The Buffalo Sabres are slowly getting some of their injured players back, and will need all hands on deck as they embark on a stretch where they play seven of their next eight games on the road after hosting the New Jersey Devils on Black Friday. The Sabres dropped their eighth of nine road games this season in Pittsburgh, with Jason Zucker and Jack Quinn scoring in a 4-2 loss to the Penguins on Wednesday.
Zucker returned last Friday in a 9-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, and winger Zach Benson was back in action last Sunday in a 4-1 victory over Carolina. Based on his participation in practices, injured center Josh Norris looked to be close to returning, and head coach Lindy Ruff said it was possible that the injured center could be back fo weekend games against the Devils or in Minnesota on Saturday, but prior to their Friday afternoon tilt, Ruff updated Norris’ status.
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“(Norris) is progressing, I would put him in that day-to-day category right now.” Ruff said.
The 26-year-old has been plagued by injuries throughout his career. After joining the Sabres last March from Ottawa in a trade for Dylan Cozens, Norris was shut down for the season after just three games. He came to training camp fully healthy and was able to train over the summer, which led to an excellent showing during the preseason, but the former Senators center’s injury woes returned in the season opener against the New York Rangers. The upper body injury has kept Norris out for nearly two months, and the loss of him, along with a plethora of other injuries, has impacted the Sabres, who are currently at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 9-10-4 record.
"I just come to work every day, do the things that you can do and stay on top of things, and just be a pro." Norris said after practice on Tuesday. "I've been kind of on the wrong side a little bit now, so that's obviously really hard."
The most important thing for Buffalo at this point is to get Norris back at 100%, and to hope that he can remain injury-free the rest of the season, but with one-third of the NHL season nearly complete, and a difficult December schedule in front of them, the Sabres are facing an uphill climb.
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