Buffalo Sabres News: Lines juggled, goalie update, 1st Round opponent odds

The Buffalo Sabres will want to erase the memory of Thursday's 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators as quickly as possible. It appears head coach Lindy Ruff believes a few lineup changes may be the best way to accelerate that process.

Although the Sabres' compete level was at its lowest point in months against the Sens, and they've rightfully been criticized for it, it's important to remember the sky isn't falling. No team is perfect and Buffalo is still a near certainty to make the Eastern Conference playoff field.

Learning important lessons, like not relying on the officials to make tough calls late in close games, will help the Blue and Gold once the postseason arrives. They need to bear down in those situations if they want to make a deep run toward a Stanley Cup title.

Buffalo will look to bounce back Saturday night against the Washington Capitals.

Lindy Ruff tests out new lines at Sabres practice

The Sabres have been rolling mostly with the same forward trios in recent weeks. An injury to Sam Carrick caused changes to the fourth line, however, and now Ruff mixed up his top-nine group up front after a poor offensive showing against Ottawa.

Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic provided a look at how Buffalo lined up at Friday's practice:

Josh Doan was elevated to the first line alongside Tage Thompson and Peyton Krebs, who's been playing some of the best hockey of his career lately. The wingers on the middle-six lines were also juggled to create some new looks with an eye toward creating a scoring spark.

Meanwhile, Tyson Kozak replaced Josh Dunne as the fourth-line center as the Sabres rush to determine the best replacement option for Carrick, who'd been terrific since arriving from the New York Rangers.

The defense pairs were unchanged as Logan Stanley and Zach Metsa are closing in on earning spots in the postseason lineup.

Alex Lyon could return to the Buffalo net

Ruff had used a firm rotation with his two goalies, Lyon and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, coming out of the NHL's Olympic break. He brought an end to that practice recently after back-to-back poor starts by Lyon, which thrust UPL into a more standard No. 1 role.

Luukkonen wasn't the problem against the Sens, stopping 20 of the 22 shots sent his way (Ottawa scored two empty-net goals), but the loss did create an avenue to get Lyon back in the crease to see if he can rediscover his prior form.

The 33-year-old journeyman netminder, who owned the starter's net at Friday's practice, had provided stability for the Sabres all season prior to the recent lull. He's compiled a 20-9-4 record with a .909 save percentage across 33 starts (35 games).

It's still trending toward UPL earning the Game 1 postseason start, but Lyon could potentially change the conversation once again with a standout showing against Washington.

Sabres staring down first-round Montreal Canadiens matchup?

Buffalo's dreams of chasing down an Atlantic Division title and possibly the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference have taken a serious hit by going 2-2-2 over its past six contests.

In turn, the Sabres are now trending toward an exceedingly difficult opening-round clash with the Canadiens, who are riding a seven-game winning streak.

Sabremetrix passed along the latest odds for who the Blue and Gold will face in Round 1:

The Habs are one of the toughest potential first-round foes for the Sabres. While the sides split the season series 2-2, Montreal is hitting its stride at the perfect time, in large part thanks to goalie Jakub Dobes posting a .942 SV% over his last nine appearances.

Buffalo can still avoid Montreal (and the Tampa Bay Lightning) out of the gate with a strong finish to claim the Atlantic crown, but its margin for error is getting thin.