- Lindy Ruff revealed his “JFG” mantra after Buffalo’s 8-3 Game 6 rout of Montreal
- The acronym stands for “just f**king go,” aimed at Buffalo’s indecision on tape
- Read below for full quotes and video from Ruff’s post-game presser
Lindy Ruff had a three-word message for his Sabres heading into Game 6: JFG.
It worked.
Buffalo scored seven unanswered goals in an 8-3 rout of the Canadiens on Saturday night to force a winner-take-all Game 7. Afterward, Ruff revealed that the team had been repeating the same expression all morning at their gameday meeting in Montreal: JFG. Just F**king Go.
Rachel Lenzi of the Buffalo News caught the line first:
Ruff laid out the rest of it after the win. He’d been reviewing tape from the team’s three losses and kept seeing the same thing. Indecision. Slowness. Players pointing at each other instead of taking the play themselves.
“There was slowness in our game. I told the team I’d rather they made a mistake ‘going’ than ‘not going,’” Ruff said. “So we just used this expression this morning: ‘J.F.G.’ And you can figure out what that is.”
Watch Ruff’s full post-game media availability, where he walked through the message and the line shuffle that finally cracked Montreal open:
The Sabres took the message to heart. Alex Lyon coughed up three goals on four shots inside the first ten minutes, leaving Buffalo down 3-1 and staring at the offseason. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen came on at 10:14 of the first period and stopped all 18 shots he saw the rest of the way.
From there, Buffalo went off. Rasmus Dahlin posted a five-point night. One goal, four assists. That made him the first defenseman in NHL history with a five-point elimination game. Tage Thompson added a goal and three helpers, and Jack Quinn scored twice on the power play.
Game 7 is Monday night at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. The winner heads to the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, who haven’t played since sweeping the Flyers on May 9.
