Practice Report | Greenway to undergo surgery

After Jordan Greenway missed Tuesday's game in Montreal and Thursday’s practice at KeyBank Center, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff announced that the forward will undergo surgery for his middle-body injury and miss a “significant amount of time.”

Greenway recently missed 10 games with the middle-body issue, which also held him out of last Friday’s practice.

Ruff expects Greenway to return this season, but in the meantime, Buffalo will sorely miss the 6-foot-6 winger.

“He is part of the heavy game,” Ruff said. “You go to the physicality, the defending part of the game, he is the one guy that has been rock solid for us in that category.

“You look at some of those games where it got heavy, he was the one guy that kind of stood out … he’s a big man, physically, 240 pounds or whatever he is, can physically dominate people.”

That physicality has helped make Greenway, with 58:49 of shorthanded ice time this season, one of the Sabres’ most crucial penalty-killing forwards, and his absence was felt Tuesday as Montreal went 3-for-6 on the power play.

"Spent most of the day yesterday trying to regroup that," Ruff said of his penalty kill. "He would’ve been the guy that would’ve been out there in those scenarios. It was 5-on-3, he was the guy we were putting on the ice most times. So you've got to regroup. You've got to have other people step up."

In four games after his initial return from injury, Greenway tallied one assist, four shots on goal and 14 hits, which ranked second behind Beck Malenstyn’s 16 during that span.

Here’s more from Thursday’s practice.

Thursday’s practice lines

The Sabres also practiced without Ryan McLeod, who sat due to what Ruff described as “maintenance.” Ruff said the forward is questionable for Friday's game versus Toronto.

Rasmus Dahlin (back spasms), a full participant in line rushes and power-play drills, is expected to return Friday after missing seven games.

Sam Lafferty (lower body) slotted into the fourth-line center spot, while Peyton Krebs elevated to the third line.

Here are the full lines and power-play units from practice:

News and notes

1. With the absence of Greenway (and potentially McLeod), Lafferty could draw back into the lineup Friday. He last played Nov. 29 versus Vancouver, exiting that game early with a lower-body injury.

“I went to hit a guy and our skates clipped, so my boot twisted at a weird angle,” Lafferty said. “Luckily it wasn’t anything too serious. I’ve been skating, so, feel good.”

On injured reserve for the last nine games, the 29-year-old has watched from the press box as Buffalo’s winless streak has grown to 11 games.

“Collectively, we’ve been hurting,” Lafferty said. “We’re facing a ton of adversity right now, but I think we’re gonna get through this and we’re gonna be stronger from it. I can tell you everyone’s sticking together and we’re all on the same page, so we’re gonna make it out of this together.”

The six-year veteran practiced between Malenstyn and Nicolas Aube-Kubel, reuniting a trio with 18:46 of 5-on-5 ice time together this season.

“Those guys – I love playing with them,” Lafferty said. “They play the game extremely hard – that’s the way I like to play – but also have skill to make plays. So, whenever our numbers are called, we’re gonna be ready to go.”

2. In failing to protect recent leads, like their 3-1 advantage over Toronto on Sunday, the Sabres have seen pressure and momentum quickly turn against them; what should be simple plays, like defensive-zone breakouts, suddenly become difficult ones.

Buffalo worked on breakouts – an area of the game Ruff listed as a “non-negotiable” – in the latter part of Thursday’s practice.

“Get pucks out, get pucks in – simple as that,” Ruff said. “Those shifts after a goal are important shifts. Get it in deep, establish a forecheck, get it out so that doesn’t build momentum for the team we’re playing.”

Up next

The Sabres host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday at KeyBank Center. Tickets are available here.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game is exclusively available for streaming on ESPN+ and Hulu.