Sabres power play goes ice-cold again as series against the Bruins shifts to Boston for Game 3
BOSTON (AP) — The Sabres haven’t been able to push the Bruins around on the ice.
What’s worse, Buffalo hasn’t been able to take advantage of their power plays when Boston pushes back.
The Sabres are 0-for-9 with a man advantage in the first two games of the playoff series against the Bruins, which is tied 1-1 as it shifts to Boston for Game 3 on Thursday night. That’s after finishing the season without scoring on their last 22 power plays over the final seven games.
“It’s always a concern, for sure,” said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, who last celebrated a power-play goal in March. “I think we’ll have to tweak some things.”
The Sabres came into the series offended by a comment that Bruins coach Marco Sturm made about being the bigger and stronger team. Neither team backed down on Tuesday night, when they had several fights and a combined 94 penalty minutes.
“It’s a seven-game series so you see those guys all the time and there’s game inside the game, obviously,” Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov said. “Emotions are really high, everybody wants to win, everybody is competitive on the ice, so sometimes you just ended up in the scrums and the fights like that.”
Buffalo Sabres at Boston Bruins
When/Where to Watch: Game 3, Thursday, 7 p.m. ET (TNT)
Series: Tied 1-1.
Ruff wouldn’t rule out the possibility of a goalie change after Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was pulled 16 seconds into the third period in Game 2 after his fourth goal of the game — one of them on a lofted dump-in from center ice. Alex Lyon stopped all seven shots he faced the rest of the way.
The two goalies shared the starting role this season, but Luukkonen won the No. 1 job by closing the season 12-2-1; Lyon was out the final week with an unspecified lower-body injury. Lyon went 20-10-4 for the season.
Ruff refused to blame Luukkonen’s spotty play for the Game 2 loss by saying “we win together, we lose together.”
But he also said: ”(Lyon) may play next game.”
Slow starts have also been an issue. The Sabres have fallen behind in both games — 2-0 in the first one, and 4-0 in the second, failing to score in each until the final eight minutes of the third period. They came back to win 4-3 in Game 1 but rallied too late while losing 4-2 in Game 2.
“It’s been two games. It’s nothing to freak out about, and we know that,” Sabres forward Zach Benson said. “And we know we’ve got to be better, and we will be.”
Carolina Hurricanes at Ottawa Senators
When/Where to Watch: Game 3, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET (TBS)
Series: Hurricanes lead 2-0.
The Hurricanes have pushed through two tough home wins as the Eastern Conference’s top seed, the second being a double-overtime win that saw Carolina have an apparent winning score waved off in the first overtime because of an offsides review.
But two areas stood out for the Senators: the goaltending by Linus Ullmark, and their clear advantage in faceoffs.
Ottawa was No. 2 in the regular season in faceoff percentage (54.5%) while Carolina was 16th (50.1%). But the Senators have won 60.7% of faceoffs (82 of 135) through two games, including 9 of 14 in Game 1 when on the penalty kill — a hit for a Hurricanes team that likes to get possession, maintain the puck in the offensive zone and pressure opponents.
“Obviously our percentage isn’t great,” said Carolina’s Logan Stankoven, who has scored in each game so far but went just 6 of 17 on faceoffs in Game 2. “I’ve got to try and keep winning as many draws and stay in the battle as much as possible. They have a lot of different guys that can take faceoffs … righty, lefty, so they usually try and put out guys that can win it on their strong side.”
The Senators appear close to getting back defenseman Tyler Kleven, who hasn’t played since taking a puck to the face against Buffalo in early April. He’s been skating and coach Travis Green didn’t rule out the possibility he might play Thursday.
That would be a boost for the Senators, who saw top-pairing defenseman Artem Zub leave Game 1 with an unspecified injury and miss Game 2. Green told reporters Wednesday that Zub still has yet to skate since the injury to leave the Senators thinner on the blue line, which led to big ice-time totals for Jake Sanderson (43:06) and Thomas Chabot (40:50) in Game 2.
“I feel like our group, we were a bounce away from it being tied coming back here,” forward Drake Batherson said.
Colorado Avalanche at Los Angeles Kings
When/Where to Watch: Game 3, Thursday, 10 p.m. ET (TNT)
Series: Avalanche lead 2-0.
The Los Angeles Kings wouldn’t change much about the way they’re playing against the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche.
Except, of course, a few more goals.
Sure, they’re down 2-0 in the series, but their physical, clog-up-the-neutral-zone style has slowed down the highest scoring team in the league. Colorado won both games 2-1, including Game 2 in overtime on Tuesday.
“Play the same way we’re playing, just a little harder,” Kings forward Trevor Moore said. “Just try to take the positives and get to LA and play a good game.”
Los Angeles went 5-1-1 at home down the stretch of the regular season.
“We’re right there playing well, fighting, fighting hard,” goaltender Anton Forsberg said. “Just (have) to stick with it and turn this around.”
Colorado was a league-best 29-7-5 on the road in the regular season.
“I feel like we’re doing a lot of good things,” Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon said. “Everyone’s been really good so far.”
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AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow and AP Sports Writers Pat Graham and Aaron Beard contributed to this report.
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