Injured Sabres center was injured in late March and has skated twice in practice this week.
The Buffalo Sabres are looking to take a commanding 2-0 lead in theri second-round series with the Montreal Canadiens, after jumping on them early in a 4-2 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Final on Wednesday. Based on the line combinations and defensive pairings at the club’s morning skate, the Sabres appear to going with the same lineup, but center Sam Carrick did take to the ice for the second time this week and head coach Lindy indicated that the veteran is close to returning.
"He is right on the cusp of going in. If this was a Game 7, I think you'd look at it, but you'd probably put him in." Ruff said. "Can he use the extra days; for sure. He's really not going to tell me exactly how he feels. He just wants to play. With the type of injury he's dealt with, if I can give him a couple extra days, I think we'll get rewarded for it. He played incredible for us. Do we want him back in the lineup? Damn right, we do."
The 34-year-old has been out since late March with an upper body injury, and in a short 13-game stint scored five goals, and was an impressive +12 averaging just under 11 minutes per night.
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Here are other comments from Ruff this morning:
What allowed the club to play so well in Game 1?
I thought they skated well when they had the opportunity through the neutral zone. I thought in the offensive zone, they kept their feet moving. They got away from man-on-man coverage. I thought the group stayed tighter together, so it didn't allow (them) to get smothered and taken out of the play.
On Bowen Byram and his mentality in the playoffs?
I think this is the time of year that everybody should have that mentality. Bo is every shift he takes, he tries to make a difference. He wanted more of a penalty killing this role this year. He wanted to be involved in some of that (and) he did, he's done a good job. He's a gamer. He wants to make every shift count
On Alex Tuch’s assessment that the top line was just OK in Game 1?
I said yesterday, they were involved in a couple good opportunities. Alex had the backdoor drive that he missed out on, and Tage (Thompson) had two really good opportunities. I think the O zone time is something that, when I mentioned in the McLeod line, them staying connected, I think if those guys could get a little more connected, a little bit tighter, keep their feet moving from the top of the circles down, where you can allow our defense to maybe get a little bit involved and allow a little bit more O zone time. That's what we're looking (for).
On the leadership meeting in December that helped turn the season around:
We were on our West Coast trip. We just lost our third game. I had a meeting with our leadership group that day, and it got a little contentious, about how we needed to play and what we were giving up. And they brought up some great points. I felt that the conversation was all about winning, and I think they took that a step further, and then got together as a group afterwards. And I think from that point, since then, they've pretty well taken over. When your team is going good, you just sort of hand over the reins and let them go.
On top lines being shut down and Tage Thompson being in a scoring drought:
I think you're only one game out of a Game 6 where I thought that line was great. Now we're evaluating one game where they were okay......It's the time of year where McDavid went to three games without a point. It's part of the playoffs, if the puck isn't going into the net, then what else can you do to help your team? Look at the plays he made to set up the two goals in Boston. They were great plays. I think if you're going to focus solely on goals, you're always going to find one or two good players on every team that teams are looking in this time of year to say, 'Boy, we need more out of them.' A lot of times, those players are getting the extra attention. I'm not making any excuses. Tage has had his chances that haven't gone in. Does he want to be better? He wants to be better. Alex, talked in conversation yesterday, said he needs to be better. So I think all that goes hand in hand. And I think you go from one game. I thought they played a they played a hell of a game in Boston. Now you go to an okay game. Now you look to see what they got tonight. I'm probably not as concerned as you guys are.
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