Buffalo Sabres forward Alex Tuch, one of the team's best players so far in their opening-round series against the Boston Bruins, believes the club's struggles in recent years helped lay the foundation for their current success.
Tuch, who's tallied three goals and three assists as Buffalo built a 3-1 series lead over Boston, thinks the adversity brought the players closer together.
"We sure as hell like winning together," Tuch told ESPN's Kristen Shilton ahead of Game 5 on Tuesday night. "It's made our group stronger, more resilient. We talk about how tight-knit a group of a group we have, and how much we like being around each other, and that's [what you see] on the ice."
Josh Doan, who arrived to the organization in a trade with the Utah Mammoth last offseason, echoed that sentiment, saying the players' belief in each other helped spark the Sabres' turnaround, which included 39 wins in their final 53 regular-season games.
"We get along well, and our chemistry is really, really strong," Doan told Shilton. "And then, we just have a lot of different producers. I don't really have to worry about a bad game because we've got other guys that are producing, and vice versa. It's been where you've taken a little bit of a load off a lot of our big-name guys that have needed to be good every night, and now they can have a bad game and not worry that if they don't score, we're going to lose every night. That's taken pressure off their backs, which is nice."
In past seasons, any type of adversity was essentially insurmountable for Buffalo. Once a game started going against them, whether it was due to a stretch of poor play or even a bad bounce, the long-suffering team was virtually incapable of getting things back on track.
That's no longer the case. The Sabres had 21 comeback wins during the regular season, which was tied for the league's seventh-highest total, and they already have two in their series against the Bruins, coming back in both Game 1 and Game 3.
An ability to remain competitive, even if they don't play their best hockey in the first period, is why the Blue and Gold are creating believers about their chances of making a deep postseason run.
Buffalo Sabres' locker-room chemistry on full display amid playoff lineup changes
The best way to find out whether a team is truly on the same page is to gauge the reaction when the coaches starts to make in-series adjustments.
That's already happened twice for head coach Lindy Ruff and his staff. After a Game 2 loss, the Sabres made a change in net, going with veteran Alex Lyon over a struggling Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and putting Tyson Kozak in as the fourth-line center over Josh Dunne.
Another tough decision is on the horizon as Josh Norris nears a return from injury suffered in Game 2. He was replaced in the forward group by Noah Ostlund, who rejoined the roster after an upper-body ailment forced him to miss around a month of action. He's been terrific the past two contests.
Yet, there hasn't been a peep about any discontent from players who've lost their spots. It feels like there's a true team-first attitude across the board. They just want to keep winning, no matter which 20 players suit up on game night.
At least some of the credit for establishing that mentality belongs to general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, who changed the tone of the franchise after taking over the front office in December.
Last month, Kekalainen made it clear there would be a "tough internal competition to get on the ice for the games" and he expected everyone to keep pulling in the same direction, even if there was some frustration on a personal level.
"I think we have nine 'D' when they're all healthy, and we have five lines of forwards when they're healthy that could play on any given night, and some guys are going to be sitting out," the Buffalo GM told Nicholas J. Cotsonika of NHL.com. "So, the attitude and being a good teammate is going to get tested, but that's going to be really important for our whole group, that everybody is a good teammate."
Some players on the active roster — Tanner Pearson, Michael Kesselring, Luke Schenn and Zach Metsa — haven't received an opportunity to play yet in the Bruins series, but you never know when an injury or two may arise to make them an important part of the equation.
That's especially true with the Sabres aiming for serious Stanley Cup contention.
Longtime fans will remember the 2006 NHL Playoffs, when Buffalo lost four defensemen — Jay McKee, Henrik Tallinder, Teppo Numminen and Dmitri Kalinin — to injuries, leaving the depth chart depleted en route to a Game 7 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final.
Buffalo's roster appears more prepared to handle those type of setbacks two decades later, but it's also possible those reserves never receive a chance to see the ice during the playoff run. Even if that's the case, Kekalainen, Ruff and Co. want them to keep that team-first focus.
Yes, winning a championship is highly dependent on talent, but the importance of having a locker room full of players who genuinely enjoy each other's company and want the best for their teammates is a crucial part of the equation, as well.
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