The Buffalo Sabres were missing nine regulars from their lineup on Saturday, and still managed to handily defeat an uninterested Washington Capitals squad by a 5-1 count. Three of the walking wounded – Drew Stafford, Patrick Kaleta and Robyn Regehr – are expected back in the Sabres lineup tonight when they host the New York Islanders at First Niagara Center. 

For the second day in a row, Stafford skated on a line with Luke Adam and Ville Leino, while Kaleta played the right side with Paul Gaustad and Matt Ellis. Regehr and rookie Brayden McNabb will be together on the blueline to form one of the most imposing defensive pairings in recent Sabres history. In his first NHL game on Saturday, McNabb had a game-high six hits.

Regehr was experiencing some headaches following an innocent play during Friday’s game in Columbus, but has since been cleared by the doctors to return to game action. 

He describes what happened on the play.

“The puck just kinda bounced off the boards in the neutral zone. I went to play it, and I’m not even sure who it was, but when they came in they finished their check from the side and I hit my head from an angle. I just didn’t feel great after that; kinda got my bell rung a little bit.

“It felt good the next day, but just as a precaution the training staff thought it would be better to take a little time. With those injuries you never know sometimes, they don’t pronounce themselves right away and they come back to haunt you. They were careful, and I feel good now, ready to roll.”

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In addition to the two other lines: Jochen Hecht will center Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville; and rookie Zack Kassian will ride shotgun with Nathan Gerbe on a line with center Derek Roy.

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INJURY UPDATES: Ruff said that Cody McCormick (upper body) has taken the next step in his recovery process, and has begun the on-ice portion of his conditioning … Mike Weber (upper body) has been skating in a non-contact role, but Ruff says he is still “a ways away.”

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The Islanders come into tonight's game having scored just 41 goals for in 21 games, averaging a league-low 1.95 goals/game. They have also been shutout a league-high six times, and have scored just 14 goals in eight road games. As a comparison: Boston is the only team to play fewer road games (7) than the Islanders, but they have scored 23 goals. 

For the third game in a row, a rookie will make his NHL debut for the Buffalo Sabres.

Brayden McNabb

Following defenseman T.J. Brennan and forward Zack Kassian, defenseman Brayden McNabb will play in his first NHL game tonight against the Washington Capitals at the First Niagara Center.

McNabb, with only 19 professional games under his belt with the Rochester Americans, steps in for defenseman Robyn Regehr, who suffered an upper body injury during last night’s game in Columbus.

Head coach Lindy Ruff said after this morning’s team meeting that there is no timetable for Regehr’s return and that it could potentially be a long-term injury.

“He’s out. Upper body right now. We have no timetable for it,” Ruff said. “…We’re dealing with a bunch of injuries. We’ve got one other one we’ve gotta deal with so it’s more than just Robyn,”

Ruff said that a forward was also injured last night but he would not disclose who that player was or what the injury might be. He did say that another call-up from Rochester would be necessary for tonight’s game.

When asked if he had made a decision on which player would be called up, Ruff responded vaguely.

“I might’ve, but I’m not telling you,” Ruff said. “Or we might have.”

Regehr and that unnamed forward join goaltender Ryan Miller, defensemen Tyler Myers and Mike Weber and forwards Brad Boyes, Tyler Ennis, Cody McCormick and Patrick Kaleta on the injured list.

“We’ve never had it this bad. Going into the game tonight, nine of our regulars will be out,” Ruff said.

With so many players out of the lineup, it seems as if the Sabres dressing room has been taken over by the Rochester Americans. Brennan, Kassian, McNabb, Luke Adam, Matt Ellis, Corey Tropp, Marc-Andre Gragnani and Jhonas Enroth have all played significant time in the American Hockey League within the last two seasons and are now all up with the Sabres.

“It’s definitely nice to be comfortable in the room and whatnot with knowing a lot of guys,” McNabb said. “It’s unfortunate for all the injuries but it gives guys like us a chance.”

