Sabres notebook
Rivet to return after 11 games
Craig Rivet just wasn’t strong enough to play in front of the net. Toughness is one of the biggest assets of the Buffalo Sabres defenseman, and he couldn’t announce his presence with authority.
After 11 games on the sidelines with a shoulder injury, Rivet is ready. He will play tonight when the Ottawa Senators visit HSBC Arena, and he tested his grit on teammate Derek Roy during practice Monday.
“I cross-checked Roysie today, if you saw that. That felt good,” Rivet said with a grin. “The last week or so, I’ve tried to really push hard on it to see kind of where it’s at. It’s responded real well. Obviously, practice is not a game situation. That’s something that I’ll be finding out very soon.”
The Sabres’ captain skipped the first two games of December with his injury, then struggled through three games with it. The team decided to shut him down, and tonight will be his first appearance since Dec. 10.
“It’s been quite awhile,” he said. “We’ve tried to do everything we can to put me in the position I’m in now, and now it’s time to go out and test it and play hard. Play physical, play hard, and we’ll see what happens.”
Coach Lindy Ruff has praised his blue-liners of late, but he’s eager to get Rivet back among the top six.
“We’ve got our captain back,” Ruff said. “We’ve got grit back. I think we’ve seen what [gritty forward Paul Gaustad] has done for our lineup, and I think Craig on the back end again gives us a little more stiffness and a little more dirt in the lineup.”
It was unclear which defenseman will come out. Teppo Numminen skipped Monday’s practice after getting sick Sunday night.
“I don’t know what his status will be,” Ruff said.
The easiest personnel decision would be to send rookie Chris Butler back to Portland. The first-year pro has earned his share of backers, however, by looking at home in his first eight NHL games. He has an assist and is plus-3.
“Right now we haven’t made a decision on [demoting him],” Ruff said, “but Butler’s played well for us. Real well.”
•••
The roulette wheel of health among forwards is finally landing on 19. Anyone who put their chips on 61, though, is out of luck.
Center Tim Connolly is scheduled to return to the lineup this weekend. He has played just six of the 39 games because of various ailments. The latest absorbed by No. 19, a broken rib, has sidelined him since Nov. 15. He will visit with doctors today, and they will determine whether he can return Friday when the New York Rangers visit or Saturday when the Sabres go to Detroit.
“I’m definitely feeling better and ready to go. I’m excited to get back out there,” said Connolly, who immediately will get even-strength, power-play and penalty-kill minutes. “You wait this long, you don’t want to come back if you’re not totally ready to play the minutes you’re used to playing. I’m planning on being full go.”
Right wing Maxim Afinogenov is going nowhere. No. 61 injured his groin during Saturday’s 4-2 win over Boston.
“Max is going to have some further tests today to evaluate,” Ruff said. “I don’t think it’s a short term. It could be a little while.”
Afinogenov has two goals in 34 games. Connolly has seven points in his six appearances.
“We know if we can him healthy and get him back and get him playing again, we know what he can mean to us,” Ruff said. “It’s just another shot for Tim, and I’d love to get him in and playing well because before he went out he was playing well.”
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