Cozens, Samuelsson, and Skinner out day-to-day with upper-body injuries
The Buffalo Sabres will be without three key players in their game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, a game postponed 24 hours by a massive winter snowstorm in the Western New York area.
According to head coach Don Granato, Cozens was injured in the third period of Buffalo’s 3-0 win over San Jose on Monday, while Samuelsson did not play on Monday after leaving Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Vancouver early in the second period in concussion protocol.
Skinner has missed the last three games after suffering an upper-body injury after scoring his club-leading 17th goal in a 5-2 loss to Seattle on January 9 and was placed on injured reserve earlier this week when the club had to recall defenseman Kale Clague.
Granato indicated that both Cozens and Samuelsson could be back in the lineup for the finale of the Sabres six-game homestand against Tampa Bay on Saturday afternoon, while Skinner has improved enough that he may participate in a full practice on Friday.
With Cozens being out, Casey Mittelstadt moved up to the second line in between Zemgus Girgensons and Jack Quinn, Jordan Greenway centered Victor Olofsson and Kyle Okposo, and JJ Peterka shifted to the fourth line with Eric Robinson and Peyton Krebs.
Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will make his fourth straight start for the Sabres.
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