BUFFALO – When the Sabres open the regular season Thursday in Columbus, Colten Ellis could be their starting goalie.
A trying preseason in which they lost five significant players to injury in four games, including top goalies Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon, has mercifully ended.
In Saturday afternoon’s 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ruff said Luukkonen, who has a history of injuries, left 3:47 into the third period when he tweaked something on his lower body. Ellis replaced him.
“Didn’t want to take any chances with him,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said following the game in KeyBank Center.
Could the season opener against the Blue Jackets be in jeopardy for Luukkonen?
“I can’t answer that,” Ruff said.
Meanwhile, Ruff said Lyon, who left Thursday’s 3-2 overtime loss in Detroit after appearing to injure his left shoulder late in the first period, doesn’t have a firm timetable for his return.
“The actual news seemed OK,” he said of Lyon’s upper-body injury. “So he’s going to miss a few days, for sure.”
In Tuesday’s 5-1 home win over Columbus, the Sabres lost two of their top defensemen.
Mattias Samuelsson suffered a lower-body injury blocking a shot that will sideline him week to week before a hard hit left newcomer Olen Zellweger concussed. Ruff said Zellweger is in concussion protocol and has been skating.
After Lyon left Thursday’s game against the Red Wings, center Jiri Kulich departed with an undisclosed injury for precautionary reasons. Ruff said Kulich, who did not play Saturday, skated before the game.
“Right now, we’re going to deal with a little bit of adversity,” Ruff said. “You look at we lost a couple defensemen, and it’s possible you might’ve lost a couple goalies. Don’t know. You have to deal with that.”
Ellis, a waiver claim a year ago, had four relief appearances in the preseason. Fresh off a strong rookie season in which he won eight games and posted a .903 save percentage in 16 outings as the Sabres’ third netminder, Ruff feels comfortable utilizing him.
“He’s always been ready,” he said. “He won us hockey games. He played well last year. I’m sure if he has to step in, he’ll play well for us again.”