Ruff rues blue-liners’ low scoring
But two recent shutouts ease defense’s goal dearth
The Buffalo blue line is equal parts finish and Finnish. Nothing against the two guys from Scandinavia, but the Sabres wish the ratio was more lopsided.
Sabres defensemen have just two goals after a dozen games. They’ve been playing extremely well otherwise, but coach Lindy Ruff told them a few more celebrations would be nice.
“I think that we can maybe get a little bit more goal production going forward,” Ruff said Thursday.
Only Teppo Numminen and Jaroslav Spacek, with one goal apiece, have scored for the Sabres. Blue-liners account for just 5.6 percent of the team’s 36 tallies heading into tonight’s game against Atlanta in HSBC Arena.
The Sabres entered Thursday’s games as one of just five teams without a two-goal defenseman (New Jersey, Tampa Bay, Phoenix and Los Angeles were the others). It’s an unlikely place for a team that prides itself on a five-man offensive attack.
Now, with all that said, it’s tough finding someone in the dressing room who cares. Especially since the Sabres are 8-2-2 and coming off consecutive shutout victories.
“Everybody likes to play more offense than defense,” Spacek said. “We can prob-
ably join the rush more a little bit. But the other thing I look at is I don’t want to give up too many goals.
“We’ve just got to worry we don’t give up odd-man rushes, no goals against, and that’s the most important thing for all of us.”
Though goals have been extremely rare, the defensemen have been contributing offensively. They’ve combined for 34 assists, three more than the forwards have recorded.
“I like the way our defense has played,” Ruff said. “They’ve been active and been involved. We haven’t got [goal] dividends for it yet, but I think we will.”
Part of the reason for the dearth of goals is the shrinking of shot lanes. Teams have gotten better at crowding the middle of their defensive zone, forcing defensemen to look at places other than the net.
“There’s all five guys in front of the net now when you get the puck on the point,” defenseman Toni Lydman said. “That’s why you see the play where the D-man is just putting it behind the net again along the boards, more than just trying to shoot it through. Usually, teams have to be out of position for you to get a shot or a clear view of the net even.”
The Sabres’ blue-liners have taken 60 shots, which is only 17.1 percent of the team’s 350. Lydman concedes it might be a good idea to fire a few more pucks, regardless of the opponent’s defensive mind-set.
“Sometimes it’s a good idea to just throw there,” he said. “There’s that much traffic that if you get it through it might hit a couple of guys, and who know where it ends up.”
The only place the blue-liners don’t want to see a puck end up is in their own net. As long as it stays out of there, the forwards can take all the goals.
“You’re not harping on your defensemen for scoring goals anyway,” Ruff said. “We’ve been harping on defending, and we’re pretty good in that area.”
