BUFFALO – Sabres center Tage Thompson and goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen both missed Wednesday’s practice and are day to day with their respective injuries. Coach Lindy Ruff said they could play in tonight’s home game against the St. Louis Blues.
That’s the good news for the Sabres. The bad? Ruff said the lower-body injury defenseman Mattias Samuelsson suffered in Monday afternoon’s 7-5 loss to the Montreal Canadiens will sideline him “weeks.” The injury, however, isn’t season-ending.
The Sabres can at least breathe easy because Thompson, who departed Monday’s game with a lower-body injury after extending his goal streak to four contests, likely won’t be sidelined long.
Thompson has performed dynamically this season, scoring 11 goals and 18 points, both team highs, in 16 games. His goal total ranked second in the NHL entering Wednesday’s games. He has compiled four goals and five points in his last four outings.
“Best thing we could do today is give him the day off,” Ruff said following Wednesday’s practice in KeyBank Center.
Ditto for Luukkonen. Ruff pulled the Finn after two periods Monday because he believed the undisclosed injury he suffered in Sunday’s practice was hampering him. He allowed four goals in the limited action, as many as he had given up in his previous three games.
Meanwhile, Samuelsson returned to the lineup Monday after sitting out three games as a healthy scratch. He was injured when Juraj Slafkovsky knocked him to the ice as he tried to enter a scrum in the second period. Ruff said he doesn’t need surgery.
Samuelsson has battled injuries throughout his career, never surpassing the 55-game mark in a season. He played 41 times last year before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery.
“That’s tough,” Sabres center Dylan Cozens said. “You’ve gotta feel for him a lot. He’s obviously been through a lot these last few years, and he’s a really important part to the defense. He’s great for us back there.”
Thompson’s absence would create opportunities up front. In Wednesday’s practice, each regular center moved up. Ryan McLeod centered Zach Benson and Alex Tuch. Ryan Cozens pivoted JJ Peterka and Jack Quinn. Peyton Krebs centered Jason Zucker and Jordan Greenway.
Sam Lafferty, who usually plays right wing, centered Beck Malenstyn and Nicolas Aube-Kubel, who has recently been scratched.
Cozens, who replaced Thompson on the left flank of the top power-play unit, has shaken off a dreary start, scoring three goals in the last six games, including two goals in the last three contests. He did not score his first goal until his 11th appearance.
“It’s time for me to step up here and be the player I know that I can be,” Cozens said. “If Tommer isn’t playing tomorrow, I know I have to step up and other guys have to step up, too. Hopefully he’s in.”
Cozens said he has recently “been feeling more like myself.”
“I feel like I’ve been skating better and just driving the puck up the ice more,” he said. “I just want to carry it up the ice with speed.”
When Cozens utilizes his speed, he can be a special player. It’s no coincidence the Sabres won three straight games before Monday’s loss with the Yukon native showcasing some of his best.
“I’ve liked where Cozens’ game has been, even his last two or three games, his skating, he’s getting on the score sheet, physical,” Ruff said. “I think what’s really been evident has been his skating.
“I think we’ve seen the power of our team when we get contributions from everybody, all four lines, and we’ll need that line to be a strong line for us. Every team has to deal with key personnel being out of the lineup, so if he is out, we need the other personnel to step up and come up with a big game for us.”
Thompson, however, can’t simply be replaced. Six weeks into the season, he’s on pace for 56 goals and 92 points.
Ruff said Thompson has been “putting the work in in all parts of his game” and often paying a price to score.
“From the inside goals, getting around the paint,” he said. “When you look at the face-down goal in the paint (last week), the early goal early in the year in the paint, he understands the value of you just can’t hang out there and be a good goal scorer.
“I think he’s been getting inside, and then he’s taken advantage when he has had ice and been where he can shoot it, he’s blown some right by the goaltenders. So every part of his game is a level that, I think, is surrounded by work.