Sabres Edge

The Sabres have taken great pride in playing a puck-possession style in which they tried pushing the pace for much of the season, but they switched almost exclusively to a neutral-zone trap en route to beating the Flyers. Coach Lindy Ruff, who for years expressed disdain for the trap, figured he had no choice.

Installing the trap was the biggest adjustment Ruff made last week after the Sabres lost to the Flyers and Bruins on successive nights. It prompted Ruff to review how the Sabres performed in the second half of back-to-back games, and it wasn't pretty. They were 0-3 this season and had been outscored, 13-4, in the second game before beating the Flyers.

The Sabres rolled out a 1-3-1 against the Flyers, who became increasingly frustrated while trying to get the puck through the neutral zone. It helped Buffalo win more races to the puck despite having tired legs from playing a tough game against Calgary the previous night at home.

"We played [Friday] night, and they didn't," Ruff said. "I said I had to take a hard look at back-to-back games and how we approached them, maybe taking a little off of the aggressive side and be ready to look for turnovers and going the other way.

"We were at a little bit of a competitive disadvantage. We faced teams that have done the same in our building. With our record in the back-to-back, it was time to take a look at maybe toning down our game a little bit."

Don't be surprised if you see more of the same this weekend. The Sabres play the Bruins on Friday before traveling to Ottawa on Saturday.

--- Bucky Gleason