BUFFALO – Sabres winger Alex Tuch, who missed the first two days of training camp with an undisclosed injury, will be making his preseason debut Saturday afternoon against the Detroit Red Wings, coach Lindy Ruff said.
Meanwhile, defenseman Mattias Samuelsson could miss the game after sitting out Friday’s practice with an upper-body injury.
“We’ll have him evaluated,” Ruff said following the session in KeyBank Center. “He had a good practice yesterday, and maybe that affected what’s been bothering him.”
Ruff said goalie Alex Lyon will be starting against the Red Wings, who beat the Sabres 5-2 on Thursday in Detroit. Ruff wants goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who missed the first week of camp with a lower-body injury, to play the final two exhibition games next week.
Luukkonen began practicing Thursday.
“It looks like he’s gotten through pretty good,” Ruff said of the Finn’s two sessions. “Some general soreness.”
In other news, center Jiri Kulich, who tweaked a muscle in Thursday’s pregame skate, did not practice Friday.
“Just kind of crept up on him, so we held him (out),” Ruff said. “We’re hoping that it’s just kind of a day-to-day thing. Don’t know, though. It’s one of those things that he could practice tomorrow.”
The Sabres on Friday also assigned defenseman Noah Laberge and goalie Ryerson Leenders to their respective junior teams.
Samuelson. Why is this guy still here??? He is always hurt. What a waste of money!! Don’t think they would get any takers if they tried to trade to trade him. How this guy is an alternate captain is an absolute joke.