Even with so many regular players injured, however, Ruff explained that no one is going to take it easy on his team and that the injuries can’t be an excuse for poor play.

“It’s a hell of an opportunity for some of our young guys,” Ruff said. “I know it’s tough. Nobody’s feeling sorry. Nobody in the league’s going to feeling sorry for us so you know we’re in a tough stretch. We gotta try to win games and I think that young players playing well can help you win games.”

Another injury to the defense means that a larger burden will be put on veterans Christian Ehrhoff, Jordan Leopold and Andrej Sekera. Ehrhoff logs the most ice time with an average of 23:30 ice time per game and leads the defense in points with 11. Ehrhoff has played with both Leopold and Sekera this season and it’s likely that he’ll be skating with one of them for much of tonight’s game.

“The last few years I’ve played with a bunch of different partners. It’s never been just one guy so I’m kind of used to it,” Ehrhoff said. “It’s just the way it is, you know? We’ve got to go through that stretch now and the important thing is we keep winning games.”

Three defenseman in the line-up (Gragnani, Brennan and McNabb) have only 22 NHL games between them coming into tonight’s game. That inexperience will also factor into how many minutes the more veteran defenders will play.

“I think that really will go with how the game goes. You would like to put the bulk of the minutes on our veteran players,” Ruff said. “There’s no reason why one pair of veterans couldn’t play your 23, 24 minutes and that would allow us to spread the rest of the time out amongst those other four.”

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McCormick

McCormick, Ennis, Kaleta and Weber all participated in an optional skate this morning.

For Kaleta, Ruff said that it was his first day on the ice since Monday and that he is progressing. McCormick took the ice for the first time as well and Ruff said that he “rode the bike [and has] got himself to a point now where he can exercise again.”

While Mike Weber is able to just skate, Ruff said that Ennis was able to get through a practice and is the “furthest ahead of anybody.”

Ruff also said that Boyes will miss a “good period of time” but no surgery was necessary for his lower body injury.

COLUMBUS, OH --- Few Sabres draft picks in recent memory have garnered the attention that Zack Kassian has. Selected 13th overall in the 2009 Entry Draft, Kassian has become a cult hero to many Buffalo fans, many of whom have never even seen him play a game. Instead, Kassian’s following has been built on YouTube clips of his fights and hits from junior hockey.

But the Kassian who will make his NHL debut tonight in Columbus is vastly different than the one who physically dominated the Ontario Hockey League for four eventful seasons. In his first pro season with Rochester, Kassian leads the Amerks in scoring with 14 points (7+7) in 18 games. Most notably, he only has 17 penalty minutes – and 15 of those came in one game against Grand Rapids on October 16.

At 6-foot-3 and 228 pounds, Kassian is never going to shy away from the physicality. But he’s been using his time in Rochester to work on the offensive elements of his game.

“I’ve never been the guy who really looked for it. I’ve been put in a lot of situations offensively that I’ve succeeded pretty well in,” he said this morning. “When you’re put in those situations you don’t want to waste time in the penalty box, you want to improve as a player. The toughness in my game will always be there, it’s about developing other skills.”

Lindy Ruff is looking forward to seeing what the 20-year-old Kassian can bring to the ice tonight.

“He’s played well. Offensively he’s been going pretty good down in Rochester. He can really hang on to pucks; he might be as strong a player as we’ve got. He’s a big man already.”

Kassian will make his debut before numerous family and friends that have made the four-hour drive from his hometown of Windsor, Ont. Ruff has no intention of trying to tone down Kassian’s enthusiasm on what will be an emotional night for him.

You want to see the emotion; you want to see the intensity. You would like at some point to say ‘hey, you’ve gotta pull back.’ It’s a lot easier than trying kick him in the backside and say ‘hey, you’ve gotta get going.’” 

