Lindy Ruff wants to ease pressure on Sabres as they face elimination; Buffalo needs more from Alex Tuch,

MONTREAL – Instead of practicing or holding a meeting or video session on Friday before they departed Buffalo for a do-or-die Game 6, coach Lindy Ruff told the Sabres to stay away from the rink and meet at the airport.

His reasoning? Fresh off Thursday’s 6-3 home loss to the Canadiens, Ruff wants to ease the stress and have them focus on Saturday’s game at the Bell Centre.

For the first time in these Stanley Cup Playoffs, having fallen behind 3-2 in the best-of-seven second-round series, they’re facing elimination.

After blowing three leads before the halfway mark of Game 5 and falling apart in the second period, Ruff said the Sabres “need to move on.”

“I know the pressure they’re feeling,” he said Friday in KeyBank Center. “I know how they feel. I know how much they care. I just feel a day away from the rink, not coming here, is a good thing.”

Ruff said the Sabres will likely stay at the hotel this morning and not hold a pregame skate so they can “save everything we got.”

“There’s only one game that counts now,” he said. “And that is the game tomorrow.”

This is all new for many of the Sabres. Fifteen players have appeared in their first postseason game in the last month.

While they’ve certainly experienced a lot – they defeated the Boston Bruins in six games in the first round – only a handful of players have played an elimination game.

Ruff, of course, wants to stress to his team what a great situation it’s in. The season has ended for 27 teams.

“What is there, five teams left?” he said. “To be sitting here talking to you guys, I think that it’s a wonderful place to be. And I’ll tell the team the same thing. We get to go to Montreal in Game 6 in the middle of May to move on to a Game 7.”

Having roared back from last place in early December to grab first in the Atlantic Division, the Sabres have often said they’ve battled loads of adversity to save their season.

For more than five months, since they began their 10-game win streak and climb up the standings, they’ve consistently had a strong response following difficult losses.

The Sabres, who won Games 1 and 4 against Montreal, haven’t lost four out of five contests since a five-game losing streak (0-4-1) from Nov. 4 to 13.

What they endured on their way to tonight’s game and even last season gives Ruff confidence the team can thrive in the moment and force Game 7 on Monday in Buffalo.

“The team has responded almost to every challenge we’ve had,” he said. “This is a completely different challenge, being involved in an elimination game where, now, every mistake could mean the end for you.”

If the Sabres, who won 3-2 on Tuesday in Montreal, have any hope in Game 6, they need their top players to contribute.

After scoring four goals and seven points in the opening round, first-line winger Alex Tuch has been AWOL against the Canadiens, registering zero points and a minus-eight rating.

“Offense has been hard to come by for me,” Tuch said Thursday after posting a minus-2. “(I) think I’ve had a couple opportunities in the last few games. Tonight was nothing until really late, honestly. I’ve got to bear down. I’ve got to be better. … I can’t play the way I’m playing right now.

“Just going to be will and determination, but I’ve got to move past it.”

Ruff said Tuch, who can become an unrestricted free agent following the season, has “lost just a little bit of confidence.”

“Trying a little bit too hard to make that extra play,” he said following Thursday’s game. “I think No. 1, the biggest thing is you’ve got to move your feet. Always move your feet, whether it’s through the neutral zone, whether you’re challenging through the blue line.

“That line just hasn’t been quite connected, and I think it all comes down to skating on pucks in the offensive zone.”

Meanwhile, Tage Thompson, Tuch’s center, has scored twice against the Canadiens, his only goals since tallying two late in Game 1 against the Bruins. Overall, he has compiled 11 points in his first 11 outings in the playoffs.

Still, Thompson, who might be playing through an injury, has hardly been a bear for the Canadiens to handle. He has registered just 10 shots on goal in the series.

In each of the last two games, he has taken a cross-checking penalty the Canadiens turned into a power-play goal.

With the Sabres up 3-2 in the second period on Thursday, he couldn’t convert a short breakaway on Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes.

“You’ve got to be able to make a difference,” Ruff said. “We know this time of year, there’s a heightened awareness on all your top players. Every opportunity, every mistake is being critiqued.”