Anderson and Tokarski were the lone goaltenders practicing on Friday before the Sabres departed for a three-game road trip that opens Saturday in Arizona. General manager Kevyn Adams told reporters that both were expected to travel with the team.
Video: After Friday's Practice: Don Granato
Anderson, who was Buffalo's starter on opening night, has been out since sustaining an upper-body injury in San Jose on Nov. 2. Tokarski entered COVID protocol on Dec. 2 and has not returned to games due to lingering symptoms.
Granato said prior to receiving news on Houser that the team hoped for Anderson to start one of the Sabres' back-to-back games in Arizona on Saturday or in Colorado on Sunday.
"I just hopped off the ice and we'll get that information but again, that's the hope," Granato said.
Tokarski initially began practicing with the Sabres on Dec. 27 and continued to skate with the team until Jan. 16. He returned to practice again on Thursday.
"There's been some times where I'd think I was close and then there's some setbacks, and then you try something new and something else occurs or pops up," he said. "So, there's been a lot of question marks in the last … seven, eight weeks now but we're doing our best to answer them.
"Trainers have been good in helping me and supporting this unfortunate little journey here. I've enjoyed Buffalo a ton throughout the whole year, everyone's been helpful. I'm looking forward to hopefully helping this team soon."
Video: After Friday's Practice: Dustin Tokarski\
Tokarski did not rule out playing on the upcoming road trip but said his status is day today.
"I think it's possible but I don't know," he said. "It's a day-to-day thing. I wish I could give you more but that's actually the honest truth with it. Some days you feel something, some days you don't. Working together with the doctors and coaches and staff to make up a plan that is good for everyone - good for the team, good for myself health-wise. Put the team first and help this team get some wins."
Zemgus Girgensons did not practice Friday and will be out through the All-Star break, Granato said. Girgensons had missed five games with a lower-body injury prior to playing Tuesday in Ottawa.
"We just made a decision to shut him down until after the break, give him some more days to heal, I guess is probably the best way to say it," Granato said. "We feel confident that should resolve but we'll have the doctors look at him further again to make certain that this is something that will resolve within the next few days."
Here's how the group lined up before departing for Arizona.
| January 28 |
| --- |
| LW | C | RW |
| 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 89 Alex Tuch |
| 19 Peyton Krebs | 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 96 Anders Bjork |
| 74 Rasmus Asplund | 24 Dylan Cozens | 71 Victor Olofsson |
| 15 John Hayden | 20 Cody Eakin | 21 Kyle Okposo |
| | 17 Mark Jankowski | |
| LD | RD | G |
| 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 10 Henri Jokiharju | 41 Craig Anderson |
| 8 Robert Hagg | 13 Mark Pysyk | 31 Dustin Tokarski |
| 23 Mattias Samuelsson | 78 Jacob Bryson | |
| 4 Will Butcher | 45 Casey Fitzgerald | |
