Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR) - Buffalo Sabres winger Jason Zucker had core surgery in early August, and missed training camp and the first nine games of the season. He scored in his first game back on Oct. 21, and has since had no points to account for.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff wants to keep his power play units together, even though it's been a complete failure. Buffalo is 30th in the NHL overall at 14.3%, and are 0-for-9 in their last three games.
I bring this up because since the start of the 2024-25 season until now, Zucker has scored 22 power play goals in 143 games. Tage Thompson would be next with 15 goals in 174 games. Zucker is clearly Buffalo's best power play player, yet Ruff refuses to put him on the first unit because research has told him that the best power play units are the ones that stay together.
Zucker has been doing a lot of extra work to try to get his game where he wants it. He said,
"I'd say I've been average. I've definitely got a lot of work to do, I'm putting in a lot of work off the ice and trying to make sure I get back into better shape, trying to get better with the puck touches and those little things around the net and in the corners, things that are a really big part of my game, so I have a lot of work to do, but I'm trending in the right direction."
Lindy Ruff has been meeting with certain players including Josh Norris and Ryan McLeod, who will return to the lineup Wednesday after a two-game benching. Ruff has also gone over things with Zucker,
"I've had discussions with him and when you first get back it's a little bit of adrenaline. I think from a fitness standpoint I see him trending in the right direction. I thought first game adrenaline, good emotion then a little bit of a drop off which is almost always typical with game conditioning, but I see that the numbers are starting in the right direction and he's starting to get into game condition."
With McLeod coming back, Jiri Kulich didn't have a regular line to play on. Ruff said,
"He's still searching for his game. You hope you can get back to your game after a tear off and there's two factors, he came back and he got hurt, sat out some games and then he got hurt again and a soon as he was going to get back in he took a puck to the face and got another concussion, so he's had three setbacks and I think he's struggling to find his game and I believe he still has it, it just might take time."
The goalie rotation continues as Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had his own net in practice. That means he'll start Wednesday and my guess is Colten Ellis will get the crease Thursday in Chicago.
TUESDAY'S LINES:
Malenstyn - Kozak - Carrick
Krebs - Norris - Thompson
Benson - Ostlund - Quinn
Zucker - McLeod - Doan
The Sabres winger has played eight games since returning from injury
The Sabres winger has played eight games since returning from injury