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Kassian is expected to start on right wing on a line with Luke Adam and Matt Ellis. Kassian and Adam have some familiarity with each other after dominating the Traverse City Prospect Tournament in September along with linemate Marcus Foligno.

The other lines at today’s morning skate were: Vanek/Hecht/Pominville; Leino/Roy/Stafford; Gerbe/Gaustad/Tropp.

No more media scrums. No more press conferences with the same questions being asked over and over. The time for talking is done. As they say in the WWE … “time to play the game.”

The Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins square off tonight at First Niagara Center in their first meeting since the infamous Ryan Miller/Milan Lucic collision on November 12 in Boston. This is the second of six meetings between the Northeast Division rivals, and the Bruins come into the contest on a nine-game winning streak.

Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff had his game face on during his normal pre-game press conference, appearing stern and business-like throughout the unusually-brief three-minute game day gathering. The regular crop of local media was joined by several Boston scribes and a handful of Canadian national outlets such as TSN and CBC.

It was apparent early that Ruff wasn’t about to stoke the fire.

When asked what he was expecting from his team tonight, Ruff simply stated: “I’m expecting our team to come out real hard … in all areas.”

CLICK TO HEAR LINDY RUFF'S COMPLETE PRESS CONFERENCE

Ruff wouldn’t comment on Brendan Shanahan’s statement that there will be a “heightened awareness” by the league on tonight’s game, only saying that he hasn’t spoken to the team about the discipline czar’s comments.

Ruff also didn’t mince words when he was questioned about the team’s lack of response in light of the hit on Miller

“I’ll answer the question one more time,” Ruff said matter of factly. “We were disappointed in our response. And that won’t happen again.”

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Ruff did confirm that forward Jochen Hecht will return to the Sabres lineup tonight for the first time this season. Hecht suffered a concussion on the second day of training camp, and hasn’t seen game action since Game 7 of last spring’s playoff series in Philadelphia.

When training camp opened in September, Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville skated on what looked to be the team’s top line with Derek Roy. After Roy injured his shoulder in the preseason, rookie Luke Adam stepped in and didn’t interrupt the chemistry that had developed between Vanek and Pominville.

The duo, since being reunited with Roy at the start of the third period against Montreal on Monday, has been in on four of the team’s last six goals. Vanek and Pominville each come into tonight’s game against the Phoenix Coyotes on a six-game point streak. Despite their hot stretch, they both feel that there is constantly room to improve.

Pominville

“There are games where we didn’t create as much as we would have liked, but sometimes you create more than you end up with,” Pominville said after this morning’s team meeting.

Both players also find themselves near the top of the league when it comes to scoring. Pominville is currently fifth in the league in points with 23 and his 15 assists rank him fourth overall. Vanek is currently second in the league with 24 points and fourth in goals with 11.

In his last 36 regular season games since March 5, Vanek has scored 20 goals and 45 points. During that stretch of time, he ranks second only to Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin in points (46) and to reigning Hart Trophy Winner Corey Perry of the Ducks in goals (25). 

“With Jason, I’ve found a partner on the side I feel comfortable with,” Vanek said. “…For any player to do well, you need good linemates and I’ve had those.”

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Tonight is the fifth of 21 sets of back-to-back games for the Sabres. Instead of a game day skate at the usually scheduled time of 10 a.m. this morning, head coach Lindy Ruff opted to hold a team meeting at 11 a.m. followed by an optional skate.

Buffalo has seven sets of games this season in which the first game of the back-to-back is on the road and the second game is at First Niagara Center. Ruff said that the team will plan on flipping ice times the morning after and allow players to get the proper amount of sleep in those similar situations.

“I actually thought we did a real good job of – it’s a little thing – but getting out of Carolina and getting back home,” Ruff said. “We can’t get home that quick coming home from Montreal or Ottawa from a shorter destination.”

