“I Wouldn’t Rule Him Out” | Lindy Ruff On Tyson Kozak Returning From Injury | Buffalo Sabres

What’s up with Matias? Um, just a game of day little chance to recoup. He’ll be okay for tomorrow so progressing well enough. Yeah. Um, had a good day. We’ll see what he looks like tomorrow. I wouldn’t rule him out. What has Matias found in this game recently? He’s been very effective. Just what’s changed, I guess, from a year. You know, I think uh he came into camp with really his head in the right place about how he needed to play and what he could add to this team from physicality and penalty killing and defending against all the top guys. Tyson Kak, you talked about how you’re confident to play him against anybody. How have you seen his confidence grow since he debuted 11 months ago? Yeah. Well, I think the opportunity has put him in a situation where he feels good on the ice against anybody. Um, you know, he defends quickly, gets into people, and a lot of times physically, and he’s not a big guy, but physically he can overwhelm somebody down low. And I think he just thinks he can he can play pretty well against anybody. And his speed is up there with our top guys. So it, you know, it’s really uh those two qualities, you know, put you in a category where you close on people in a hurry and then you can physically separate them. How about his offensive game that seems to be better? I mean, his defensive game was always good, but now he seems like he’s pretty player now. He’s chipping in. And where is his offensive game grown? Well, I think uh you know, we’ve seen where uh he’s really good at getting to the net. um pretty good at driving through middle lane drive guy. I I think where he’s gaining a little bit of confidence is a little bit more, you know, puck play from the top of his circles down which, you know, I just think comes from playing. What’s been the challenge of trying to find the right guys to play with Tage right now considering it’s all his normal lineates are out of line? Yeah, you know, I think it’s it’s just something that in inside of a game or going game to game that uh you know, we’re going to try to look to find something that that works. Um you know that Koulique Benson and himself seem to be a a real real good trio. Uh but you know, injuries aside, I think if H, you know, he he would say that, you know, he’s got to make the people around him better and whoever that is, they they have to be better when they’re on the ice, whether it’s defensively or offensively. Like against Toronto, who’s getting only three goals in those two games, but hasn’t really scored a lot since. Uh offensively, what are your thoughts on him right now? Um, you know, I think the opportunities have to go up by, you know, I think last night he was in on on two good opportunities. Typically, you know, a guy like that, if he’s if the opportunities are up there, that shot, I mean, the shot he shot through a screen that went off the far post, you know, uh, those are the types of shots that that go in for him because, uh, the way he shoots it, it, you know, it catches everybody off guard. Um, you know, I think as a little bit of how we go is is is has hurt his game. You know, when we take this number of people out of there, um, you know, take his regular line mates out of there, it’s it’s been an adjustment. As far as the goalies go, just I mean, they’ve all played well. Just what’s the challenge of trying to get them another game when they’re up, you know, just my challenge is just keep them all playing well. That’s my challenge. Um, you know, I I think we’ve talked about this that we’re it’s a good problem to have. Um, it’s not easy to navigate for them. It’s not easy to navigate for myself. Uh, but I know that all three of them have been a big part of, you know, get getting us going in the right direction and putting points on the score sheet every night. Do they play off of each other? Like you got a good game from Lukan and then Lion goes in, he gives you a really good game. Do they tend to maybe play off of each other that way and competition? I don’t know if I can answer that, Paul. You know, I think they want to step in and play really well and just, you know, say, I want, you know, I want to get more games. Uh, I do know that the schedule is going to get heavy and we need we need to possibly play the third, too. So, we’re in a good situation. the Mason Gearson, you know, we know the the role he plays on this team and what he brings, but when he’s only playing, you know, four or five minutes a night, just given the injury situation you have on the roster, does that kind of make it challenging? Like perhaps you might need another another guy that could give you more minutes? Yeah, I I think, you know, there’s two ways you can look at it. U you know, we had pretty good success last year when we went 11 and seven. sometimes uh the guys welcome that extra ice each time. I think at the same time, you know, we’re chasing the goal last night, so I I dropped down to, you know, a lot a lot of times was just three lines that were playing. Uh so, you know, typically for him, I would say, you know, he would get six, eight minutes. Uh but we’re down one nothing. Um uh there was nothing to dislike about his play. Uh he was physical. that line, got the puck in deep and and did some good stuff. Ask about Josh Morris. How’s he progressing and is there an update on Yeah, progressing? I I guess really that’s the word. He’s on he’s back on the ice skating. Um I’ve talked to him. He said he’s feeling better. Um he’s not in that feeling great category yet, but he’s feeling better. Uh and just really want to just try to keep progressing it uh with no setbacks. No calendar on No, we have no calendar on that. Um just you know the better he feels the more we can keep doing with him.

Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff spoke to the media after practice on November 5, 2025. Ruff gave updates on Mattias Samuelsson, Tyson Kozak and Josh Norris after practice and when the team can expect them back. He also talked about the play of Tage Thompson so far this season, and the challenge of carrying three goalies on the roster.

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