'The toughest solve I've been around': Ruff laments Sabres' disastrous run

TORONTO — Lindy Ruff has been in charge of an NHL bench for more than 1,800 regular-season games.

The Buffalo Sabres head coach knows hockey inside and out. He's also never felt the stress and strain of a stretch like this.

The search for answers continues.

"I'm almost lost for words," Ruff said following Sunday's 5-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs that saw the Sabres fail to win for a 10th straight outing. "It's on me to solve this. This is the toughest solve I've been around, but it is on me to get these guys in the right place to win a hockey game.

"And nobody else — just me."

Buffalo is an ugly 0-7-3 since the club's last victory, a 4-2 road triumph over the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 23.

The Sabres jumped out to leads of 2-0 and 3-1 Sunday with both teams playing for the second time in less than 24 hours, but couldn't weather the storm when the Leafs found their legs following a sluggish start.

"They really came hard after us," said Ruff, the 2006 winner of the Jack Adams Award as the NHL coach of the year now in his second stint with Buffalo. "We couldn't win enough battles down low. I thought some of our puck decisions got us in trouble."

Sabres forward Alex Tuch said his group let its foot off the gas.

"Effort wasn't good enough," he said. "Our details weren't good enough."

Buffalo winger Jack Quinn, reinserted into the lineup after sitting out the last five contests as a healthy scratch, scored twice to snap a 16-game goal drought.

"We gotta find a way to win," he said. "This one stings."

The Sabres recalled goaltender Devon Levi from the American Hockey League's Rochester Americans to face the Leafs in his first NHL action since Nov. 16.

"I don't think the team's playing bad," he said. "It's the hockey gods right now … just weighing against the team and testing everyone, seeing how we're going to respond.

"The guys are working hard. Everyone wants it."

Ruff tried to settle his players down with a timeout after Toronto scored three times in a span of 2:31 in the second period to turn the Sabres' 3-1 advantage into a 4-3 deficit.

"Listen, we can do this," he said of his message. "This is hard right now. We've got to do it together, but we've got to believe in how we need to play to get the job done."

Tuch summed up the feeling in the locker room as a miserable month continued.

"Pretty (crappy), honestly," he said. "Losing 10 in a row, there's no good feelings.

"Just gotta work."

QUINN'S BACK

The 23-year-old forward scored his second and third goals of the season after watching from the press box. The only other time he had hit the back of the net entering Sunday was Oct. 26 against Detroit when the Red Wings pulled their goalie.

"It's frustrating," Quinn said. "Sucks not playing, but just use it as a chance to find my legs and get a little pop coming back."

HATS OFF

Toronto centre John Tavares scored twice in the second period and added his 15th goal of the season into the empty net for the 14th hat trick of his NHL career.

"He just keeps working," Leafs head coach Craig Berube said of the 34-year-old. "Guy's got a heavy stick, smart, competitive. He works at his game constantly, even at this age. He's still doing a great job. He's been excellent."

Tavares, meanwhile, was happy to see the club score five times on 41 shots after scoring two goals or less across four of its last five outings.

"Pucks maybe haven't been going in," he said. "But I think we're still growing and finding our way with how we're playing and the identity of the group.

"A lot of good signs … something we want to build on."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 15, 2024.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press