The Buffalo Sabres head into a four-game road trip with more than one concern hanging over them, and the biggest one came before practice was over on Friday.
Jiri Kulich was struck by a puck at the start of the session at KeyBank Center, and the 22-year-old forward was bloodied before being helped off the ice. Afterward, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff had no firm timeline.
"(It) didn't look good. I don't have an update,” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after practice. “We'll get (an update) as soon as he's been evaluated, but he's at the doctor now."
Kulich has put up three points, including one goal and two assists, in eight games this season. His workload was already being managed in training camp after he missed most of last season with a blood clot issue, and he has also sat out two of Buffalo’s 10 games. That includes last week’s 5-4 overtime win over Toronto for precautionary reasons.
Buffalo’s trip begins Saturday in Washington, where the Sabres will see former teammate Alex Tuch for the first time. From there, the schedule sends them west for stops in San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles to close out October.
The timing is not ideal for a team that has dropped three of its last four and sits tied with Montreal at the bottom of the Atlantic Division. The Sabres are also chasing the pack above them, with Boston seven points ahead and Tampa Bay, Ottawa and Toronto grouped at 14 points.
Around the division, Montreal has its own injury headache. Canadiens center Nick Suzuki is expected to miss two-to-four weeks with a hand injury after the Habs lost to San Jose 4-3 in overtime on Tuesday.
Montreal, tied with Buffalo at 10 points, has been searching for a second-line center since last season, and Suzuki’s absence leaves them even thinner down the middle. Oliver Kapanen, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach are likely to be pushed into top-six roles.
Ottawa had a mixed night on Wednesday. The Senators got defenseman Jake Sanderson back against Florida, but they lost former Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark to a groin injury in the third period. Ullmark was placed on injured reserve Thursday, though his recovery timetable remains unclear.
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The noise only got louder because the return was the sort of package that usually forces rivals to ask whether they could have matched it or at least pushed harder. Instead, the deal went through with New Jersey, and the questions now land on Buffalos front office and Jarmo Kekalainens broader trade approach, especially when it comes to landing star talent before another team does. [Read more 🡒]
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The uncomfortable part for the Sabres is that a sharper version of those three would go a long way toward easing some of the pressure on a roster that already has broader issues to sort through. Dahlins influence matters at both ends, Doan needs to provide more of the energy and production that made him useful, and Norris is still searching for the kind of impact the club expected when it brought him in. None of that solves everything on its own, but it does help explain why the slow start has turned into a more pointed conversation about who needs to drive the correction. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Let A Winnable Game Slip In Another Painful Overtime Loss
Jiri Kulichs absence forced Buffalo to reshuffle its forward lines before a meeting with Washington, but the Sabres still found some rhythm with Jack Quinn, Noah Ostlund and Zach Benson continuing to work well together. The game also carried an added layer because it was the first time the Sabres faced former teammate Alex Tuch, and Buffalo made the most of the opening period by jumping out with a lead.
The edge did not hold, though, and the night ended the way too many recent ones have for Buffalo, with another overtime loss in a game it had every chance to finish. Tuch was central to the turnaround, and the Sabres were left looking at a 4-3 defeat after letting a winnable matchup slip away. [Read more 🡒]