Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres were without center Josh Norris at Friday’s practice before they left for Boston to take on the Bruins on Saturday.
Norris couldn’t finish Thursday’s season opener after he went straight to the ice taking a faceoff. Ruff says he was still being evaluated, but won’t play in Boston.
Last year, Norris suffered an oblique injury that limited him to three games with the Sabres after his acquisition from the Ottawa Senators.
"It is a brand new injury. It’s similar to the last one, but brand new," said Ruff on Friday of Norris' injury.
As far as Norris himself, Ruff hasn’t spoken with him, but did say he's not dealing with the injury very good.
"He’s pretty disappointed with where he’s at with this injury," he said.
In other injury news, Ruff says winger Zach Benson was going to be released from the hospital on Friday, and he anticipates having him back for Wednesday’s game against the Senators.
Meanwhile, defenseman Owen Power is feeling better, but didn’t practice. Ruff didn’t rule him out for Saturday’s game in Boston, though.
In Friday's practice, Jiri Kulich centered Tage Thompson and Jason Zucker, which left Ryan McLeod between Alex Tuch and Jack Quinn.
Buffalo currently has Norris, Benson, Power, Michael Kesselring, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Jordan Greenway out with injuries. Ruff says they still have to win hockey games,
"We’re dealing with a little bit of adversity right now, and we’ve got to get through it. We’ve got to win hockey games," he said.
"Maybe this is just a test for us right off the bat to see how strong we can be, and we’ll have to find ways to win. I think we played well enough defensively, we just need to get bigger and stronger around the other team’s net."
FRIDAY'S LINES:
Forwards:
Zucker - Kulich - Thompson
Quinn - McLeod - Tuch
Doan - Krebs - Danforth
Geertsen - Kozak - Malenstyn
Defense:
Byram - Dahlin
Samuelsson - Timmins
Johnson - Byram