Eichel, Girgensons return to practice with Sabres

It took until about halfway through their practice at KeyBank Center, but Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel was back on the ice with his teammates on Monday for the first time since aggravating an upper-body on New Year's Eve.
Eichel skated as an extra defenseman during the latter portion of practice in addition to taking reps on power-play drills. He stayed on for an extended session with rehab and development specialist Dennis Miller after practice concluded.
Sabres coach Phil Housley said Eichel's status for the team's home game against New Jersey on Tuesday will be decided in the morning. The same goes for Zemgus Girgensons, who was a full participant in practice for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury on Dec. 22.

"Obviously it's tough when you're not on the ice," Eichel said. "It's nice to be back at practice and just being around the guys, competing, doing that sort of thing."
"I think at this point it's sort of just taking every day, seeing how I feel. It's not a rush. You don't want to put yourself in a bad position. You want to make sure you're comfortable in every situation that you put yourself in, myself and the team."
The Sabres have split the two games they played in Eichel's absence, a 4-3 win over Florida at home on Thursday and a 2-1 loss in Boston on Saturday. Those scores, Housley said, are indicative of the tight play they'll need to expect as opponents make playoff pushes down the stretch.
Eichel stressed the importance of staying even-keel through the ups and downs and keeping their foot on the gas pedal, whether he plays or not.
"You need that desperation, with or without me in the lineup," he said. "Whoever's in the lineup at that time, you can see how tight checking the games have become. It's that second half of the year, everyone's trying to push towards a spot. I think for us it's just about every day, coming in and trying to get better, work and preparing ourselves for the next game.
"… It's good that guys are chipping in. I guess you could say we need more from everyone every night, because every team's bringing more every night and it's getting more and more competitive. That's just how the season goes. As the season amps up, I think we've got to amp ourselves up too. I think that we're ready for the challenge. We've just got to commit to it."

Monday's practice

After a lighthearted, family-oriented afternoon at the inaugural Sabres Skills Challenge on Sunday, Housley was vocal during an up-tempo practice session on Monday.
"I just think we continue to try to raise our standard, not only in the games but in practices too," he said. "You have to pay attention to detail. That is what's gotten us success to this point. So, it was just to reinforce that we've got to play fast, we've got to go play harder defensively. We've got to get to our checks. It's just pushing the pace."
Sam Reinhart did not skate for the second straight day due to an illness, while Zach Bogosian was absent for a maintenance day.
Girgensons, meanwhile, was a full participant on a line with C.J. Smith and Casey Mittelstadt.
Housley has been complimentary of Girgensons' game this season, which has seen him establish a consistent checking role mostly alongside Johan Larsson. His 51.45 Corsi-for percentage ranks first among Sabres forwards.
"[Mittelstadt's] a skilled guy," Girgensons said. "Smith has good puck vision and good handling, so I've just got to keep doing my job, create space for them, and good things will happen."
Here's how the Sabres lined up on Monday:
53 Jeff Skinner - 17 Vladimir Sobotka - 72 Tage Thompson
49 C.J. Smith - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 28 Zemgus Girgensons
43 Conor Sheary - 71 Evan Rodrigues - 29 Jason Pominville
81 Remi Elie - 22 Johan Larsson - 21 Kyle Okposo
24 Lawrence Pilut - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
19 Jake McCabe - 6 Marco Scandella
26 Rasmus Dahlin - 48 Matt Hunwick
20 Scott Wilson* - 82 Nathan Beaulieu
9 Jack Eichel\
40 Carter Hutton
35 Linus Ullmark
\Extra forwards skating on defense