Samuelsson, Greenway on the ice for the first time in three weeks
The Buffalo Sabres 5-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday featured the club’s best 10 minutes of the season, in which they took a 4-0 lead in the first period and chased Avs goalie Alexandar Georgiev, and their worst 20 minutes of the season, squandering a 4-1 lead by allowing four third period goals.
Team captain Rasmus Dahlin played the opening shift of the third and left the game with back spasms, something which head coach Lindy Ruff indicated had been bothering the Sabres blueliner since training camp.
After a day off, the Sabres took to the ice for the morning skate in preparation for the second of their five-game homestand against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, and Dahlin was not present.
“Dahlin is suffering from back spasms, and (is) not ready to play,” Ruff said on Thursday. “I think that should be short-term, but you never know.”
The Sabres recalled defenseman Ryan Johnson from the AHL Rochester Americans and either he or veteran Dennis Gilbert will take Dahlin’s place against the Jets. Owen Power took the team captain’s place as the quarterback of the first power play unit, with Bowen Byram taking Power’s spot on the second unit.
There was some optimistic news on the injury front, as defenseman Mattias Samuelsson and winger Jordan Greenway both participated in the skate wearing white non-contact jerseys. Samuelsson has been out since November 11 with a lower-body injury, while Greenway has been out with a middle-body injury since November 14.
Both players indicated that they hope to return at some point during the Sabres homestand, but that depends on the fact that there are no setbacks in their recovery.
Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo