The longest-tenured head coach in the NHL is feeling the heat.
“We need to win games,” Lindy Ruff said Wednesday, the day after his Sabres lost 4-3 in Ottawa.
“We need to win them now.”
He’s right. Buffalo has dropped seven of its last eight games since winning the first two of the season. The Sabres’ 3-6-1 record is better than only one (Washington, 2-7-1) in the Eastern Conference.
Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville and Cody Hodgson can’t do everything.
Among the struggling Sabres...
Defenseman Tyler Myers is a minus-7 with just one assist, his average ice time having fallen to 20:03 from the 22:29 he logged last season. The 2010 rookie of the year may be in the first year of a seven-year, $38.5 million contract, but his play hasn’t been close to the level that garnered him that deal.
Goalie Ryan Miller has surrendered four goals in each of his last four games.
Former 30-goal scorer Drew Stafford hasn’t scored yet.
As for Ruff, he’s been Buffalo’s coach since 1997; however, if he can’t get his team into the playoffs, it’s hard to picture him back next season.
The Sabres host Montreal Thursday.
