Lindy Ruff hasn’t forgotten what he felt like the last time he coached a game in HSBC Arena. Nine days ago in a 2-0 loss to the Nashville Predators, the Buffalo Sabres put out a do-nothing performance that was one of their most wretched at home since the NHL lockout.

The Sabres left town reeling but found a lot of energy on their three-game road trip that ended on a high note with Monday’s comeback win at Pittsburgh. Buffalo also won Saturday at Tampa Bay, rebounding from a 2-1 loss at Florida that saw 46 shots on goal go mostly unrewarded.

“I said after the Nashville game it was the most frustrating game I’ve stood behind the bench for, and I think we’ve turned it around,” Ruff said after practice Tuesday in the Amherst Pepsi Center. “We owe our fans a better performance and more energy than that game provided.”

The Sabres need to do something about getting some energy at home because they, frankly, have not gotten the job done at home for quite some time. They were 20-15-6 last season, just 7-6-1 this year — and remember that they won their first three.

Cut it down to wins and losses and that’s just 27-28 the last two years.

Here’s a look at some numbers that show the Sabres’ plight (all figures heading into Tuesday’s play):

The Sabres’ 4-5-1 mark in their last 10 games downtown makes them just one of five teams in the NHL with a losing record on home ice in that stretch.

The Sabres have been outscored at home this season, 43-37. Only four teams have a worse differential and only seven have scored fewer goals. Last year, Buffalo was plus-17 at home and tied for the NHL lead with 140 goals.

Both of Buffalo’s special teams units are better on the road — the power play is at 18.6 percent on the road to 16.7 percent at home while the penalty killers are also better out of town (90.8 to 84.6).

“We’ve got to have a little bit of a road mentality,” said winger Thomas Vanek. “Guys come home and I think we want to play too pretty and entertain. We’ve got to go out and get some ugly goals early on and after that the pretty plays will work for us.

“We have to realize it’s more about getting two ugly points no matter what, rather than getting style points.”

Goaltender Ryan Miller is one player who has been better at home, in both goals-against average (2.37 to 2.77) and save percentage (.917 to .900). He agrees with Vanek that the Sabres have to simplify things like they do on the road.

“The crowd is great, but I think sometimes maybe we listen too much,” Miller said. “On the power play, they want to see us make the back-door play. The league is going to have to be a grinding league right now, get pucks to the net and really contend in your own zone. It’s not as fan-friendly as it was coming out of the lockout. It’s something we have to adapt to and become more consistent with.”

A win against the woeful Lightning would be a good place to start turning the home woes around and would avenge Tampa Bay’s 5-2 win here Oct. 30 under former coach Barry Melrose.

The Lightning is winless in its last eight games (0-6-2) and is 1-9-4 in its last 14. Tampa Bay is 3-7-3 on the road.

Perhaps the home debut of Nathan Gerbe will give Buffalo a boost. Gerbe was plus-3 in the final two games of the trip while making his NHL debut after a call-up from Portland.

“I’ll be pretty nervous stepping in front of the home crowd,” said Gerbe, who has played on a line with Derek Roy and Drew Stafford. “There’s been a lot of support here in Buffalo so I want to put on a good showing and make sure I’m ready for it.”

“He’s a great guy who works hard in practices and games,” said Roy. “He just has energy, works hard shift in and shift out and that’s what he’s got to do.”