Sabres defenseman left game early for the second time this season
The Buffalo Sabres are going to see how much they miss Mattias Samuelsson in their lineup, as the blueliner left Friday’s 5-1 loss to Philadelphia and was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.
"We got good news that it doesn't look like it'll be long term, but he's gonna be out for a little bit here". Sabres head coach Don Granato said on Saturday prior to the 6-4 win over Toronto.
The Sabres called up rookie Ryan Johnson to take Samuelsson’s spot. With him being placed on IR, he will be out for a minimum of 10 days.
Buffalo went 33-18-4 with Samuelsson in the lineup last season, when the big blueliner was out of the lineup, the Sabres went 9-15-3 without him, mostly because the club did not have the required defensive depth to compensate for his absence. It appears this season the club is better situated with the addition of veterans Erik Johnson and Connor Clifton, as well as rookie Ryan Johnson.
Sabres also played in Toronto without center Dylan Cozens, who may have still been feeling the effects of repeated punches to the head from Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway.
"We left him back (in Buffalo) with Samuelsson after the game to get looked after this morning, and both guys came back with real good news,” Granato said. “We were gonna hold them out based on what we learned after the game. Today he felt pretty normal."
Granato opted to sit recent call-ups Brandon Biro and Lukas Rousek, going with 11 forwards and inserting veteran winger Victor Olofsson against the Leafs.
The club will practice on Monday morning before departing for Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
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