"I'm just happy to be back on the ice with all the guys on the same line again," Girgensons said. "It brings lots of excitement to see what we can do."
Okposo described how important Girgensons' return will be for the group.
"He brings so much energy and competes every single day," Okposo said. "I like looking over on the left side, knowing that he's there … It was just great to have him back."
Girgensons missed last season with a hamstring injury he sustained during training camp. His current injury has limited him to 34 games this season, during which he's tallied 12 points (7+5).
He's been proud of the team's growth on the ice and in the locker room during his absence.
"In the last two games, there was so much hype and pressure surrounding them, and for a younger group the way they handled it was great to see," he said. "At this point in the season, it's really easy to turn off the mindset of grinding. It has happened in past years, but I don't see any quit in this team."
Video: PRACTICE REPORT
Casey Fitzgerald is not expected to travel to Western Canada due to an upper-body injury he sustained during a fight last Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Granato pointed out that there was little incentive to rush Fitzgerald back while Will Butcher and Colin Miller are farther along in their own rehab processes.
"Obviously, we see we have extra bodies and no sense rushing Fitzgerald
Okposo confirmed that Cody Eakin deserves credit for Sabres wearing Flint Tropics uniforms from the movie "Semi-Pro" to the Heritage Classic on Sunday. The outfit was an audible after the Tampa Bay Lightning used their previously agreed upon all-denim idea for the Stadium Series game in Nashville.
"We were scrambling for another idea, and Eakin] threw out the idea and we loved it," Okposo said. "He bought all the uniforms, and in an ideal world we would've all gotten our names and numbers, but it all worked out fine."
[Tweet from @BuffaloSabres: Won the day from start to finish. #LetsGoBuffalo | #HeritageClassic pic.twitter.com/KMHFieHh3U
Okposo also shared the backstory of the retro rec specs that created a buzz on social media when he wore them during warmups, a leftover from the 2018 Winter Classic in New York City.
"My kids were laughing when I sent them a picture on the bus," he said. "They were wondering what the heck was going on."
| March 15 |
| --- |
| LW | C | RW |
| 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 89 Alex Tuch |
| 74 Rasmus Asplund | 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 71 Victor Olofsson |
| 19 Peyton Krebs | 24 Dylan Cozens | 29 Vinnie Hinostroza |
| 28 Zemgus Girgensons | 20 Cody Eakin | 21 Kyle Okposo |
| 96 Anders Bjork | 17 Mark Jankowski | 15 John Hayden |
| 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 | 33 Colin Miller | |
