BUFFALO – After becoming a healthy scratch and recovering from a lower-body injury, Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson seemed to recapture some of his old form and solidify a regular spot.
Well, Samuelsson, 24, briefly fell out of the lineup again.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff reinserted him for Tuesday’s 6-2 setback to the San Jose Sharks after scratching him for Monday’s 4-3 overtime road loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
To create a spot, the Sabres scratched defenseman Dennis Gilbert, who had played eight straight games.
Ruff, who has eight defensemen at his disposal, said he wants the 6-foot-4, 227-pound Samuelsson to be harder to play against.
“Just a higher level of defending where he’s a guy the other team knows is on the ice,” he said prior to the game in KeyBank Center. “His play, it’s just been up and down. Reaching a consistent level is all we’re really looking for.”
Ruff said Samuelsson had “a good pocket of play when he got back from his injury.”
Defensemen Jacob Bryson, a terrific puck-mover, and Gilbert, who brings a physical element, have recently moved up the depth chart.
“When you look at it, it was hard to take Bryson out of the lineup, and we thought we needed some physicality, so we needed Gilbert in there,” Ruff said. “I couldn’t scratch Bryson after the way he played. So a little bit of healthy competition.”
The Sabres also scratched winger Jason Zucker (lower body) and defenseman Henri Jokiharju, who could be moved before Friday’s trade deadline.
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Williamsville native Andrew Poturalski, the AHL’s leading scorer with the San Jose Barracuda, earned his first recall to the Sharks last month, recording one assist during a three-game stint.
Poturalski, 31, has played just nine NHL games over 10 pro seasons despite winning two Calder Cups and often ranking among the AHL’s top scorers.
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky, having coached the center when he recorded 101 points and captained the Chicago Wolves to a championship in 2022, has a special appreciation for Poturalski’s talents.
“He knows what it takes to win,” Warsofsky said. “He’s a leader. I think he’s really transformed the Barracuda and the mindset they need to win hockey games.”
If the Sharks sell off more assets before Friday’s trade deadline, perhaps they will summon Poturalski again. He left a positive impression during his first stint.
“I thought he came up, gave us some good minutes,” Warsofsky said. “… He’s a guy we’d love to see more of at some point. We’ll see how it plays out here. Obviously, just being familiar with his game, his skill set in the role that he can play and a guy that can make plays, it’s something that’s obviously intriguing.
“But I think he’s done a really good job down there for those guys.”
Warsofsky said the Sharks, who began Tuesday with an NHL-low 41 points, held out goalie Vitek Vanecek for trade protection.
Vanecek, who still backed up Alexandar Georgiev, is 10-2-1 in his career against the Sabres.
Georgiev allowed four goals on eight shots in the opening 11:49 on Dec. 3 here as a member of the Colorado Avalanche.
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Sharks center Macklin Celebrini, the first overall pick last year, has enjoyed a stellar rookie season, scoring 18 goals and 44 points in 50 games entering Tuesday’s contest, his first in Buffalo.
Warsofsky, of course, knew Celebrini, 18, possessed special talent. His strong offensive production is hardly surprising.
But the coach has learned the youngster has the compete level to complement his skill.
“I think he drags a lot of guys into the fight on a lot of nights, and that’s what great players do, that’s what leaders do,” Warsofsky said. “To do it at 18 is obviously impressive, right? But we’re super happy with his development and where he’s going.”
Warsofsky said Celebrini will go into a puck battle against anyone.
“It (doesn’t) matter if you’re (Aleksander) Barkov or little (Zach) Benson, he’s going in there, he’s going to try to win that puck battle, and I think that’s what’s impressed me the most,” he said. “And that’s no disrespect to the opponent. That’s just he’s 18 years old and he sticks his nose right in there. I think that’s a very, very impressive thing.”