BUFFALO, N.Y. — The game within the game and how coaches handle that part of it all remains an art form.Albeit more nuanced in today’s NHL.Lindy Ruff has been around a long time. The Buffalo Sabres’ head coach knew exactly what he was doing in the 48 hours between Games 4 and 5, talking about the officiating in the series and what he perceived to be embellishment by some Montreal Canadiens players.He was careful to camouflage that around the fact he felt his own players needed to be smarter and show more discipline.But don’t be fooled, that was old-school gamesmanship as far as getting that out through the media. And to be sure, Ruff would have also let it be known to series supervisor Kay Whitmore from the NHL between games as well.There’s a reason behind it all. Ruff wants to see as little as possible of that dangerous-looking Montreal power play.And hey, look at what happened in Game 5 on Thursday night. Montreal didn’t get its first power play until there was 2:37 left in the second period, courtesy of a Tage Thompson cross-check. Nick Suzuki scored a power-play goal 10 seconds later. The Canadiens had only two power plays in Game 5, although they scored on both.So yeah, there’s a reason Ruff has been working the officiating.“We had our power play and didn’t take advantage of it. Momentum swings, they got a power play, and they did (take advantage of it),” Ruff said postgame Thursday night. “They’ve got a good power play. We know that discipline is a big deal.”So his play on the officiating worked between games, you might argue, but it still didn’t matter in a Game 5 loss where all the Canadiens needed was two looks.Back in the day, that kind of gamesmanship from coaches in their news conferences at playoff time was more commonplace. The hope was to influence the refs for the next game. Or maybe get under the skin of the other coach or the opposing players.Today, a younger generation of coaches has mostly veered clear of that kind of stuff with the media.That’s why Ruff going down that road this past week had such a throwback feel to it. And if I’m going to be totally honest, I loved every minute of it.But even Ruff is much tamer today than he was 20 years ago.“For sure,” Ruff said Thursday morning ahead of Game 5. “I know what our team needs, I know what I saw out there. Do I express it as loudly as I used to? I don’t think so. Part of that I think is, does it have an effect or does it not have an effect? It’s as simple as that.”Habs head coach Martin St. Louis, representing the new coaching generation, has not taken the bait one bit from Ruff. That stuff isn’t for him.“I mean I feel like if I’m relying on the refs for me to win a series, I’m spending my energy in the wrong place,” St. Louis said Thursday.And I mean, St. Louis isn’t just your new-generation coach; he’s also a Hockey Hall of Fame player. So his makeup when it comes to all this probably puts him in a different place than almost anyone.