As the Buffalo Sabres inch closer to full strength on defense, two of their forwards aren't expected to be available Tuesday night against the Vancouver Canucks.
Defenseman Henri Jokiharju was cleared to return to the lineup and expects to play when Vancouver is in Buffalo or when the Sabres face the Ottawa Senators on the road Wednesday night. Mattias Samuelsson has also progressed in rehab skates as he works his way back from a lower-body injury and might rejoin the Sabres for practice sometime this week.
Up front, the Sabres aren't expected to have rookie winger Jack Quinn available this week because of an undisclosed injury and winger Kyle Okposo remains day to day with a lower-body injury that kept him out of the lineup against Boston on Saturday.
Sabres coach Don Granato told reporters following practice Monday that at least one forward will be recalled from the Rochester Americans.
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Jokiharju has missed the past 10 games after being hit in the face with the puck during the first period of a 6-3 win in Calgary on Oct. 20. He averaged a career-high 21:53 of ice time in 60 games last season.
“You’re adding a guy in that can play 25 minutes, and that is a lot of hockey," Granato said of Jokiharju. "To have a guy that can give you more stability for 25 minutes is significant. You could look at our margin of defeat and error in the last few nights could simply be put in that context. So, in that context, yes, adding Jokiharju is huge.
"Now, he’s been off a couple weeks. He’s dealt with injuries. So, how long will it take him to get back to his level of proficiency? We don’t know that. He hasn’t had a lot of practice and this is probably a supplement to his practice, getting back in there to get back up to his form. So, I don’t want to put a lot of pressure on him, obviously. But he’s a talented guy and that will be a big help to have him back.”
Samuelsson, who signed a seven-year contract extension on the eve of the season opener, suffered the lower-body injury in Vancouver during an awkward hit collision Canucks forward Curtis Lazar on Oct. 22. Samuelsson's nine-game absence, combined with Jokiharju's injury, forced Granato to lean on Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.
It's unclear if Quinn's injury is related to the 21-year-old being hit in the side of the head with the puck during the first period Saturday. Quinn remained in the game and finished with 13:09 of ice time.
Another test
The Canucks are 1-3-1 in their last five games, scoring two or fewer goals in three consecutive losses. They entered Monday seventh in the Pacific Division with a 4-9-3 record, including a 5-1 loss to the Sabres in Vancouver. The Sabres, though, can't concern themselves with what their opponent is going through.
Buffalo (7-8) slipped to seventh in the Atlantic Division because of a skid that reached five games Saturday with the 3-1 loss to Boston.
"Where we’re challenged in these situations is experience," said Granato. "But this is experience. Unfortunately, this is experience. So, you can’t let it break you. It breaks lots of teams. It breaks lots of players. That’s the history of sports. We will not let it break us. We’re just going to go steadfast in what we do. We know it’s going to work. It will work, we know it 100 percent. Just keep doing it.”
Goalie rotation
There's no early indication which goalie will start against the Canucks, but it appears likely that Eric Comrie will be in the crease Tuesday and Craig Anderson will handle the game in Ottawa.
If so, Anderson will play his first game in Ottawa since leaving the Senators following the 2019-20 season. The 41-year-old appeared in 435 regular-season games across 10 years with the club. He led the Senators to the Eastern Conference finals in 2017, the season in which he won the Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance and dedication to hockey through his wife, Nicholle, battling a rare type of throat cancer.
Anderson has been solid in five starts for Buffalo this season, logging a .922 save percentage and three wins.
