Sabres Reflect On Four Nations, Get Ready For Rangers

The Buffalo Sabres practiced for the third time this week, but for the first time with a full complement. Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, defensemen Rasmus Dahlin, Henri Jokiharju, and center Tage Thompson, who were all involved with the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, were on the ice at the Harborcenter.

Luukkonen did not dress in all three games for Finland and took to the ice on Wednesday, while Dahlin and Jokiharju, who played all three games in the preliminary round, rested until Friday. Thompson reflected earlier in the week on how exciting the tournament was and in a span of 24 hours found himself heading to Boston to be a potential injury/illness replacement for Team USA, who lost to Canada 3-2 in overtime at TD Garden.

"(It was a) wild roller coaster. Got off practice (on Wednesday), got the phone call that they needed me in case of an emergency," Thompson said. "Obviously they didn't need me, but just being there was pretty cool, just to be around the guys for a little bit."

Head coach Lindy Ruff, who was an assistant under Mike Babcock for Team Canada in 2010 reflected on the tournament and the championship game and how similar it was to Canada’s golden goal victory 15 years ago.

"It was an incredible game. I thought the speed of both teams in the game was incredible," Ruff said. "When you've got some of the world's fastest players, backchecking as hard as they are, there's not a lot of ice, there's not a lot of time. I just thought each team had their moments. In overtime, the US team had a few moments where (Jordan) Binnington had to make some great saves, and then you get a guy like McDavid who finds the hole and wins it, but it was a game that obviously could have went either way."

The Sabres will play the New York Rangers in a late afternoon tilt at Key Bank Center on Saturday. Fatigue and injury may be factors for the Broadway Blueshirts, as Mika Zibanejad was a teammate of Dahlin’s with Sweden. Adam Fox, Chris Kreider, and Vincent Trocheck all played on Thursday, and a report from the Athletic on Friday indicated that Trocheck suffered a broken finger in the tournament.

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