from the playoffs. Forwards Konsta Helenius, Anton Wahlberg and Riley Fiddler-Schultz, defensemen Radim Mrtka, Ryan Johnson and Vsevolod Komarov and goalie Devon Levi are all practicing separately from the NHL group in case they are needed. It’s valuable experience for them to be around the team, but Ruff noted that it’s more than that.
“They’re going to be training, they’re going to be watching, and we know at any time, one of those guys could be a guy that may need to be called on,” Ruff said. “So, it’s more than just coming here and watching.”
Of that group, Helenius could be closest to the lineup. If the Sabres lose another top-nine forward to injury, he feels like their next best option. It’s just a matter of how comfortable Ruff is putting a 19-year-old into the playoff lineup.
• Tage Thompson hasn’t scored in this series since his two-goal outburst in the third period of Game 1. But he did have four blocked shots in Game 5. The Sabres are outscoring the Bruins 5-1 during Thompson’s five-on-five minutes in this series and have a 40-27 advantage in scoring chances. So he’s making an impact. After winning a gold medal with Team USA at the Olympics, Thompson is eager to be in the middle of these big moments in the playoffs.
“Once you get that taste of winning, it’s a drug,” Thompson said. “It’s all you want. Being out of it for so long and finally being here really makes you hungry to see how far you can go.”