BUFFALO – Center Jiri Kulich, the Sabres’ second-youngest forward, got singled out a bit by practicing as an extra before Wednesday’s game against the Ottawa Senators.
But make no mistake, nearly every Sabres forward has struggled during their dreary 0-3-0 start in which they scored just two goals.
“This isn’t about Kulich,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said Wednesday morning in KeyBank Center.
On Tuesday, Ruff put Kulich, 21, alongside Mason Geertsen and Jordan Greenway to see how he would react to a difficult practice.
“I want to his response tonight,” Ruff said.
As of Wednesday morning, Ruff said he had spoken to at least a few forwards about their subpar play, although he hadn’t talked to Kulich.
“We could mention (Jason) Zucker, (Ryan) McLeod, (Alex) Tuch,” he said. “We got lots of guys in that category. It’s not about one player.”
What did he tell those players? Start playing a speedy and aggressive game.
“If we’re going to be better, we need to play faster, we need to get inside,” he said.
McLeod, fresh off a breakout season in which he scored a career-high 20 goals and 53 points, has been arguably the Sabres’ biggest disappointment.
Through the first three games, he has registered zero goals and a team-worst minus-5 rating.
When he met with McLeod on Tuesday, Ruff told him he has “got to get inside.”
“That is the bottom line with our group, he’s got to get inside, got to be more competitive on the inside,” he said.
The Sabres scored their two goals this season – Zucker’s from the top of the circle and center Tage Thompson’s from inside the blue line – from the outside.
As Ruff watched NHL games Tuesday, it only reinforced how the Sabres must go to the so-call “dirty area” around the net to score.
“Our defensive part of our game is good,” Ruff said. “Our penalty killing is good. Our offensive tenacity, if you just hit the goals from last night around the league and you just watch goals, it’s more about tips and getting in front of the net.
“It isn’t about pretty plays. You’re going to find 80 percent of guys getting to the net and deflections and plays that result in goals because pucks are bouncing around.”
The Sabres have also struggled in the faceoff circle, winning just 41.6 percent, the NHL’s third-lowest number.
McLeod has won just 34.1 percent of his faceoffs this season, down from 52.3 percent last year, the highest number among Sabres regulars.
So far, forward Justin Danforth has won a team-high 57 percent of his draws.
The Sabres clearly miss injured center Josh Norris, who has won 52.4 percent of his faceoffs during his career.
“You look at that difference, that amount of time that we have to spend chasing the puck around,” Ruff said. “And then in the key areas, if you’re losing that faceoff, from penalty killing to power play, what a big difference that makes.”
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Goalie Alexandar Georgiev, who was waived by the Sabres last week, began practicing with the Rochester Americans on Tuesday.
Georgiev hasn’t played in the AHL since 2018-19.