BUFFALO – Tyler Myers, an NHL-worst minus-9 this season, will sit his second straight game tonight, the struggling defenseman told the Times Herald.
It’s also expected defenseman Robyn Regehr will return tonight inside the First Niagara Center following a seven-game absence (lower body). Rookie T.J. Brennan could sit against the Boston Bruins.
With Regehr on injured reserve and the Sabres at the 23-man roster limit, the Sabres placed Matt Ellis, a healthy scratch recently, on waivers this afternoon, according to TSN.
The Sabres, who’ve allowed a league-high 43 goals, have sorely missed Regehr’s presence.
“Numbers alone, he’s been our best defender,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said this morning. “When I break down the opportunities on the ice … he’s been one of the lowest. He’s been our most solid defender.”
Meanwhile, rookie Mikhail Grigorenko could possibly sit tonight. The 18-year-old’s said he’s taking warm-ups.
The Russian’s been receiving minimal ice time recently, skating only 10:34 and 7:13 in his last two outings. Ruff, however, has upped his minutes late in games, awarding him some regular third-period action.
Grigorenko assisted on Alexander Sulzer’s third-period winner in Saturday’s 3-2 triumph over the Islanders in New York.
“There’s times he’s going to get good ice time, there’s times where if he’s going well he’ll get more ice time,” Ruff said. “Where you look at early in the game, the handling of the puck, he made some choices I’d like to improve. I didn’t like the way some of the players above him were playing, so I put him in a situation where he’d get more.
“His ice time’s going to vary. There’s going to be games where he plays. There’s going to be games where he doesn’t play. There’s going to be games where he plays a lot. There’s days where we really want to work hard on some parts of his game.”
The Bruins entered rested. The blizzard hammering New England canceled their home contest Saturday against Tampa Bay.
The Sabres destroyed the Bruins recently in Boston. Ruff knows the Northeast Division foe will be hungry.
“I think the storm might be coming in here tonight,” Ruff said.
NEW Update: Grigorenko will be a healthy scratch for the first time tonight. Cody McCormick, who sat Saturday, will replace him. Brennan will also sit.
Update: Bruins coach Claude Julien just said forwards Brad Marchand, Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton are all game-time decisions. Thornton was concussed during a quick knockout from Sabres tough guy John Scott late last month. Could the two scrap again tonight?
Send us back Grigorenko if he doesn’t play more…from a Quebec Remparts fan !!!