The Buffalo Sabres lost winger Jeff Skinner in the second period of their 5-1 loss to Colorado on Wednesday after he was hit by Avalanche captain Nathan MacKinnon. Head coach Don Granato did not have any status on Skinner after the game, but on Thursday the club placed him on injured reserve.
Skinner is tied for the club lead with J-J Peterka with 12 goals and second in team scoring with Peterka with 22 points and will be out a minimum of seven days, but there was no indication of the severity of the injury, which could mean that his stay on IR will be longer.
The club recalled forward Brett Murray from AHL Rochester to take Skinner’s place on the roster. The 25-year-old winger was called up in place of youngster Isak Rosen on Monday and played the Sabres 5-2 victory over Arizona but was demoted back to the Amerks when Alex Tuch was activated off of the injured list.
The Sabres have been challenged by injuries and their ability to generate offense all season. They were just starting to get top liners such as Tuch and Tage Thompson back in the lineup. The loss of Skinner for any length of time (who has been one of the few consistent scorers this season) will make the challenge of climbing back into the Eastern Conference playoff race more difficult.
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