News and notes
1. With Greenway out, the Sabres recalled forward Isak Rosen from Rochester after practice. Rosen, 21, leads the Amerks with 13 points (4+9) in 14 games this season.
2. The Sabres loaned goaltender Devon Levi to Rochester in a corresponding move, a decision that Ruff said was made in the interest of getting the 22-year-old more consistent playing time.
Levi has played seven of the Sabres’ first 18 games to start this season. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is ready to return on Wednesday after missing the past two games with an injury and veteran James Reimer is back with the club after being claimed off waivers from Anaheim last week.
Ruff said he spoke with Levi regarding the decision on Monday.
“We just had a great conversation with him, and nobody likes going down, but he wants to play too,” Ruff said. “He said it's the first time he's really dealt with (backing up) that long a period of time. Good learning experience, but hard.”
Levi spent the latter part of last season with the Amerks and led qualified AHL goalies with a .927 save percentage.
3. Luukkonen spoke after practice about his injury, which forced him to leave the team’s loss to Montreal last Monday following two periods of play.
“I feel like I was pushing it in the Montreal game a little bit,” he said. “And I’ve said before, there’s no excuses for that, but still, I feel like I wasn’t playing 100 percent in the Montreal game. You can’t let that happen.
“Just, as I said, you want to be 100 percent, you want to feel great. I feel like I’m at that point now.”
Luukkonen has been named NHL Third Star of the Week for the three starts prior to that loss to the Canadiens, during which he went 3-0-0 with a .956 save percentage.
“He’s been great for us all year,” Thompson said. “He had a great season last year as well. Someone that competes and he’s been able to steal us games, and that’s what you need out of a goalie. Having him back is going to be a huge help for the team.”
4. Ruff said that defenseman Henri Jokiharju will be back in the lineup against the Kings on Wednesday after sitting out the last four games as a healthy scratch.
“Just want to see better puck battles from him and you know what you're doing with the puck, what that first touch looks like,” Ruff said. “I think it is a big deal for a defenseman going back that first play, making the right play.”
5. The Sabres have had the NHL standings on a screen in their dressing room this season, a point Ruff was asked about after practice.
“I think it's three times now, we’ve hit .500 and failed the test to get over," he said. "We have another test in front of us. So, the standings are part of what you need to look at.
“You need to know where you are, whether it's a point or two out of a wild card or three or four or five points out of third spot in your division. You need to have that awareness. Some people say they don't like to look at the standings, well we're playing games where you have to look at them for me. You have to know where you're at if you want to know where you want to get to.”
The Sabres remain just two points behind the Bruins for the second wild card entering the start of play on Monday.
