Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff is a Jack Adams Award candidate as the NHL's Coach of the Year after making a lot of wise moves throughout the season to help the franchise bring a long-awaited end to its 14-year playoff drought,
Now the Sabres are in the midst of a hard-fought battle with the Boston Bruins in the first round of the postseason, and one lineup decision made by Ruff in Game 5 caught the NHL's top insider by surprise.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet discussed the Sabres' call to make center Josh Norris a healthy scratch on Tuesday after he'd missed the previous two contests with an injury suffered in Game 2.
"I think Ruff has rolled a lot of sevens this year, including the decision to go to Alex Lyon as the starter in Game 3," Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts podcast. "I wasn't crazy about the move not to dress Josh Norris. That he didn't want to change a winning lineup and he wanted to keep it the way it was.
"I assume Norris will go in for [Noah] Ostlund in Game 6, or Norris will go in anyway. But that was the one thing I was surprised to hear that postgame. That Norris could've played and they left him out. That's just one thing, I just think in the playoffs you gotta go with your best lineup at all times."
Ostlund, who suffered an injury in Game 5 that'll sideline him indefinitely, was outstanding for the Sabres in Games 3 and 4 on the road in Boston after returning from a previous injury to replace Norris.
Buffalo was also coming off a dominant 6-1 victory over Boston on Sunday, and the coaching staff opted to stick with the lineup that produced that result rather than trying to shoehorn the injury-prone center back into the top-nine forward group.
Norris is expected to rejoin the lineup Friday night when the Sabres, who still hold a 3-2 series lead, get their second chance to eliminate the Bruins.
Buffalo Sabres could benefit from shaking up their lines for Game 6 vs. the Boston Bruins
The high-powered Sabres offense, which ranked fifth in goals scored during the regular season, was kept at bay by Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman and a concerted defensive effort by the B's in Game 5.
Now, after the lackluster offensive showing and with the return of Norris, it'll be interesting to see whether Ruff decides to juggle his forward lines.
It's unlikely the top line will change, as Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs have found a comfort zone together over the past six weeks, but other alterations are possible.
Ruff could move pieces around in the middle six, and there are a couple fourth-line options available — Josh Dunne for Tyson Kozak and/or Tanner Pearson for Jordan Greenway — if the coaching staff wants to give Boston a different look from Game 5.
Here's one way the Sabres could line up on Friday night:
Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
Peyton Krebs | Tage Thompson | Alex Tuch |
Jason Zucker | Josh Norris | Jack Quinn |
Zach Benson | Ryan McLeod | Josh Doan |
Tanner Pearson | Josh Dunne | Beck Malenstyn |
That said, Buffalo may not want to get too crazy making a bunch of changes to a group that helped build a 3-1 series lead before Tuesday night's loss.
The alternative argument is the Sabres won't want to find themselves in a situation where they make no changes beyond Norris' return, lose again and then have to consider widespread changes for Game 7 to prevent a potential collapse.
Ultimately, as Friedman alluded, Ruff has done a terrific job for most of the campaign when it comes to making difficult decisions, especially down the stretch with an overcrowded roster following some additions at the NHL trade deadline.
Now the pressure is back on the longtime coach to make sure Buffalo moves on to Round 2.
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