The Buffalo Sabres are in the top five in allocating cap space towards their blueline in the NHL, and what goes along with that is an expectation that their defense will be one of the main reasons for their improved chances at making the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but rather than looking for their six man unit to generate scoring chances, head coach Lindy Ruff is looking just as much for them to limit chances and cut down on goals this season.
"I think just consistency with defending. Any defenseman that is probably defending first is always what you look (for). I think in the history of the game, every defenseman wants to come in and be good offensively and want to be on the power play, but to be able to be a real good defense(man) in this league, you have to be able to defend.” Ruff said. “Even the top guys, Norris trophy guys are good defenders. They get lots of points, but they're good defenders at the same time. We saw some really good stretches of that."
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The Sabres without doubt will be looking for their top pairing of Bowen Byram and team captain Rasmus Dahlin, as well as Owen Power to be offensive drivers at even strength and on the power play, but the job of the bottom half of their blueline (Michael Kesselring, Mattias Samuelsson, and Conor Timmins) will be to contribute as penalty killers and in a shutdown defensive role at crunch time.
"By the time you get down to that last four or five minutes, whether it's a period or whether it's a game, your best defenders are playing the bulk of that ice. Sometimes your number five and number six don't play as much. I think we have a luxury with six really good defensemen. They can play together. They can be put apart. If you need offense, we've got really good options. If you need defense, I think we've got good options too."
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