Ten of the team’s next 12 games are also at home and the Sabres are looking to find a way to translate their 7-2-0 road record into wins at home, where they are 5-5-0.

“We want to play the same way,” Vanek said. “We want to go after that first one, get the lead and then just keep playing. I think sometimes when we get the lead in this building, we don’t want to sit back, but we tend to do it and that’s when you get in trouble."

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On the injury front, the Sabres are dealing with both short and long-term health issues. Ruff said that forward Cody McCormick still isn’t ready and that defenseman Mike Weber will likely miss a few more weeks. When asked about the status of goaltender Ryan Miller, Ruff said that he is “doing better. Still not quite right, but doing better.” Center Jochen Hecht and winger Tyler Ennis are “close” to returning to action, according to Ruff. Hecht is now day-to-day while Ruff categorized Ennis’ status as “every other day.”

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Ruff said that defenseman T.J. Brennan has been sent back down to the team’s AHL affiliate in Rochester. Brennan was called up for last night’s game in Carolina but sat out as a healthy scratch.

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Coyotes forward Taylor Pyatt will play in his 700th career NHL game tonight. In 11 seasons, he has scored 123 goals and 251 points. Pyatt played with the Sabres from 2001-06, tallying 38 goals in 230 games.

CAROLINA -- Tyler Myers got the news he’d been hoping for yesterday when NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan informed him that no suspension would be levied on him for the hit on Dainius Zubrus in Wednesday’s game against New Jersey.

“I was pretty relieved. You never want to get suspended,” said Myers. “Brendan Shanahan called me yesterday, and we had a conversation about the hit. He wanted to discuss what my thoughts were on it. I can really tell that he’s trying to inform all the players what’s an illegal hit and what is a legal hit. There’s a thin line, and I know it’s pretty tough. But it was a good conversation.

“One of the points that was brought up, was that there was contact with the head but there was also contact with the body,” said Myers. “If it had been a more lateral hit and just contact to the head, then there would’ve been a hearing and most likely a suspension. One of the things we discussed was that because I drove up and not across, that’s why there was no punishment for it.”

Being 6-foot-8 presents a problem for Myers when it comes to bodychecking. Physical play needs to be an integral part of his game, but it can also push him over that “thin line” when he makes contact. Myers clearly wasn’t targeting Zubrus’ head, but his body size makes it tough to avoid a smaller player in a case like that.

“That’s how it’s been throughout my whole life. It’s tough sometimes because my shoulder is going to be at (head) level when I engage players during a hit. It’s tough but you just have to manage it.”

Lindy Ruff agreed that Myers didn’t target Zubrus’ head, and understands the difficulties that he’ll have to deal with while being a dominating physical presence on the ice.

“It’s definitely tough. Obviously I challenged him to be more physical. I thought he played (on Wednesday) the way he needs to play as a big man. I think it’ll be tough, because there will be situations where the way his body is, his elbows and everything are head high. And that makes it tougher on a big man.”

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TJ Brennan was recalled from Rochester on Thursday, but he’s not expected to be in the lineup tonight in Carolina. Ruff said the recall was more of a precautionary measure because the team is now down to six healthy defensemen due to the upper body injury Mike Weber suffered on Wednesday.

After being a healthy scratch for the first time in his professional career on Monday in Montreal, defenseman Tyler Myers will be back in the lineup tonight when the Buffalo Sabres host the New Jersey Devils at First Niagara Center. (7:30 p.m., Versus)

Myers

Myers is glad his time in the press box only lasted one game, and he’s ready to make sure it never happens again.

“It’s nice that I’m able to get this second chance pretty early,” Myers said after this morning’s optional skate. “It’s about making the most of it. I know how I have to play, and it’s a matter of putting my mind to it and doing it. It’s something that needed to be done, and I understand why they did it. Now it’s just a matter of responding.”

Mike Weber will remain in the Sabres lineup tonight, making Marc-Andre Gragnani a healthy scratch.

