‘“I need him to play before he gets so frustrated we lose him, and that’s the bottom line,” coach Lindy Ruff said prior to the Sabres’ 3-2 loss inside the First Niagara Center. “He’s worked hard. A player gets to the point where you got to get him in. He was an important part of our team. He played good minutes and played hard. They’ve got some players that we’d like to play hard against, so this game was a good fit for him.”’