BUFFALO, N.Y. — It’s the last week of the NHL preseason, and the Buffalo Sabres are slowly but surely getting over the injury bug.
“Jumping in last game felt pretty good as the game went on and starting to get my legs under me, which is nice,” said forward Alex Tuch, who faced a flare-up of an injury over the course of camp, but has been one of the many returning faces to the ice recently.
Over the course of the last week, goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has returned between the pipes. Forward Jiri Kulich returned to practice Tuesday morning and is cleared for the home and home. Tuch already has one preseason game under his belt, and really loves the locker room culture around getting guys back on the ice.
“Guys are involved and that if they’re injured. They’re still involved in all meetings, in the gym with us, around the guys whenever we’re doing stuff away from the rink, so that part’s good,” he said.
Head coach Lindy Ruff said seeing guys come back means good things as the regular season approaches.
“It’s always nice to get everybody, you know, a couple preseason games and finish off the the preseason. Usually the last two or three you like to see most of our guys get a couple of games,” he said, also noting that as players come back, they’re getting right back on the ice.
Luukkonen is still a gametime decision as to how many periods he’ll play in the final two preseason outings, but he is slated to start in net.