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With Cody McCormick not able to play tonight due to injury, Corey Tropp made the one-hour drive from Rochester for his second recall of the season. Tropp played four games with the Sabres from Nov. 4-11 while Patrick Kaleta served his four-game suspension, scoring his first career NHL goal along with one assist. He has seven points (4+3) in 11 games with the Amerks.

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Ennis

Tyler Ennis (ankle sprain) continues to skate with the team at practice, but was today placed on Injured Reserve. Lindy Ruff said Ennis still has to clear a few more hurdles before getting back into game action.

“We’re moving him along; most of it has been flow,” Ruff explains. “The next step will be stops and starts, really trying to dig in. That’s the area with an ankle sprain that you start to question. The step after that is to get involved in the one-on-one battles where it’s not only your weight, you’re going to be carrying somebody else’s weight.”

MONTREAL – Tyler Myers will find himself in an unfamiliar setting tonight, as he will be a healthy scratch for the first time in his NHL career when the Sabres play the Canadiens at the Bell Centre. Mike Weber will be inserted into the lineup to replace Myers.

Myers

The 21-year-old Myers has struggled as of late, posting just one assist and is a combined minus-five through Buffalo’s last five games. This is coming on the heels of his standout performance in last spring’s playoff series against Philadelphia when he posted six points and led all Sabres defensemen with 20 hits in the seven games.

Head Coach Lindy Ruff said that Myers needs to improve his decision making process, and Myers is the first to admit he’s capable of better.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE COMPLETE TYLER MYERS INTERVIEW

“The way I’ve been playing the last three out of four, that’s not good enough for me. I have to be better. I know that, the coaches know that. Until I do, stuff like this is going to happen.

“It’s just one step. Get (mad), come out next game and start playing the game I know I can. To do that, playing a lot more physical will help my game.”

Myers missed just two games in his first two seasons when he was felled by the flu for a pair of games last December 27/28.

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Online voting for the 2012 Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game started today, and Myers is one of four Sabres on the ballot along with Ryan Miller, Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville.

Fans can access the interactive ballot by logging on to NHL.com/vote. They can also vote via text message using any mobile device and wireless carrier or via a mobile ballot available available on iPhone, Android and other mobile devices. To vote via text message using any wireless carrier, fans should text their favorite player’s last name to the shortcode 81812.

Voting concludes Jan. 4, with the top six vote-getters by position - three forwards, two defensemen and goalie – set to take part in the 2012 Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game on January 29 in Ottawa.

BOSTON, MA --- Nathan Gerbe spent three years honing his craft at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass., just a short 20-minute drive from the TD Garden in downtown Boston. Tonight he’ll reach an NHL milestone when he plays in his 100th career game against the Boston Bruins, as the Sabres look to extend their winning streak to five games.

It’s a unique opportunity for Gerbe to play this milestone game in a city that still means so much to him.
 
“It’s always nice to come back to this town, a lot of good memories here,” said Gerbe, who played at Boston College from 2005-08. “It’s something I try not to focus on, but it’s still pretty cool and I need to treat it like a normal game.”

Gerbe was Hobey Baker finalist in 2008 for Boston College when he led the nation in scoring with 68 points (35+33) in 43 games, and was named Most Outstanding Player in the Frozen Four that season as BC defeated Notre Dame in the championship game.

After a slow start last year with one goal and six assists in his first 24 games, Gerbe finished the season with 15 goals and nine assists over his last 40 games. This year he already has nine points (3+6) in 15 games, giving him 46 points in 99 career games. Gerbe credits his success in the NHL to finally being able to find a comfort level with his game.

“Even last year when the offense wasn’t there, I thought I was playing well, moving well and creating chances. That’s the thing for me; I need to use my legs to create chances on the ice. That’s been a key for me this season, and I need to focus a little more on putting pucks in the net.”

