BUFFALO – A day after Ted Nolan told him to leave the ice for practicing poorly, John Scott said he and the interim Sabres coach are “fine now.”
In fact, the tough guy, a regular winger, will play defense tonight, his natural position.
“I’m surprised that that happened,” Scott said about the incident this morning inside the First Niagara Center. “It was kind of a weird event. I’ve never seen that happen before in my career. It was definitely something new. It’s OK. We’re fine now.”
Scott smashed his stick and stomped off the ice to the dressing room Monday.
“Obviously, I wasn’t happy,” said Scott, who will sub for Henrik Tallinder and play beside Jamie McBain against the Carolina Hurricanes. “No one likes getting sent off from practice. I was having a tough practice and just kind of maybe overreacted a little bit and got a little upset. But it happens. Move on.”
Scott said he and Nolan ironed it out “as soon as he came off the ice.”
“I went and talked to him, apologized,” he said. “We had a talk. We’re moving on.”
Nolan added: “I was perfect with John Scott yesterday. In this sport sometimes you have those moments but it’s forgotten right afterwards.”
Nolan tried to downplay everything.
“It wasn’t so much I threw him off,” he said. “He just banged his stick. I just asked him to stay in until he cooled a little bit.”
Still, Scott said he understands “exactly where he’s coming from.” He said he was “terrible” Monday.
“I couldn’t make passes or anything, and it was just one of those days where nothing was going right,” Scott said. “I understand his decision. I totally get what he’s doing. I would’ve done the same thing probably.”
He added: “It’s a new start, kind of a clean slate. Everyone kind of had a good laugh about it afterwards. The guys are giving me a hard time today.”
In other news, goalie Ryan Miller, just back from the Sochi games, will start tonight. Miller skated this morning, his first time since leaving Russia.
“He’s doing OK,” Nolan said.
Backup Jhonas Enroth, who represented Sweden with Tallinder, should start Wednesday against Boston, Nolan said. Tallinder said he’ll play, too.
Center Zenon Konopka will sit tonight.
Related: Ted Nolan orders Sabres tough guy John Scott off practice ice