Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) - On Friday before the Buffalo Sabres game against the Detroit Red Wings, Lindy Ruff added some clarity to why Zach Metsa was sent down to the Rochester Americans on Thursday. Metsa was stellar in his 38 games with Buffalo, while Timmins returned from a broken leg on Wednesday against the Boston Bruins. Ruff said,
"Just keep him playing. Short term with Timmins going back in, we feel Timmins can help our penalty killing and being healthy back there, the best thing is these next three, four days at least I'm not going to practice and it gets him playing time and Rochester's playing.
"He'll play 20-plus minutes which will be great for him."
Noah Ostlund was back on the ice for the morning skate after missing one practice with an upper-body injury. Ruff wouldn't say if the rookie will be ready to play Friday,
"It's a possibility, we consider him day-to-day, but it's good he was back out there."
Ostlund seems ready to go he said,
"I feel OK and we'll see later on how it responds here."
Ostlund said the injury came from a hit late in the third period against the Bruins.
If Ostlund can't play Jordan Greenway still isn't an option. Ruff said,
"He'll go through the protocol, today was scheduled as a non-skating day because we had gone real hard with the one-on-one battle, the physical stuff trying to get him ready to see how he reacts to that. We've gone real hard with the skating part, some days his off-ice workout has been real demanding and it'll get to a point where he'll say, 'I'm ready to go.'"
Buffalo has lost two straight in overtime, but have gotten points in 14 out of 15 games going 12-1-2. Getting two points instead of four really hasn't hurt them as they're still first in the Atlantic Division with a points percentage of .667. The Tampa Bay Lightning are .662 and two points back. The Carolina Hurricanes lead the Eastern Conference at .676, but are tied in points with the Sabres.
It's Alex Lyon's turn in net. He's 6-0-1 in his last seven games and 7-1-1 in his last nine. Overall he's 20-8-4 with a 2.64 goals against and .912 save percentage.
It was back in October when the Sabres beat the Wings in Buffalo 4-2. In November they played again in Detroit and that's the game I call the Sabres turning point. Buffalo trailed the Red Wings 4-1 and came back to win 5-4 in overtime.
Detroit has fallen to 10th in the East with a points percentage of .592. The New York Islanders are in ninth at .596. The Ottawa Senators have Wild Card No. 2 at .596 while the Boston Bruins have Wild Card No. 1 at .611.
The Red Wings have lost two straight games
John Gibson will play in his 10th straight game in net for the Red Wings. He's only won three of the nine games. Overall, Gibson is 26-17-3 with a 2.55 goals against and .906 save percentage.
Alex DeBrincat is their leading scorer with 35 goals and 39 assists for 74 points in 71 games.
Buffalo's own Pat Kane is 37-years-old and has had some injury problems. His production isn't even close to what it used to be as he has 12 goals and 30 assists for 42 points in 56 games. I have to wonder if this could be his last game in Buffalo. In 33 games against the Sabres, Kane has 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points.
Join "Schopp and the Bulldog" at 6:00 for the pregame when you'll hear from Ruff, Ostlund and Owen Power.
Metsa to get some games and practices in Rochester
