Sabres’ Lindy Ruff comments on star who’s lost confidence amid Habs series

The Buffalo Sabres are on the brink of elimination against the Montreal Canadiens. Juraj Slafkovsky led the Habs to a big Game 5 win on Thursday night. And one more loss for Lindy Ruff’s team will end their season. Ahead of Game 6, Ruff is hoping to see more from veteran winger Alex Tuch.

“Ruff says Tuch has lost a little bit of confidence, maybe trying too hard to make a play, says he’s got to move your feet and says that line just hasn’t connected and haven’t been as good as they need to be,” Sabres radio host Brian Koziol reported on Thursday night.

Tuch has long been one of Buffalo’s most important players. In the regular season, he finished second on the team in goals (33) and third in points (66). However, the Stanley Cup Playoffs have been a different story.

In the first round against the Boston Bruins, Tuch was a big factor in that series win. He scored four goals and seven points in the six-game matchup with Boston. Unfortunately, he has not been the same in round two. In fact, the Canadiens have held him without a single point through five games.

This lack of offensive production had led to a decrease in playing time, as well. He averaged more than 20 minutes a night in each of the three games prior to Game 5. However, this dropped to just 16 minutes of ice time on Thursday night.

The Sabres need all hands on deck if they want to force a Game 7 back in Buffalo. It will certainly be interesting to see how Tuch responds to these comments on Saturday night in Game 6.

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