Miller returns to practice in non-contact jersey

Colin Miller practiced in a gold non-contact jersey on Thursday, marking his second straight day skating with the Sabres as he recovers from an upper-body injury.
Miller previously participated in Buffalo's morning skate in Toronto on Wednesday. The defenseman last played on Jan. 15 before undergoing surgery to repair his injury.
"From what I see, he looks great," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "His mobility, his strength. I would have to find out more medically because he's surprised me, jumping in the skate not knowing where he would fit in. And then you watch him, it's a pleasant surprise to see him move the move the way he's moving and battle the ways he's battling."

Granato said the next step for Miller will be full-contact practices before he is cleared for games.
"That's a big step," he said. "I think he's ready for that step from what I watched and witnessed today."
Miller said he played through his injury for roughly a month and a half before opting for surgery. He tallied 12 points (2+10) in 32 games.
"I think there's still a lot of things on my personal checklist that I want to make sure I feel before I feel I get out there and I'm able to play a game again," he said. "So, still a little bit of time."
Granato also announced that Vinnie Hinostroza, who has been out since Jan. 17 with a lower-body injury, could return to the lineup this weekend. The Sabres host the Minnesota Wild on Friday and the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.
Hinostroza has 17 points (8+9) in 36 games this season.
The Sabres' 5-1 win in Toronto on Wednesday was one of their most complete efforts of the season. Their 3-2 shootout victory in Minnesota on Dec. 16 was another.
The Wild - who come to KeyBank Center on Friday - represent a different sort of threat than the Maple Leafs, predicated on size and strength more so than speed. The Sabres' outlook, however, will be largely unchanged from Wednesday.
"Every game is different, but I think for us we want to sort of focus on our strength which is our speed and our aggressiveness and being able to transition quickly out of our end and through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone," Jeff Skinner said.
"I think a lot of times when we're playing well, sort of no matter what the opponent is or what their style is, there's a lot of similarities in our game and a lot of that comes down to just speed being the strength of our team."
Tickets for Friday are available here.
| March 3 | | --- | | LW | C | RW | | 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 89 Alex Tuch | | 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 24 Dylan Cozens | 21 Kyle Okposo | | 74 Rasmus Asplund | 19 Peyton Krebs | 71 Victor Olofsson | | 96 Anders Bjork | 20 Cody Eakin | 15 John Hayden | | 29 Vinnie Hinostroza | 17 Mark Jankowski | | | LD | RD | G | | 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 78 Jacob Bryson | 41 Craig Anderson | | 8 Robert Hagg | 13 Mark Pysyk | 31 Dustin Tokarski | | 23 Mattias Samuelsson | 45 Casey Fitzgerald | | | 4 Will Butcher | 33 Colin Miller | |