BUFFALO – Right now, the Sabres have a deep roster – 26 healthy bodies, to be exact – meaning a whopping six players must be scratched each game.
Coach Lindy Ruff has tried to keep the extras involved, moving guys in and out. Still, two players – defensemen Luke Schenn and Michael Kesselring – have recently sat out for weeks.
Tonight, Schenn, who arrived March 6 in trade with the Winnipeg Jets, is expected to play after sitting out 10 straight games.
“It’s never easy for those guys,” coach Lindy Ruff said this morning in KeyBank Center, where the Sabres host the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. “I’ve spent plenty of time talking talking to him and others there’s going to be a place and time we’re going need different pieces.”
The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Schenn, 36, gives the Sabres a heavy and experienced piece.
“He’s good a good penalty,” said Ruff, whose Sabres have lost two straight games. “He understands around the front of the net, the reason he’s still in the league is because of how hard he can defend.”
The Sabres’ oldest player also infuses some muscle the Sabres might need tonight against the Lightning.
In their last meeting March 8, the Sabres won a wildly emotional 8-7 game in Buffalo that ranks as perhaps the NHL’s most entertaining this season. The teams fought five times and combined for 92 penalty minutes.
Who knows what might transpire in the rematch?
The Sabres (100 points), who on Saturday clinched their first spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 15 years, trail the first-place Lightning by two points in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Division.
The Sabres have five games left this season.
To make room for Schenn, rookie defenseman Zach Metsa will likely be scratched.
Meanwhile, Lightning winger Brandon Hagel, who agitated the Sabres throughout the teams’ last meetings, will miss the game with an undisclosed injury.