Helenius Out Week-To-Week, Four Sabres Return For Practice

The Buffalo Sabres practiced at KeyBank Center on Monday after returning from a successful road trip, highlighted by three wins over Pacific Division foes San Jose, Anaheim, and Los Angeles.  The club appeared loose and positive after their recent success, and welcomed back a number of injured players, who are working their way back to active duty. 

Jiri Kulich - The young forward was cleared from concussion protocol after taking a puck to the head area before the Sabres headed out on the road trip. Kulich skated on a line with Peyton Krebs and Tage Thompson. 

"Jiri's  back.  He's  passed  his  test,  so  he's  back  full  bore  in  practice.  I  thought  he  had  a  good  day .  He  had  a  couple of  good  days  skating  here. P robably  if  that  trip  was  a  little  longer,  he  would  have  joined  us.  So  we'll  see  what  tomorrow  brings  for him."

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Konsta Helenius - Helenius suffered an upper-body injury in the win over the Sharks on October 27, and was sent back to Buffalo for evaluation. Head coach Lindy Ruff indicated that the 20-year-old will be out week-to-week. 

Zach Benson - The feisty winger left the 3-2 win over the Kings in the third period on Saturday and was not on the ice on Monday due to a maintenance day.

"We don't anticipate (him) being (out)  very long,” Ruff said. “I  think it's just day-to-day.  I  know for a fact he's going to rehab skate tomorrow.  Whether  he  practices  with  us,  we'll  see."

Alex Lyon - After a setback last month, Lyon is cautiously optimistic that he is close to being ready to return.

"I  probably  just  pushed  a  little  too  hard,  too  early,  I  don't  even  know  that  it  was too  soon.  It  just  wasn't  quite  right  yet,  and  so I  kind  of  had  to  hit  the  pause  button  there  and  make  sure  things  were  good.” Lyon said. “The  medical  staff  was  very  patient  with  me,  and  they  did  a  great  job  of  helping  me  out.” 

Conor Timmins and Justin Danforth - The veteran defenseman has been out since the preseason with a lower body injury, while the veteran forward has been out since the overtime loss to Montreal on October 17. Both skated while the Sabres were on the road and Ruff indicated that they will see if there is any progress to their condition after practicing for the first time.  

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