Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Despite trying to battle their way out of the basement of the Eastern Conference standings, the Buffalo Sabres appear to be rebounding a bit with wins in four of their last five games.
Through the first 22 games of the season, the Sabres currently sit at .500 in the standings, and are hoping to continue some strong play in order to close the gap on a playoff spot, just four points back of the final Wild Card spot currently held by the Boston Bruins.
What could be a benefit for the Sabres is they are starting to see some key names return to the fold after dealing with injuries and illness. One of those players was winger Jason Zucker, who missed eight games due to a viral illness that saw him unable to eat solid food or leave bed for multiple days.
Zucker feels the tough part about such an illness is what it did to his body at this point of the season.
"I lost a ton of weight. As anyone knows, when you're going through any type of illness, it's not fun. You're not enjoying any bit of it. I was basically on the couch or in bed for for 10 straight days," said Zucker on Tuesday during an appearance with the "Jeremy and Joe Show" on WGR. "My fiancée was here taking care of me and getting me anything that I could eat. I was basically trying to eat Pedialyte popsicles, and trying to get something down. It wasn't ideal, that's for sure, but the good part is once I got back, the first two days, I'd say it felt absolutely terrible. They ended up giving me a day off. Coming back after that day off, I felt a lot better. I was, at least, able to finish my skate and feel pretty good after. So luckily, it wasn't too long of a runway, but again, it's just tough with how much it kills your body."
On the injury front, the Sabres were able to get winger Zach Benson back in the lineup this past Sunday, while center Josh Norris is approaching an earlier return than expected following an injury on opening night against the New York Rangers. Zucker is no stranger to experiencing a team going through the injury bug every year.
"It's just a matter of when you do, and ours - for whatever reason - decided to do it in the first 20 games. So it kind of put us in a in a tougher spot," Zucker said with Joe DiBiase. "But there's really no excuses. You build an organization, you build a prospect pool to make it to where you can withstand these injury bugs and hopefully come out in a decent spot when you're healthy. You can kind of go on some runs and really play well, so I think we're in a good spot."
The Sabres are next in action on Wednesday night when they pay a visit to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Faceoff is slated for 7 p.m. on the radio home of the Sabres - WGR Sports Radio 550.
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