The Buffalo Sabres desperately needed a win against the Montreal Canadiens, and head coach Lindy Ruff was tasked with figuring out what those changes were. He could have taken the safe route and shuffled the forward lines, maybe put in someone like Tanner Pearson or Josh Dunne, but tried to stay the course for the most part.
However, desperate times call for desperate measures, and Lindy Ruff elected to go bold with Konsta Helenius, Luke Schenn, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen playing in Game 4. That decision helped secure a road win against the Canadiens, and it is now a three-game series with each team having two wins.
The boldest decision might be inserting Konsta Helenius into the lineup, as he would be making his NHL playoff debut in arguably one of the toughest road environments in the entire NHL. The Bell Centre is known for rattling even veterans, and for Helenius to play in only his 10th NHL game and first since February 5th, it was a gamble.
On top of that, by having Helenius play in this game, the Sabres essentially burned a year on the entry-level contract, as it counts as a year when a player plays that 10th game. The gamble was worth it as Helenius provided a much-needed spark for this team and was making plays all over the ice.
He would finish the game with 12:53 of ice time and have three shots on goal, but more importantly, won four of his six faceoff attempts. This has been an area of concern for the Sabres, and Helenius helped them win the faceoff battle for the first time in this series.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen rewards Lindy Ruff's confidence in him for Game 4
After Game 3, and even on Monday, head coach Lindy Ruff made it clear that Alex Lyon was not the reason for the last two losses. However, even if Lyon was not the reason, the Sabres' head coach seemingly knew that they had to make a change in net.
It was certainly a risk because Lyon had been playing well and was a key reason the Sabres got past the Boston Bruins. Meanwhile, the last time Luukkonen was in a game was almost a month ago, and he had allowed four goals, with one of those goals being a bouncing puck that was just chipped in from center ice.
Early in Game 4, it felt like there were questions if Ruff made the right choice as Luukkonen allowed two goals. However, as the game went along, the Sabres' goalie settled in and made some exceptional saves to help the Sabres get the win.
Over the final two periods, the Canadiens seemed to control the flow of the game and spent a lot of time in the Sabres' zone. They would outshoot the Sabres 22-10, but Luukkonen showed why Lindy Ruff believed it was the right decision to make a switch in net.
The line changes the Buffalo Sabres made were certainly risky, but with what felt like the season being on the line, Lindy Ruff decided to be bold, and those changes paid off in a big way in Game 4.
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