The Buffalo Sabres were without interim head coach Don Granato and interim assistant coach Matt Ellis on Thursday night when the team faced the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Both coaches have entered the NHL's COVID-19 protocols.
Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams served as head coach for the game, but said both Granato and Ellis are feeling great and are symptom free for COVID-19. Adams did not provide many more details on the situation, given that it happened just a couple hours before the official announcement from the team.
With Ellis also not being available for the Sabres, Rochester Americans head coach Seth Appert traveled to Pittsburgh and caught up with the team to help coach with Adams and Dan Girardi.
The Sabres ended up losing Thursday's contest, 4-0, suffering the team's 16th-consecutive loss and seventh shutout loss of the season. Buffalo now sits in the overall NHL standings with a 6-22-4 record, 16 points, and a points percentage of just .250.
While Adams was mainly focused on coaching Thursday night's game when speaking with the media at around 5:30 p.m. ET, he was also asked about a number of other topics from his general manger role.
Here is some of what he touched on:
Tage Thompson and Rasmus Asplund:
Sabres forward Tage Thompson was a late scratch to the lineup on Wednesday due to an illness, and he ended up missing Thursday's game in Pittsburgh as well. Adams confirmed that it is a non-COVID-19 related illness, and he was not on the NHL's COVID-19 list.
Meanwhile, Adams also said that forward Rasmus Asplund has been placed on Injured Reserve after suffering an injury in the early goings of Wednesday night's loss to the Penguins.
Front off ice restructuring:
Adams confirmed on Thursday that the team is undergoing some front office restructuring. He said that Jeremiah Crowe will be the Director of Pro Scouting, while Jerry Forton will be the Director of Amateur Scouting. During the offseason, Crowe was promoted by the Sabres to serve as the Director of Scouting.
The general manager also said that he is planning on adding more names to the scouting department going forward.
Assistant general manager watch:
During Wednesday night's telecast on NBCSN, TSN hockey insider Bob McKenzie said that the Sabres and Adams were set to interview former Penguins assistant general manager Jason Karmanos for the same role in Buffalo.
When asked about his search for an assistant general manager, Adams confirmed that the team is actively conducting interviews with candidates, but would not go into detail as to who they are talking with.
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The Sabres will travel to Boston to practice at TD Garden on Friday before facing the Bruins on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.