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Patrick Kaleta will return to the Sabres lineup tonight after serving a four-game suspension for a head-butt delivered to Philadelphia’s Jakub Voracek on November 2. Kaleta will be the first to admit that his aggressive style of play is what makes him tick, but he realizes that he has to watch himself on the ice now as a repeat offender in the eyes of NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan.

“You learn from your mistakes,” said Kaleta today following the team’s optional morning skate in Boston. “It’s like I’ve been saying for the past little while, it’s about changing my game and I’ve been working pretty hard at it since the beginning of summer. It’s a little bump in the road, but I can’t let it bother me.”

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Lindy Ruff declined to discuss the team’s goaltending situation after today’s skate. However both goalies were among the 10 players that participated in the optional skate, and Miller was the first of the two goaltenders to leave the ice. This is normally the indicator of who will be starting the game that night.

Having played only two divisional games so far this season, the Buffalo Sabres are about to kick off a stretch in which their next three opponents are Northeast Division rivals.

At the First Niagara Center tonight, the Sabres will take on the Ottawa Senators, a team they defeated in a shootout a week ago on the road.

Winger Nathan Gerbe recorded an assist in that game and said today after practice that playing an opponent twice in short span of times ups the ante a bit against that team.

“Even in our division, it’s always going to be intense,” Gerbe said. “These games are going to be a lot bigger than some games we play. In terms of in your division, you want to be the leader in your division so I think these are always physical and intense games.”

Buffalo is currently second in their division with 18 points, three behind the Toronto Maple Leafs. After tonight’s game, the Sabres will travel to Boston for a Saturday night match-up against the Bruins and then to Montreal for a game on Monday.

“You know the magnitude of these games and how nice they are to win,” Gerbe said. “We just have to focus on playing 60 minutes and the rest will take care of itself.”

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In light of that stretch of games, head coach Lindy Ruff has referred back to his goaltending schedule to determine which games his two net-minders will start. Tonight, it will be Jhonas Enroth between the pipes. Enroth stopped 25 of 27 shots in Ottawa on Saturday.

“We’ve put together a schedule and we’ve got a busy schedule ahead of us. So we’re going to try to stick to it,” Ruff said.

The Senators have lost their last four games after winning six in a row while Buffalo is looking to extend their winning streak to a season-high four games. Enroth said after practice that having some recent familiarity with Ottawa has helped him prepare for tonight’s game.

“I wouldn’t say [it makes it] easier but maybe [I have] a little bit more confidence knowing I beat that team,” Enroth said. “Otherwise, it’s a good team. They haven’t been playing that well lately, but they’re probably excited to get a couple of good games in.”

Enroth also explained that playing regularly and not sitting for maybe two weeks at a time on the bench is an opportunity he relishes.

“I’m just trusting myself, trusting my skill set. I’m just trying to take every chance I get,” he said. “I had a pretty good summer with working out and stuff so I’m feeling stronger. It’s fun to play right now.”

The Sabres have won seven of their last eight games against the Senators. Previously, Buffalo had lost their last nine contests against them. Ruff said that finding an answer to what’s changed is tough.

“Those are always hard questions to answer. It’s the same question we tried to answer when we couldn’t beat them,” Ruff said. “Sometimes I think there’s a little luck involved. Sometimes you get rolling pretty good against a team and they rolled pretty good against us and then we’ve had our fair shake now.”

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Nathan Gerbe has provided a different military member from Western New York with a pair of tickets to each home game this season as a part of the Tickets for Troops program and that will continue for tonight’s Veteran’s Day game.

“They’re very, very appreciative, but I think, more so, I’m appreciative of what they do for our country,” Gerbe said. “I can’t imagine how difficult that is and the battles and just the mindset you have to go through every single day for what they do. [It’s] just pretty impressive. More so, talking to them, it kind of inspires me.”

The Sabres will also wear special camouflage jerseys during warm-ups before tonight’s game that will later be auctioned off at Sabres.com.