{"id":662142,"date":"2026-05-11T11:42:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T11:42:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/662142\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T11:42:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T11:42:48","slug":"sabres-point-to-lack-of-discipline-consistency-in-back-to-back-losses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/662142\/","title":{"rendered":"Sabres point to lack of discipline, consistency in back-to-back losses"},"content":{"rendered":"

MONTREAL \u2014 Before their second-round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> started, Buffalo Sabres<\/a> head coach Lindy Ruff cautioned his players \u2014 and anyone else willing to listen \u2014 about the importance of not underestimating their opponent.<\/p>\n

Following Montreal\u2019s commanding 6-2 victory in Game 3 on Sunday at Bell Centre, which gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, the Sabres’ bench boss reinforced that warning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey beat a hell of a team (Tampa Bay),\u201d Ruff said. \u201cThey are a hell of a team. Don\u2019t take them for granted. If we don\u2019t realize it now, we\u2019re never going to realize it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sabres got off to a strong start Sunday, courtesy of a Tage Thompson goal just 53 seconds into the game. However, Montreal responded with four unanswered goals, including a pair on the power play, to give themselves a cushion that would prove insurmountable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we started off really good,\u201d said Thompson, who snapped a seven-game goalless drought dating back to Game 1 of Buffalo\u2019s first-round series against the Boston Bruins. \u201cThere were spurts throughout the game where we thought we got to our game and played to our standard, but just not consistent enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buffalo\u2019s lack of discipline, coupled with poor puck decisions made throughout the opening three games of the series, have been particular areas of concern for Ruff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to be smarter,\u201d said Ruff. \u201cWe took five offensive zone penalties. Our discipline from that wasn\u2019t good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sabres have taken 13 penalties in three games, after recording just 16 total infractions through their entire six-game, opening round matchup with the Bruins.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a skilled team,\u201d said Thompson. \u201cThey have a lot of players that can make plays and score. You give them opportunities and they don\u2019t need a whole lot to put it in the back of the net.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompson also pointed to his team\u2019s lack of composure throughout Game 3 as a catalyst behind his team\u2019s shortcomings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we got a little too emotional tonight, too,\u201d said Thompson. \u201cWe talk about it all the time, just staying even-keeled. Highs and lows, just try to stay right in the middle. I thought tonight we really let our emotions kind of get the better of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

One aspect of their game Buffalo did like on Sunday, however, was the team\u2019s play while up a man.<\/p>\n

The Sabres went 1-for-4 with the man advantage, thanks to a Rasmus Dahlin power-play goal in the second period that cut Buffalo\u2019s deficit to 4-2.<\/p>\n

Buffalo also generated ample scoring chances on two successive power-play opportunities in the third period, but couldn’t score.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought our power play did everything but score,\u201d said Ruff. \u201cWe’ve got to give their goaltender a lot of credit. He made some great saves, especially when we were trying to make it 4-3.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sabres have already scored three power-play goals through three games this series, after scoring just one goal across 24 such opportunities in the first round.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was probably the least frustrating game as far as the power play goes,\u201d said Thompson. \u201cIt felt like we really got a lot of momentum from our chances there, built some life for our group. Anytime you\u2019re snapping it around like that and getting looks, it gives your team some momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buffalo now finds itself in uncharted waters, having dropped consecutive games to trail in a series for the first time in this post-season.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Thompson remains confident in his team\u2019s ability to respond positively, beginning with Game 4 back at Bell Centre on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had our backs against the wall the entire season,\u201d said Thompson. \u201cWe dug ourselves out of a hole and found a way. It\u2019s not something that is foreign to us by any means. It\u2019s been two games. We\u2019re not too concerned. I think everyone in the room believes in each other.<\/p>\n

“We know what we need to do, it\u2019s not a secret. It\u2019s just going to come down to will and competing harder. I think we have the guys that can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MONTREAL \u2014 Before their second-round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens started, Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-662142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}