Sabres goaltender practiced for the second straight day. Injured blueliner could play in Columbus on Thursday
The Buffalo Sabres practiced at Key Bank Center on Wednesday before departing for Columbus for their season opener against the Blue Jackets on Thursday. Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who practiced on Tuesday after leaving the preseason finale last Saturday, was on the ice for the second day in a row..
The 27-year-old and third-stringer Colten Ellis took part in the nearly hour long workout, and head coach Lindy Ruff has been pleased with what his starter has done to get ready for the season.
"(I've liked) the first couple of games that (Luukkonen's) been in, the work that he put in over the summer." Ruff said. "He came in tremendous shape. I've liked the work he's put in, and his practices have been good. It's like I said, all three goaltenders gave us a good year last year."
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Ruff said that Alex Lyon is feeling good and is on track to be available within a few days. On defense, Olen Zellweger was not on the ice, but the head coach said there were any setbacks after being concussed during the preseason. The young blueliner needs to clear concussion protocol and will be tested again on Thursday, which could make him available for the Sabres opener against Chicago on Saturday or soon thereafter.
After skating on his own on Tuesday, bluelinerMattias Samuelsson practiced fully on Wednesday. Ruff hinted that there could be a roster move made on Thursday to add a seventh defenseman for the opener, but Samuelsson sounded if he was ready to play against the Blue Jackets.
"I thought I was fine afterwards, and then tried to play a couple of shifts and didn't feel great. It was preseason. I kind of just called it. We got some more imaging done, and (the injury) wasn't too major." Samuelsson said. " It was just kind of one of those situations where, if I felt like I was ready to play, I'd be back in the lineup. That's kind of what today was for: to see how I felt out there, and it went well."
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