Sabres notes: Lindy Ruff could utilize depth to change Buffalo’s lineup

BUFFALO – Right now, the Sabres’ depth offers coach Lindy Ruff some intriguing options. He has been scratching three healthy players each game, meaning he has fresh bodies he can plug into the lineup.

With another game tonight in Detroit, he can infuse some jump in a team that will likely feel fatigued following Friday’s 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders in KeyBank Center.

“In back-to-back games, we’ll have depth to put fresh bodies in,” Ruff said Friday morning. “Our back to backs haven’t been that good. Maybe putting a couple fresh guys in can help us back to back.”

So far, the Sabres are 0-2-0 in the second game of a back to back. Perhaps Ruff will tap into his reserves against the Red Wings.

Defenseman Jacob Bryson, a regular at times over the last four seasons, has watched all 11 games this season as a healthy scratch. Meanwhile, defenseman Dennis Gilbert has played once, skating just 4 minutes, 49 seconds.

Up front, rookie Jiri Kulich has been moving in and out of the lineup.

The Sabres should have more help next week when winger Zach Benson is expected to return.

For six games, Benson gutted out a lower-body injury that hindered his performance before the Sabres yanked him from the lineup.

“It’s hard to tell a player not to play,” Ruff said. “… There’s a lot of guys that aren’t 100 percent. There’s something that might be bothering a lot of different players right now. If it starts affecting your play, that’s kind of when you got to step in and say, ‘We’re going to have to take you out.’

“A lot of times a player doesn’t want to come out. That’s a good thing.”

He missed his fourth straight game Friday. The Sabres have a day off Sunday, so he won’t have a full practice until Monday. They have a home game Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators.

“The last couple of days have been way better,” Benson said. “It’s feeling really good now.”

Naturally, Benson said the injury, which hindered his aggressive style, weighed on him a bit mentally. In six games, he has recorded zero points.

“It definitely was frustrating, but that’s the past now,” he said.

When he returns, Benson said he wants to “be a little pest.”

“Get on pucks, be in front of the net, create havoc and make plays,” said Benson, who scored 11 goals and 30 points as a rookie last season. “That’s the biggest thing, just kind of get back to my game and playing with lots of energy.”

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Sabres goalie Devon Levi started Friday, his fourth nod this season. He hadn’t played since making 19 saves Oct. 17 in a 6-4 road loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Ruff said Levi shook off that performance long ago.

“He put that away real quick, and I don’t know if you can totally lump that whole game on him,” he said. “So practices have been great. We know he’s a good goaltender. We know we’re going to need him. We know our schedule starts getting heavy.

“So the plan is to still keep trying to use both. But at the same time, if somebody really gets on a tear, they’ll play.”

Ruff said goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will likely play Saturday.

The goalies’ practice habits, among others reasons, have instilled confidence in Ruff.

“These guys compete on every puck in every drill,” he said. “Something that a lot of people don’t see. We get to see it. We get to see sometimes how frustrated our forwards are. We had a drill that we were waiting for next goal wins, and like the drill probably lasted three more minutes because of our goaltenders, and that’s the type of compete you want to see.”

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Sabres forward prospect Prokhor Poltapov has signed a two-year contract extension with CSKA Moscow, his Kontintental Hockey League team, according CSKA’s website.

The Sabres drafted the Russian in the second-round pick in 2021, 33rd overall.

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Center Mathew Barzal, the Islanders’ leading scorer last season, returned to New York prior to the game because he has an upper-body injury.