Jack Eichel playing through pain with Sabres

WASHINGTON -- Jack Eichel knew there would be games like these.
In his fourth game back from a high ankle sprain that forced him to miss the first 22 games of the season, the Buffalo Sabres center appeared to tweak his ankle during a 3-2 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center on Monday.

Eichel got up slowly after becoming tangled with Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov in the neutral zone 3:09 into the second period. He hobbled off the ice and appeared in pain on the bench, standing while play continued. But he did not miss a shift and was able to finish the game.
Upset about the Sabres blowing a 2-1 lead in the third period, Eichel initially denied his ankle bothered him after the collision with Orlov, but later acknowledged it's something with he's going to deal with because he doesn't expect his ankle to be 100 percent "for a while."
"Hockey's a contact sport, so I figure that's going to happen during the year and I've just got to play through it," Eichel said.

Sabres coach Dan Bylsma sounded confident that Eichel will be OK to play against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers at KeyBank Center on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, SNW, NHL.TV).
"Obviously, he came off after the hit," Bylsma said. "I think it's the first time he's had any incident on the ice where he did feel the ankle. Kind of per usual with a high ankle sprain like that, he felt it, tweaked it. Whatever the case is, it's fairly normal and (there was) a return to feeling better after that."
Eichel was injured in the Sabres' final practice before the start of the season. Although he returned to the Sabres lineup for a 5-4 win against the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 29, he said after the morning skate on Monday that he'll have to continue treatments on his ankle between games.
"It's definitely something you've got to continue to stay on top of," he said. "It's not just going to go away. It felt good enough for me to play and that's why I'm playing."
After the overtime loss to the Capitals, Eichel was more concerned with how the Sabres weren't able to protect the lead in the third period and his role in that rather than his ankle.

It was the fourth time this season the Sabres failed to win when leading after two periods (6-0-4).
"I felt good," Eichel said. "I just didn't play well enough myself and as a team I don't think we're happy with that game."
Up next is Eichel's second game against McDavid in the NHL. McDavid was the No. 1 selection by the Oilers in the 2015 NHL Draft and Eichel was picked No. 2 by the Sabres that year.
Eichel missed the first game between the Sabres and the Oilers this season - a 6-2 Sabres win at Rogers Place on Oct. 16 - while he was recovering from his ankle injury. He didn't have much time to think about facing McDavid again after the game on Monday.
"Quick turnaround," he said. "In 24 hours we play a really good hockey team, so get home, get some rest, get ready to play and just look for two points [Tuesday] night."