Sabres head coach will have defenseman Michael Kesselring back in the lineup
The Buffalo Sabres return home after going 3-3 on their longest road trip of the season, and will take on the Philadelphia Flyers at KeyBank Center. The Flyers are in third spot in the Metropolitan Division with 40 points and the Sabres with new GM Jarmo Kekalainen at the helm, are seven points behind third place in the Atlantic Division and the final Eastern Conference wildcard spot.
Head coach Lindy Ruff spoke to the media after the club’s morning skate, which had goalie Alex Lyon in the starter’s net. Lyon has won his last three starts:
On the condition of injured goalie Colten Ellis:
He passed the protocol and he's back at it and get some practices in him and make sure he feels good.
On some players battling illness:
(Conor)Timmins dealing with a little bit of an injury, so he'll be a game time decision. We just held him off. He wasn't sick, though. (Peyton) Krebs came in this morning. He's feeling better.
What Krebs provides on the top line with Tage Thompson and Josh Doan:
The tenacity he has on the puck, I think it also offers a left handed draw for the offensive zone. Add a little bit to possession. It balances the lines. We've got some balanced scoring. When you look at (Josh) Doan and him together, whether we stay with that, we we're kind of forced into it with the (Alex) Tuch injury. What you're seeing is two guys that are really hard on the puck and go to the net well, and I think that frees up a little nicer for (Tage Thompson) at the same time.
Michael Kesselring returns from his second long stint on injured reserve:
He's been trying to play catch up from that first injury, he's already said he feels better than he did the last time coming back. We know he's a great skater, and I think that injury kind of set him back. So I think execute the first pass and get involved when you can get involved, because he's got a great set of legs to get up ice.
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What the state of the Sabres power play is:
We're getting more opportunities, I think our power play is one thing we've worked really hard on and we're getting important goals at important times. I thought the (Zach) Benson goal was a big goal for us in the Vancouver game. I think key goals are key times. Both units, at different times, have been been producing for us.
On the best players being the best players:
When Thompson starts scoring, Tuch has put a couple in – although he ended up missing a game. Now we got Norris back in the lineup , he made a great play. I think if we can get Norris back in consistently, that just gives us another weapon. I think when those guys are producing and making plays. We have more depth, we can get away from matchups.
On maintaining a one-goal lead against Seattle:
(We're) making sure that you're playing a 200-foot game, that we're not going to the top of their circle and fueling their offense. We definitely have to continue down that road. We're going to be a lot of tight games, and to defend them. A lot of it is puck management. We're not giving up the big opportunities. And I don't think we gave up the big opportunities in that Seattle game. I thought our first couple shifts in the third period, were great shifts, but we didn't push it to get ourselves into trouble.
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