The Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes have changed plenty across the first few weeks of the season in terms of their lineups.
Those evolutions might continue for the injury-ravaged teams as they prepare for Saturday night’s meeting at Raleigh, N.C.
The Sabres had a seven-game points streak end with Thursday night’s 3-0 loss to the visiting St. Louis Blues. It was the first time the Sabres were shut out since the season opener.
“With a number of people out, I thought we generated enough good chances to score one or two, for sure,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. “We didn’t take advantage of that.”
Five Buffalo players who were on the ice opening night are missing time.
“We’re trying to figure it out,” Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin said. “A lot of guys injured. Obviously, don’t want to talk about guys who are out, but I think we just got to build our own chemistry.”
The Sabres will now also be without Dahlin, who has taken an indefinite leave of absence to return to Sweden to be with his fiancée as she continues to recover from a heart transplant. There is no timetable for Dahlin’s return, and the team said his focus is on family during the recovery process.
Ruff said that the team fully supports his decision. “I think it’s been incredibly hard,” Ruff told reporters. “I don’t think you can describe it. He has the support of everybody on this. This is larger than hockey.”
On the plus side for Buffalo, center Tyson Kozak was in action for more than 10 minutes against St. Louis after sitting out five games.
Carolina has won two in a row and three of its last four games as it deals with new line combinations and regular concerns about what players will be available.
“It’s unfortunate that we kind of have this string of injuries going on,” Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker said. “We’ll just stick with it, keep battling.”
The Hurricanes have been in a constant mode of reassessing the defensive end this season with several of their blueliners missing time with injuries. The latest in the group is Jalen Chatfield, who took a blow to the head in the first period Thursday night against Minnesota and didn’t return.
“(Chatfield) has been part of our D-core just like all the other guys,” Walker said. “When you lose a guy, it’s a little scrambling there. You’re playing with a lot of different D partners. You’re trying to get used to playing with different guys. I feel like we really haven’t had a chance yet with all the injuries.”
Chatfield’s status looks murky for the weekend. The Hurricanes also put Shayne Gostisbehere back on injured reserve Friday as he has been out for more than a week with his latest injury. Carolina is 5-1 when Gostisbehere in the lineup.
Carolina did have good timing in that defenseman K’Andre Miller returned Thursday following a six-game absence and he made an impact throughout the game.
“He broke up many, many opportunities for the other team and then created a bunch for us,” Brind’Amour said. “For a guy who missed a couple of weeks, that was pretty impressive.”
Both the Sabres and Hurricanes outshot their opponents Thursday night. But after racking up 28 shots and failing to convert against the Blues, the Sabres realize there might not be as many free-flowing opportunities this weekend.
“(The Hurricanes) don’t give up a lot, so when we get our opportunities, we’re going to have to bear down and we’re going have to put some in the back of the net,” Buffalo winger Alex Tuch said.
For Buffalo, Saturday’s game is the beginning of a four-game road stretch.
