Practice Report | Savoie taking things day by day as he returns to practice with Sabres

Matt Savoie was on the ice with the Buffalo Sabres for practice Monday after he was recalled from his conditioning loan with the Rochester Americans in the morning.  

During his conditioning stint, Savoie wanted to pick up where he left off prior to the upper-body injury he sustained during the opening shift of the Sabres’ Prospects Challenge finale on Sept. 18. The 19-year-old did just that, recording two goals and three assists in six games with the Amerks, including his first AHL goal against the Laval Rocket on Oct. 27.

“It was huge. I wanted to pick up right where I left off. I had a really good summer and just wanted to continue building on that,” Savoie said. “I was playing with really good linemates, and the coaching staff gave me really good opportunities. So yeah, it was good.”

Savoie made sure to make the most of the opportunities he was given in Rochester, taking in information and valuable experiences like time on the power play.

This time, in addition to his experience playing two games with the Amerks during their Eastern Conference Final series last season, has taught him what it takes to play at the professional level and what he can continue to work on to be the best he can be.

“…A couple guys got called up so we had a little bit of a depleted lineup in Rochester you could say. But I think it just provided a little bit more opportunity down there to play in those big moments. Get some power-play time, play when we’re holding the lead. So, those are just experiences I can take and bring them up to the next level,” he said.

Sabres coach Don Granato said the plan is for Savoie to get more practice time with the team before potentially putting him in the lineup.

“I think it’s only fair for him to get some practice time before he would jump into what would be his first game,” Granato said.

Until then, Savoie will continue to learn as much as possible during his time spent with the team both on and off the ice and take things day by day. He emphasized the importance of leaning on the veterans in the locker room to make the most of his experience.

“I think there’s a lot of guys in this room that I can rely on and ask questions to and get really good answers,” he said.

“It’s exciting. It’s been a dream of mine to play in the NHL since as long as I can remember. So, to be back up here and practicing and back involved with the big club is pretty special.”

The Sabres visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday at PNC Arena. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7 on MSG/MSG+ and WGR 550.

Here are more notes from Monday's practice.

1. Dylan Cozens was absent from practice after missing Saturday’s game with an injury.

Granato said Cozens is “progressing very well,” but remains day to day with an upper-body injury.

“We would expect the strong potential to see him in practice in a couple of days. So, if all goes well, that will be the case. But he’s close,” Granato said.

Brandon Biro is also dealing with an upper-body injury of his own. Prior to practice, Biro joined fellow forwards Jack Quinn and Zach Benson, defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, and goaltender Eric Comrie on injured reserve.

Granato did not yet have an update on Biro during his post-practice media availability.

“We’re trying to pinpoint specifics with what he is feeling. So, don’t have an injury update other than upper body and we’re doing all we can to see how we can resolve it,” Granato said.

2. Here’s how the group lined up for practice:

Forwards:

53 Jeff Skinner – 72 Tage Thompson – 89 Alex Tuch

12 Jordan Greenway – 37 Casey Mittelstadt – 77 JJ Peterka

71 Victor Olofsson – 19 Peyton Krebs – 13 Lukas Rousek

28 Zemgus Girgensons – 17 Tyson Jost – 21 Kyle Okposo

93 Matt Savoie

Defensemen:

26 Rasmus Dahlin – 33 Ryan Johnson

25 Owen Power – 10 Henri Jokiharju

6 Erik Johnson – 75 Connor Clifton

78 Jacob Bryson

Goalies:

1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

27 Devon Levi

3. Ryan Johnson skated alongside Rasmus Dahlin at practice, with Dahlin’s usual partner in Samuelsson on IR. The duo saw some time as a defense pair against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday as Johnson recorded his first NHL point in the team’s 6-4 victory.

Granato shared his decision to put the pair together was based on their “ability to read situations as partners.”

“Everything in the NHL is teamwork, teamwork, teamwork, and a lot of times players have to learn that. For your defensemen, it’s your ability to play as a pair and tandem. I thought he did an incredible job of that during training camp, and in reviewing his shifts and just watching him in the game, he was again good in that game in those areas,” Granato said.

4. With Cozens and Samuelsson out with injuries, the Sabres played with 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Maple Leafs.

Following practice, Granato shared that the decision was made based on the situation as the team was playing a back-to-back and spent the majority of the game the night prior playing down a defenseman after Samuelsson’s injury in the first period versus Philadelphia.

“We lost a guy in Samuelsson that was going to play minutes against Matthews and Marner, and you saw they had four points,” Granato said. “So, now all of the sudden we go in that game, we don’t have Samuelsson, we have a back-to-back situation, we played five D for the most part [Friday]. We just figured if there’s any time to go seven, this is useful because we just don’t know how Ryan’s going to respond or how the five that played the night before were going to respond.”

5. Goaltenders Devon Levi and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen have each appeared in five games for the Sabres in 2023-24.

Levi started Buffalo’s first four games of the season before sustaining a lower-body injury that kept him sidelined until Oct. 31. He stopped 25 of 29 shots in his return to game action against the Maple Leafs.

Luukkonen, who didn’t make his season debut until Oct. 24 in Ottawa, took over starting goaltender duties for the Sabres following an injury to Comrie versus the Devils on Oct. 27 as Levi was still recovering.

With Levi and Luukkonen both healthy now, Granato plans to utilize a goalie rotation since both players have looked good to this point.

“I think UPL has been good. Devon was good the other night. There is no reason that I see right now that we should go to either one of them for a bulk right now,” Granato said. “Who knows, that could change. But the way it sits, I think they both played fairly equal our last little bit.”

6. Entering play Monday, Jordan Greenway leads all NHL forwards in shorthanded ice time (42:05) as a key member of the Sabres’ top penalty-kill unit.

After practice, Granato spoke about the qualities that make Greenway a strong penalty killer.

“He knows the good ice – the middle of the rink – he doesn’t give it up. When he gives it up, it recovers it quick knowingly. He forces players into bad situations and can do that because he’s a good athlete. Size and reach are a significant factor in that,” Granato said. “So, there are so many components to him that make him a good penalty killer.