Nelson returns to practice as Sabres skate for 1st time after bye week

Fresh off the bye week, the Buffalo Sabres were back at work Sunday afternoon at Harborcenter for the first time since Jan. 18.
Joining the team on the ice was defenseman Casey Nelson, who has missed the past 19 games due to an upper-body injury. Nelson has been working with the training staff on his own since he tweaked a prior injury in the first period of Buffalo's game on Dec. 4 against Toronto.
He was all smiles when asked about being back with his teammates.

"It was awesome. It's something you look forward to. It's been awhile so it was awesome to be out there," he said. "We'll take it day by day here and see how it goes."

On the season, Nelson has five points (1+4) in 22 games. He was seeing regular playing time, averaging 15:17 of ice time a night in the 21 games before the injury.
Currently, the Sabres have eight healthy defensemen on the roster plus Nelson. His focus now isn't necessarily on the numbers game, but on playing at a high level after he's activated from injured reserve and the opportunity to suit up once again presents itself.
"Just concentrate on yourself, control what you can control," he said. "I'm not leaning on one thing or leaning one way or the other - you just keep your head down and get better every day. And when your name's called, you just go out and play. That's all about you can control."

Sunday's practice

Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner, who spent the weekend in San Jose for the NHL All-Star Game, did not skate with the team. For practice, Nelson and Remi Elie took their spots on the top line with Sam Reinhart. Check out our full All-Star Weekend coverage here.
Here's how the team lined up on Sunday:
81 Remi Elie - 23 Sam Reinhart - 8 Casey Nelson
72 Tage Thompson - 17 Vladimir Sobotka - 29 Jason Pominville
43 Conor Sheary - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 71 Evan Rodrigues
28 Zemgus Girgensons - 22 Johan Larsson - 21 Kyle Okposo
19 Jake McCabe - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
26 Rasmus Dahlin - 4 Zach Bogosian
82 Nathan Beaulieu - 24 Lawrence Pilut
6 Marco Scandella - 48 Matt Hunwick
40 Carter Hutton
35 Linus Ullmark

Overall, coach Phil Housley liked what he saw from the group, with the practice serving as a good opportunity to hit the reset button.
"I was very surprised at the execution out there for the amount of time passing," he said. "Wasn't much bump and grind, a little bit at the end there, but I liked the execution. I liked the speed coming off eight, nine days. That was surprising, so that was great. Had a fun little game at the end there to get some competitive nature out."
For the players, the bye week was about a mental break as much as it was about taking a physical one.
"You could see a lot of smiles on guys' faces. I just think the break was super important," alternate captain Zach Bogosian said. "A lot of people probably think for physical reasons it's important, but I think it's more mental than anything - getting away from the rink for a bit, clearing your head, reflect a little bit on how things have gone in the first half. Then you come back ready to attack the second half."

5-on-5 play a priority

In the second half, Housley feels that the team's even-strength scoring must improve. At 5-on-5, the Sabres have scored 96 times but have allowed literally just as many goals against. The team's 5-on-5 shooting percentage ranks 18th in the league at 8.0 percent.
"When I look at our team, I think we look at the 5-on-5 differential. That's going to be really important. That stems from everything," Housley said, citing stronger attention to checking detail can lead to more possession time. "Obviously, our special teams - our power play - is going to have to contribute, but I think just the 5-on-5 play has got to get better. That's when we're really good and we're on top of our game."
The Sabres have 34 games remaining in the season and currently sit four points out of a Wild Card spot. They'll play in Columbus on Tuesday and in Dallas on Wednesday this week before settling in for a seven-game homestand starting Friday.
"We're looking forward to the challenge ahead of us," Bogosian said. "We're in a pretty decent position right now. We've just got to keep moving forward and having that mentality of 'Keep climbing every single day. Get better every single day.' There's still a lot of hockey left."