SABRES NOTEBOOK
Injured Vanek may return this weekend
It was a big win and a big loss all at once Tuesday for the Buffalo Sabres.
Thomas Vanek left for good with 7:14 to play in the second period after scoring his second goal in the 6-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. Coach Lindy Ruff revealed Vanek will miss several weeks with an undisclosed upper body injury. But today Ruff said Vanek was feeling much better, and could be back this weekend.
Vanek slid hard into the end boards after scoring the goal on Derek Roy's third assist in a 4½-minute span, but Ruff said the injury actually occurred before that play.
"It was before the goal, when I collided with [former Sabre Brad] May," Vanek told The Buffalo News. "I went to hit him, and it happened there. I just finished the shift and felt it after. I knew right away and just tried to tough it out. After the shift, I just got it checked out."
Vanek, a two-time 40-goal scorer who is the first Sabre to three goals this year, missed nine games last season after suffering a broken jaw during a February game in Ottawa after taking a deflected puck to the face.
It was the first head-to-head NHL meeting for Sabres rookie Tim Kennedy and his former Michigan State linemate, Red Wings forward Justin Abdelkader. Neither registered a point and both were minus-1.
Kennedy, the South Buffalo native, fed Abdelkader for the game-winning goal with 18.9 seconds left in the 2007 NCAA Frozen Four championship game against Boston College and fed him again Monday night with dinner at Chef's.
"I told him to have as much cheese as he could," Kennedy said prior to the game. "Hopefully that would slow him down."
"It was funny to eat there with him," said Abdelkader. "It seemed like everybody who walked in the restaurant knew who he was."
Abdelkader, a Michigan native, scored his first two career goals in last year's Stanley Cup finals against Pittsburgh.
"You make your dream come [true] in the NHL and then it's with the team and the guys you watched and being in the same locker room with them," Abdelkader said. "It's something I cherish and keeps me fired up."
Sabres defenseman Toni Lydman played 16 minutes, 49 seconds in his first game of the season after suffering a hand injury late in preseason. ... The Sabres entered the game 28th in the NHL in faceoffs at 42.8 percent but won 33 of 53 in this one. ... Ryan Miller's second-period penalty shot save on Valtteri Filppula made him 9 for 10 in his career. ... Defenseman Henrik Tallinder was a career-best plus-5.
mharringtonbuffnews.com and jvogl@buffnews.com
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