When the Sabres welcome Wild, Tage Thompson’s eyes return.
Following a very successful road trip to the West Coast, the Buffalo Sabres will likely welcome back their top goal scorer when they play the Minnesota Wild at home on Wednesday.
Tage Thompson said he would be “ready to go” against the Central Division’s second-place club Tuesday following practice. Due to a lower-body ailment, the 27-year-old center, who finished the previous two seasons with 47 goals and 94 points, has not played since November 11. Even though he missed five games, he still leads the club with 11 goals and is third in terms of points (18).
In four days, Buffalo dominated their road tour across California, defeating San Jose, Anaheim, and Los Angeles. The Sabres returned to the rink on Tuesday morning after taking Sunday and Monday off.
Lindy Ruff’s club is tied for seventh position in the Eastern Conference as a result of the winning run. Ruff, who was the coach of the Sabres during their previous postseason run in 2011, understands his club still needs to perform better against fierce opposition with three-quarters of the season left.
The fact that Tuesday’s practice might have begun more effectively did not help, according to Ruff.
“You come in off a road trip, and you’re hoping that the team can be ready to exceed the intensity that we were able to bring on the trip,” Ruff explained. “It’s the only way to get better.”
Ruff, who was rehired by the Sabres in April, wants to see progress in a few areas, including avoiding the penalty box. In the west, Buffalo only got seven power-plays while giving opponents twelve.
Minnesota visits Buffalo after losing 4-1 to Winnipeg, the leaders of the Central Division, at home on Monday. It was the team’s second straight setback after losing to Calgary in a shootout on Saturday.
The defeat on Monday wasn’t due to a lack of effort. Half of the Wild’s season-high forty-four shots on goal came in the first period. The 22 shots were the Wild’s most in a session in over seven years and the second-highest of any club in a single period this season.
John Hynes, the coach of the Wild, thought his team performed well, but they were unable to get anything past the two-time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck of the Jets.
Following Monday’s defeat, Hynes told reporters, “There are some things that we can grow from the game, but we got a lot of hockey this week too.” “So, we got to put this one behind us, grab what we can take out of it, and then we got to make sure that we’re refreshed again (Tuesday) and we’re ready to go against Buffalo.”
With 30 points in 21 games, Minnesota is matched with the 2013–14 team for the greatest start in franchise history, despite the brief losing streak.
Kirill Kaprizov, a left winger, leads the Wild in goals (13) and assists (21). With 34 points as of Tuesday, he is tied for third place in the NHL with Jack Eichel of Vegas, one point ahead of co-leaders Nathan MacKinnon of Colorado and Martin Necas of Carolina.
Due to a lower-body injury, defensive center Jakub Lauko departed Monday’s game early, potentially leaving Minnesota without him. Following the Jets game, Hynes did not provide an update on his condition.
–Media at the Field Level
