Sabres notebook
It’s week-to-week on injury to Sabres' Connolly
It’s a bad sign when a player’s injury is so unpleasant the team has to update it weekly rather than daily. It’s a really bad sign when that player is Tim Connolly.
The Buffalo Sabres announced Tuesday their center’s upper-body injury will be evaluated on a “week-to-week basis.” The oft-injured Connolly has played in just six of the Sabres’ 17 games.
He suffered what was originally called a bruised chest last Wednesday when he was flattened by St. Louis’ Keith Tkachuk. He left the game early and missed the next day’s practice, but he returned for Friday’s home loss to Columbus. However, Connolly did not make the trip to Pittsburgh for Saturday’s loss and won’t play tonight in Boston.
Coach Lindy Ruff was asked Tuesday whether Connolly had improved and merely replied, “No,” before declining further comment. Ruff said Monday the center was getting a second opinion, a sign Connolly’s injury was worse than originally believed because it would be rare to get more medical advice for a mere bruise.
Mike Gilbert, Sabres director of public relations, text-messaged the following statement to The News: “Tim Connolly has an upper body musculosketal injury and will be evaluated on a week to week basis.”
Musculosketal simply means the parts that make up the body (bones, muscles, tendons, etc.). Gilbert repeatedly and emphatically denied that Connolly’s injury is concussion-related. The center had nearly two full seasons wiped out because of head injuries.
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The Sabres are expected to use the following lines for to-night’s game against the Bruins: Jochen Hecht in the middle of left wing Thomas Vanek and right wing Jason Pominville; Derek Roy centering for Clarke MacArthur and Drew Stafford; Adam Mair flanked by Daniel Paille and Maxim Afinogenov; and Paul Gaustad in the middle of Andrew Peters and Patrick Kaleta.
Ruff is hoping the fourth line can show the Sabres won’t be pushed around. Milan Lucic, the Bruins’ 6-foot-4, 220-pound forward, had eight hits in Boston’s 3-1 victory Nov. 8.
“He just went around and finished and did a great job at it,” Ruff said. “Our lineup will be bigger, stronger, tougher, so we’ll see if the action is the same.”
The coach is also expecting big things from the newly created top line. Vanek and Pominville scored in Saturday’s 5-2 loss to Pittsburgh, but they were also on the ice for the Penguins’ game-winning goal.
“We have the ability to play great offense with Thomas there, but we need — if we’re going to use that line against top lines — we need the lock-down defense,” Ruff said. “And they’re going to play against top lines. You get in a 2-2 game, you’re not going to want to cough up a good opportunity. But at the same time, if they get an opportunity going the other way, we’ve got the tools on both wings to put a team away.”
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The Sabres arrive in Boston on a 1-3-1 skid. They’ve given up 22 goals during the slide, including 11 in the last two games, both regulation losses. . . . Despite missing Connolly and Ales Kotalik (hamstring), Ruff said there had been no discussions about calling up any forwards from Portland. . . . Defenseman Jaroslav Spacek briefly left Tuesday’s practice with a left arm injury but returned and is OK.
