BUFFALO – Some quick Sabres lineup updates following a very quiet morning skate inside the First Niagara Center:
– Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen skated but will miss his second consecutive game because of the flu.
“He’s available, but this is the first time he touched the ice in four or five days, so we’re going to let him get his feet back underneath him and put him in the next game,” Sabres coach Ted Nolan said.
Nolan added: “He wants to play, but sometimes better heads prevail.”
– Defenseman Tyson Strachan, out five straight games and nine of the last 11 with a lower-body injury, will return tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Andre Benoit will sit out after playing 11 straight games.
– Nolan said defenseman Tyler Myers “didn’t feel all that great” after practicing Tuesday. Myers, whose lower-body injury will sideline him a fifth straight game tonight, didn’t skate this morning.
– Goalie Jhonas Enroth will make his third straight start.