Greenway doubtful in finale of three-game road trip vs. Montreal
The Buffalo Sabres are looking to pull out of a death spiral in the finale of their three-game road trip at the Bell Centre against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. The club is coming off a pair of close contests against Washington and Toronto that resulted in regulation losses which extended their winless skid to 10 games, prompting team owner Terry Pegula to travel to Montreal.
According to a variety of reports, the message conveyed by the owner and GM Kevyn Adams was to calm the waters and that a major change like a trade was not coming.
“I thought it was incredible what (Pegula) did, showing up. Terry cares,” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the morning skate. “He’s passionate about what is happening here. For him to take the time to come in, it meant a lot to everybody.”
The NHL Christmas trade freeze takes effect at midnight on Thursday and lasts until December 27, so it is hard to imagine that anything will happen over the next few days, but if the Sabres continue to struggle after the freeze is lifted and into the New Year, a shakeup is inevitable.
One piece of good news for the Sabres was defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who participated in a workout with teammates for the first time since leaving in the third period of the 5-4 loss to Colorado on December 3 with back spasms. The team captain has been skating on his own since last week, but took part in the morning skate in Montreal and hopes to practice on Thursday before the club’s home game against Toronto on Friday.
“Today was nice and finally getting back with the boys. It’s been a while and I’m very happy I’m back and feeling better,” Dahlin said. “It was awesome that (Pegula came), it was a really good (meeting)…..fresh air, now we’re really ready to go.”
Winger Jordan Greenway left the ice during the morning skate with a possible recurrence of the mid-body injury that kept him out for over three weeks. Ruff indicated that it is doubtful that the big winger will play against the Canadiens.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will start for Buffalo, and Samuel Montembeault will be in goal for Montreal.
