BUFFALO – In his first action in almost eight weeks, center Josh Norris needed less than three minutes to give the Sabres a taste of what they had been missing for the last 24 games.
During a power play, Norris, who hadn’t played since suffering an upper-body injury opening night, skated into the right circle and adroitly fed winger Josh Doan the puck at the top of the crease.
A second later, winger Jason Zucker buried a loose puck in the crease past goalie Eric Comrie just 2:46 into the contest, the Sabres’ first goal in a commanding 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets before a crowd of 15,758 fans in KeyBank Center.
That nifty assist was just Norris’ warm-up act.
At the 14:54 mark, the No. 1 pivot grabbed a pass from linemate Tage Thompson alongside the net and used a slick backhander to put the Sabres up 3-0.
Then 41 seconds into the third period, after snagging linemate Zach Benson’s pass and dusting two defenders, the speedy Norris capped the scoring by deftly backhanding the puck between goalie Thomas Milic’s pads on a breakaway.
“I was little more excited for that one,” Norris said following his first game since Oct. 9. “… That kind of sealed it. I was fired up for that one.”
It was just about a perfect return.
“We saw his speed, saw some of the plays he made, good on the power play,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “I don’t know if we all could anticipate, but I think that’s what we were hoping to see. I thought he had a great night from start to finish.”
In winning their second straight game and reaching .500 (11-11-4) again, the Sabres offered a glimpse of the potential they possesses when they’re healthy.
Injuries and illnesses have ravaged them all season, with Benson, Norris, Zucker, defenseman Michael Kesselring, center Jiri Kulich, goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and others missing significant time. Last month, captain Rasmus Dahlin took a leave of absence to return to Sweden for a personal matter.
While the Sabres still have notable absences – Kesselring and Kulich are out – they have been getting players back over the last few weeks.
The oft-injured Norris, who has played just five games since the Sabres acquired him in a blockbuster trade from the Ottawa Senators last season, gives them a dynamic element.
“I think we saw what Norris did,” Ruff said. “We were anticipating that he would be a big part of our team, a big part of every aspect of it. The bench was pretty excited when he scored the (first) goal.”
Sabres winger Alex Tuch, who scored from an odd angle in the second period, said replacing “a guy like that is damn near impossible.”
“He has such a high-end skill set, such a good skater,” he said. “Just an unbelievable 200-foot centerman. His IQ is off the charts. He put it on full display tonight. He was unbelievable. When you miss a guy like that, it definitely hurts. It’s good to get him back.”
The night before his first game in 53 days, Norris, 26, acknowledged he couldn’t sleep well – “I was a little anxious,” he said Monday morning – and woke up early.
The Michigan native said he had no idea how Monday night might unfold.
“Just wanted to keep things really simple,” he after skating 15 minutes, 25 seconds against the Jets. “I told Tommer and Benny, first few shifts it’s going to be really simple. I end up getting a power play, and it kind of gets you right into the game.”
Defenseman Bowen Byram scored the Sabres’ other goal, pinching in and beating Comrie.
Instead of giving goalie Colten Ellis another start following a strong performance in Saturday’s 3-2 shootout road win over the Minnesota Wild, Ruff turned to Luukkonen.
Why? The Sabres did not land in Buffalo until Sunday morning.
“Based on how late a night it was for us coming back,” Ruff said of why Luukkonen earned the nod. “I don’t think most of our guys would’ve gotten to bed (until) about 4:30 in the morning.
“A little bit of maintenance with Ellis. … We probably were on the plane for over four hours. So (Luukkonen) was our freshest guy.”
Luukkonen rewarded Ruff’s faith – “I felt great,” he said – stopping 23 shots. Only Kyle Connor’s redirection in front beat him.
“I thought a real solid night,” Ruff said of Luukkonen. “He just looked in control, and to me, it didn’t look like he was going to get beat.”
The Sabres begin a six-game road trip Wednesday against the Philadelphia Flyers.
