Sabres Zucker Working His Way Back From Offseason Surgery

The Buffalo Sabres take on the Dallas Stars at KeyBank Center on Thursday in the third game of their five-game homestand, with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen getting the start in goal after backup Colten Ellis started and won 3-2 in overtime over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. 

Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff made line changes in the third period to provide a spark, and kept those combos at practice on Wednesday, with Jiri Kulich and Peyton Krebs skating with Tage Thompson, and Josh Norris moving down in the lineup. 

Injured veterans Jason Zucker and goalie Alex Lyon were on the ice on Thursday for an optional morning skate. 

Lyon spoke to the media on Tuesday, and Zucker followed suit on Thursday, providing an update on his status of recovery from core muscle surgery, saying that things are on track and progressing, but there is no specific timeline for when he will be able to return.   

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" I'm  progressing,  making  sure  that  it's  getting  strong  enough,  going  up  the  way  it  needs  to.  I  feel  good  on  the  ice, feels  where  it  needs  to  be.” Zucker said. “We're  making  sure  that  we are sticking  to  the  timeline  and  the  plan  that  we  put  together,  and  then, we  have  some  stuff  in  the  back  of  our  mind  that  we're  looking  at,  but  it's  a  very  soft  date  at  this  point." 

The 34-year-old winger had 24 goals last season, but missed 20 games, and struggled to score at a similar rate in the playoffs. Zucker did not have surgery until early August, which kept him out of training camp and the exhibition schedule, but indicated that as much as he wants to get back in the lineup, he knows that he has to be at full strength to avoid re-injury.

"Luckily  or  unluckily.... I've  done  this  far  too  many  times  throughout  my  career. I  know  that  rushing  it  never  works  out  in  your  favor.  You're  always  going  to  come  back.  You're  going  to  feel  it  within  a  couple  of  games.  You're  going  to  go  backwards," Zucker said.  "It's  just  kind  of  understanding  that  it's  part  of  the  healing  process.  You  need  to stick  to  the  timeline  and  make  sure  that  it's  100% T here's  certain  things  you  can  play  through  at  80 or  90%.  Then there's  other  things, t ypically post-surgeries,  you  have  to  get  back  to  100%  before  you're  going  to  come  back  and  play." 

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