Jordan Greenway on track to return to Sabres' lineup; Mattias Samuelsson practices

One of Lindy Ruff's best defensive forwards is on track to return to the lineup for the Sabres' first game out of their break.

Jordan Greenway, a power forward and penalty killer for the Sabres, practiced with the team again Monday and received clearance from the medical staff to play against the New York Rangers on Saturday in KeyBank Center.

"Right now, all plans are as if he's ready to go," Ruff said of Greenway.

Greenway had three goals and 10 points in 20 games before he underwent surgery on a middle-body injury in mid-December. He earned Ruff's trust in training camp by playing reliable defensive, killing penalties, forechecking and extending possession in the offensive zone by protecting the puck below the faceoff dots. A strong training camp helped Greenway earn 15:55 of ice time per game and a spot on Buffalo's top penalty-killing unit.

Greenway was on a line with Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn during practice Tuesday, the Sabres' first team workout since their 6-4 loss in Nashville on Feb. 8. It's unclear how much longer Greenway will be in Buffalo, though. General Manager Kevyn Adams expressed a desire to sign the pending unrestricted free agent to a contract extension, but the trade deadline is March 7.

• Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson returned to practice Tuesday and revealed to reporters that he missed the past two games because of a broken bone in his left foot. Samuelsson suffered the injury while blocking a shot in the Sabres' 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 2.

• Defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Henri Jokiharju, and goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen won't re-join the Sabres from the 4 Nations Face-Off until the team's practice Thursday. Dahlin and Jokiharju appeared in each of their respective country's games at the tournament, but Luukkonen did not receive any playing time with Finland. 

• Sabres winger Beck Malenstyn did not practice because of the back spasms that caused him to miss two games before the break, but he's expected to skate with the team on Wednesday.

• The Sabres' defense pairs rotated during practice because of the absent players, but Ruff revealed the forward lines that he may use against the Rangers:

JJ Peterka - Jiri Kulich - Tage Thompson

Jason Zucker - Ryan McLeod - Alex Tuch

Jordan Greenway - Dylan Cozens - Jack Quinn

Zach Benson - Peyton Krebs - Sam Lafferty