BUFFALO – Some quick updates from practice today inside the First Niagara Center:
– Sabres winger Patrick Kaleta (knee, 15 games) went through a full practice for the first time since undergoing surgery last month. Kaleta will likely miss the next three games and return next week.
“It’s just how it reacts to battle drills and divots and all that sort of stuff,” Kaleta said. “I have more mobility in my knee now, so it’s building up the strength and getting the movements down. Once you start doing things that you’re not used to doing, it gets a little bit swollen and sore. So I just got to keep an eye on that.”
– Sabres coach Ted Nolan said defenseman Zach Bogosian (groin, three games) will miss Friday’s game against New Jersey. Nolan, who said Bogosian was “two-days-to-two-days,” could play Saturday in Nashville. Bogosian didn’t practice today.
Defenseman Andrej Meszaros (hand, two games) practiced today. Nolan said the Sabres could keep defenseman Chad Ruhwedel up as a spare.
Meanwhile, the Sabres, who are 1-5-2 in their last eight games, have been playing opponents tough despite a patchwork lineup. Before Tuesday’s 2-1 shootout win in Boston, they lost a 3-2 shootout to Washington and dropped a tight 2-0 game to the New York Rangers.
Nolan expects more fire down the stretch.
“If you’re any kind of competitive soul or competitive spirit, if you don’t get up for any kind of competition, you’re in the wrong line of business,” he said. “Do something else. This line of business you have to be competitive. Sometimes when you don’t do it, that’s when your stomach turns at nighttime wondering why. I’m not surprised with this group. We’re going to stay as competitive as long as we can.”