Casey Mittelstadt and Zemgus Girgensons returned to play for the Sabres at the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
Mittelstadt missed 15 games following surgery for an upper-body injury. The forward previously missed 21 games after sustaining an upper-body injury Oct. 14. He scored one goal in four games.
"He kind of exemplifies our team," coach Don Granato said. "We need to see everybody taking the next step now because I mentioned when you don't have the depth, you have [Tage] Thompson always playing against the top [defensemen] every game. Now you add Mittelstadt in there, Mittelstadt, [Dylan] Cozens, Thompson in there, it's going to make room for everybody to cash in more, and we need to see that. We need to push for that."
Girgensons missed five games with a lower-body injury. The forward scored 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in 33 games.
Alex Tuch, who scored 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in nine games, had a maintenance day Monday and did not practice but played against the Senators.
Kyle Okposo returned to practice Monday wearing a no-contact jersey after missing two games with an upper-body injury. The forward did not play Tuesday but could return later in the week.
"He looked good in practice and is feeling better every day," Granato said. "I would expect him within that next game or two, so he's close."
Defenseman Will Butcher, who missed a 6-3 win Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers with an upper-body injury, practiced and could be on the cusp of returning.
"Didn't know a couple of days ago how he'd feel day to day with that injury because it's a pain tolerance," Granato said. "Obviously him being on the ice today, looked like he moved fine, which is good news. I'll find out more on him but he's I would say very close as well, if not ready to go." -- Heather Engel