WGR 550, Buffalo, NY Jordan Greenway won't be playing on Wednesday as the Buffalo Sabres host the Boston Bruins, but a little over a month ago he left town the get a new treatment for a mid-body injury that has had two unsuccessful surgeries. The winger of course was getting frustrated because he's only be able to play 33 games this season and most of them nursing the injury.
The treatment is something that has finally worked for Greenway and just talking to him I could see how happy he finally is,
"It went great, it was absolutely phenomenal, like right now without a doubt the best I've felt in a long time.
"For me personally because I've been dealing with this for a long time, and it's been (long sigh) terrible, so there's light at the end of the tunnel for sure."
This has been going on for a lot of the time he's been a Buffalo Sabre and it just seemed like nothing was working so why not try something different?
"Over the last 2.5 years, there's been a lot of question marks on what the play is," Greenway said. "We've done so many things and everyone was searching for something and collectively we all came to the same decision that we wanted to do the program that I went through and truthfully, I'm absolutely shocked on how much better I feel, how great the outcome was because there were a lot of times where it was dark, I didn't know what the outcome was going to be, if I ever was going to get better, so the excitement, the shock, but ultimately I feel 100 times better than I did even two months ago and it's just so positive and so reassuring."
Greenway's last game was Jan. 22 in Montreal. The turnaround in this team had already started, but he just loves what his teammates have done in his absence,
"I couldn't be more proud of what these guys are accomplishing. I don't know what everyone is saying, so I don't know if these guys are even getting the credit that they deserve because from where we've been (last in the Eastern Conference in late November) to where it is now (second in the East) I mean, you guys can write it."
Buffalo is coming off a West Coast road trip that saw them pick up seven out of eight points and hold off the Tampa Bay Lightning who did the same. The Lightning did pick up two points on Tuesday when they beat the Minnesota Wild, but the Sabres still lead the Atlantic Division over the Bolts .669 to .664. The Sabres trail the Conference leading Carolina Hurricanes by one point. Buffalo is fourth overall in the NHL.
The Sabres have picked up points in 13 out of 14 games going 12-1-1.
It's Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's turn in goal. He-s 7-1-0 in his last eight games. He's allowed just one goal in his last two starts and three goals in his last three. Overall he's 17-8-2 with a 2.54 goals against and .911 save percentage.
In his last 30 games Rasmus Dahlin is second in NHL defensemen scoring with 11 goals and 26 assists for 37 points.
Buffalo is 1-1-1 against the Boston Bruins this season. Mattias Samuelsson, who was back on the ice this morning after missing Tuesday practice with an illness leads all scorers in those three games with four points.
Conor Timmins has been out with a broken leg since Dec. 18 missing 38 games. It appears he'll be returning on Wednesday as he came off the ice this morning with the rest of the team while Zach Metsa stayed on and did extra work with the other players not dressing. If I were to guess it may be because No. 1 Lindy Ruff wants to get Timmins some games and No. 2 Timmins is an excellent penalty killer and it the last two games, the penalty kill has been way off killing just 4-of-7 penalties.
On Tuesday the Bruins suffered a very disappointing home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Boston has lost 4-of-7 games and are in the Eastern Conference's first Wild Card position with a points percentage of .606. The Ottawa Senators are next at .599 and the Detroit Red Wings are the first team out at .592. The New York Islanders are .590.
Jeremy Swayman played last night and has played four straight games, so Boston may go with Joonas Korpisalo in net. He's 11-9-4 with a 3.30 goals against and .891 save percentage.
Join "Schopp and the Bulldog" for the pregame starting at 6:30 when you'll hear from Lindy Ruff, Bo Byram and Greenway. This is a radio only game, so the only place to hear Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray is right here at WGR Sports Radio 550 for a 7:35 faceoff.
The winger said he feels 100 times better than he did two months ago
