The Buffalo Sabres enter tonight?s game against the New Jersey Devils in rough shape.
Forwards Derek Roy, Maxim Afinogenov and Daniel Paille will be out. They were joined on the sidelines Monday by center Tim Connolly and Toni Lydman, who were too banged up or ill to practice. It left coach Lindy Ruff with 10 forwards and seven defensemen, including Teppo Numminen and his recovering heart.
It?s hard to beat the Atlantic Division-leading Devils when healthy. The Sabres will try to end their six-game winless streak far from that.
?We?ve got tough games coming up the next three games [against New Jersey and Ottawa], and with maybe a depleted lineup, which will make it even tougher,? coach Lindy Ruff said Monday. ?But teams have to grind through these stretches. Usually when you get through these, it makes you a better team.?
Roy injured his shoulder in the second period of Sunday?s loss in Atlanta, which dropped the Sabres to 0-4-2 in their last six games.
?It looks like day to day with Derek,? Ruff said. ?We?re just going to hold off on him and see if things don?t get better. He took treatment, but I wouldn?t anticipate him playing.?
Afinogenov strained his groin Thursday and still isn?t skating. Paille has a concussion.
?Danny?s doing better,? Ruff said. ?He skated a little bit on his own today. We?ll see if we can get him his [baseline] testing in the next couple of days to get him cleared to practice and play.?
Connolly will play after being held out with ?bodily soreness.? Lydman will be a game-day decision.
?Toni felt ill [Sunday] night before the game and still played,? Ruff said. ?He wasn?t doing very well. We?ve got a little bug going through the team, so we got him his own room and told him to stay back at our hotel. He?s still not doing that well today, but we would hope he would be able to play.?
Ruff, General Manager Darcy Regier and trainer Tim Macre were scheduled to meet Monday night to determine whether the Sabres would recall a forward from Rochester. Another option has defenseman Nathan Paetsch moving to wing, where he skated the past two practices. Ruff would then dress blue-liner Nolan Pratt for the first time since Dec. 12.
? ? ?
The previous two editions of the Sabres had a goal of avoiding back-to-back losses. Players are cringing now that the winless streak has reached six.
?You can?t be a team that wins six games and loses six,? right wing Jason Pominville said. ?It?s not us. You?re not going to make it that way. We also had this role model of not losing two in a row. I definitely think that we?re a better team than we?ve showed lately.?
? ? ?
The Devils are second in the Eastern Conference with 49 points (23-15-3). The Sabres (19-18-3) are tied for 11th with 41 points. Their margin of error is thin. They are five points behind sixth-place Boston but only two points ahead of 14th-place Washington.
?We?re still hanging around ? a couple points away from eighth place, a couple points away from the bottom,? left wing Thomas Vanek said. ?None of us pictured ourselves being there, but we?re there.
?We?ve been saying it a lot, we?ve got to start winning, but it?s reality.?
Vanek figures a couple of early goals might help. The Sabres scored in the first period Sunday for the first time in six games.
?The last few years we?ve been fortunate that we got a lot of goals right away, then we ended up winning games, 4-1, 5-1, and maybe we didn?t play as well,? Vanek said. ?This year, there have been times when we?re playing better than the last two years and we?re losing games, 2-1, 3-2. The goal department we?ve been a little sluggish, and we?re not finishing as well as the past two years. In the end that?s costing us.?
Forwards Derek Roy, Maxim Afinogenov and Daniel Paille will be out. They were joined on the sidelines Monday by center Tim Connolly and Toni Lydman, who were too banged up or ill to practice. It left coach Lindy Ruff with 10 forwards and seven defensemen, including Teppo Numminen and his recovering heart.
It?s hard to beat the Atlantic Division-leading Devils when healthy. The Sabres will try to end their six-game winless streak far from that.
?We?ve got tough games coming up the next three games [against New Jersey and Ottawa], and with maybe a depleted lineup, which will make it even tougher,? coach Lindy Ruff said Monday. ?But teams have to grind through these stretches. Usually when you get through these, it makes you a better team.?
Roy injured his shoulder in the second period of Sunday?s loss in Atlanta, which dropped the Sabres to 0-4-2 in their last six games.
?It looks like day to day with Derek,? Ruff said. ?We?re just going to hold off on him and see if things don?t get better. He took treatment, but I wouldn?t anticipate him playing.?
Afinogenov strained his groin Thursday and still isn?t skating. Paille has a concussion.
?Danny?s doing better,? Ruff said. ?He skated a little bit on his own today. We?ll see if we can get him his [baseline] testing in the next couple of days to get him cleared to practice and play.?
Connolly will play after being held out with ?bodily soreness.? Lydman will be a game-day decision.
?Toni felt ill [Sunday] night before the game and still played,? Ruff said. ?He wasn?t doing very well. We?ve got a little bug going through the team, so we got him his own room and told him to stay back at our hotel. He?s still not doing that well today, but we would hope he would be able to play.?
Ruff, General Manager Darcy Regier and trainer Tim Macre were scheduled to meet Monday night to determine whether the Sabres would recall a forward from Rochester. Another option has defenseman Nathan Paetsch moving to wing, where he skated the past two practices. Ruff would then dress blue-liner Nolan Pratt for the first time since Dec. 12.
? ? ?
The previous two editions of the Sabres had a goal of avoiding back-to-back losses. Players are cringing now that the winless streak has reached six.
?You can?t be a team that wins six games and loses six,? right wing Jason Pominville said. ?It?s not us. You?re not going to make it that way. We also had this role model of not losing two in a row. I definitely think that we?re a better team than we?ve showed lately.?
? ? ?
The Devils are second in the Eastern Conference with 49 points (23-15-3). The Sabres (19-18-3) are tied for 11th with 41 points. Their margin of error is thin. They are five points behind sixth-place Boston but only two points ahead of 14th-place Washington.
?We?re still hanging around ? a couple points away from eighth place, a couple points away from the bottom,? left wing Thomas Vanek said. ?None of us pictured ourselves being there, but we?re there.
?We?ve been saying it a lot, we?ve got to start winning, but it?s reality.?
Vanek figures a couple of early goals might help. The Sabres scored in the first period Sunday for the first time in six games.
?The last few years we?ve been fortunate that we got a lot of goals right away, then we ended up winning games, 4-1, 5-1, and maybe we didn?t play as well,? Vanek said. ?This year, there have been times when we?re playing better than the last two years and we?re losing games, 2-1, 3-2. The goal department we?ve been a little sluggish, and we?re not finishing as well as the past two years. In the end that?s costing us.?
