Ellis Likely To See First Action Against Minnesota

The Buffalo Sabres have a five-game homestand to start the season, which began with a 4-3 comeback victory over Chicago on Saturday. Head coach Lindy Ruff started Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in both games, but with veteran Alex Lyon on the mend, he indicated that he would be looking to get third-stringer Colten Ellis a game in short order. 

That appears to the Sabres next game against Minnesota on Tuesday, which is the one-year anniversary of the St. Louis Blues draftee being claimed by the Sabres off of waivers. Ellis, who turned 26 on Monday, practiced in the starter’s net at KeyBank Center on Monday morning and is likely to get the start against the Wild, who are a 2-0 to start the season. 

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"It's  what  you  worked  for  all  summer, to  finally  get  to  showcase  what  you  worked  on,  and i'm  super  excited  to  play  for  everybody  in  here and I'm really  looking  forward  to  it."  Ellis said. “"Looking  back  a  year  ago ,  it's  pretty  crazy. With  all  that's  happened  in  the  past  year. I'm super  grateful  for  the  opportunity,  and   not  that  I  was  expecting  it  or  anything,  but  to  be  able  to  get  picked  up  and  play  the  whole  season  here  was  a dream  come  true,  and  you're  just  kind  of  living  the  dream  and  doing  it  day  in  and  day  out." 

The club made a few line combo changes on Monday, swapping Jiri Kulich from the fourth to third line, where he centered Peyton Krebs and Konsta Helenius, while shifting Ryan McLeod down to play center Beck Malenstyn and Sam Carrick. Ruff also tinkered with the struggling power play, moving Josh Doan off of the top unit in favor of Noah Ostlund.  

In ex-Sabres news, the family matter that resulted in Bowen Byram missing his return to Buffalo on Saturday was finally explained, as the blueliner’s wife gave birth to twin baby girls on Saturday afternoon. 

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