BUFFALO – Sabres captain Kyle Okposo, out the last six games recovering from a lower-body injury, will play tonight against the New Jersey Devils, his first action since Nov. 10.
“Just some wear and tear I’ve been dealing with and had to give it some time to calm down,” Okposo said this morning at KeyBank Center. “But feeling better, ramped it up over the past few days.”
Okposo, 34, recently began skating on his own before joining his teammates this morning. He hasn’t had a full team practice since he left the lineup.
The American skated at right wing beside center Tyson Jost and Zemgus Girgensons this morning. Peyton Krebs will likely be the odd forward out tonight.
In other news, defenseman Jacob Bryson suffered a lower-body injury in Wednesday’s 6-2 win over the St. Louis Blues and is week to week, according to the team. Bryson, 25, left the game after the second period.
“It was not an impacted incident that occurred within the game,” Sabres coach Don Granato said of the injury. “I asked the same thing at the end of the period before the third. It was one of those that you can do on your own.”
Defenseman Casey Fitzgerald, a healthy scratch five of the last eight games, will replace Bryson. Fitzgerald’s father, Tom, is New Jersey’s general manager.
Meanwhile, Sabres winger Rasmus Asplund, who’s day to day with an upper-body injury, skated this morning but will miss tonight’s game.
Goalie Craig Anderson will start tonight, his second nod in the last three games.
