I have good news and bad news.
I’ll give you the bad news first.
Rasmus Ristolainen will not be playing Friday night vs. Florida nor Saturday night in Montreal.
The good news?
Two Sabres veteran D are getting close to returning to the lineup from injury.
Ristolainen suffered an upper-body injury in Buffalo’s 5-4 win in Arizona last Thursday. The injury sidelined Buffalo’s number one defenseman for the Dallas loss last Saturday and the Washington win on Thursday night.
Last Friday, the initial prognosis on Ristolainen was “day to day…. The Sabres are going to be without Ristolainen for longer than originally planned.
"It's more of a week-to-week situation right now," head coach Phil Housley said Thursday.
Coach also says that Rasmus Ristolainen is week-to-week.
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) November 9, 2017
Ristolainen suffered an upper-body injury late in the victory over the Desert Dogs last Thursday in Arizona. Ristolainen has been listed as day-to-day.
Phil Housley raised a few eyebrows after Thursday’s team practice when he announced Ristolainen is now out of the lineup “week to week….
Hmmm.
What happened in the past two days to re-classify the injury to Ristolainen as “week to week…? Don’t know.
The Sabres have lost 76 man games to injury in the first 15 games of the 2017-18 season. That’s a lot of injuries to key performers. The flabbergasting thing for Phil Houlsey and Jason Botterill is that 30 of their man games lost to injury have come from top six defensemen.
Zach Bogosian has missed 15 games and counting.
Josh Gorges has missed the past 8 games.
Nathan Beaulieu has missed the past 7 games
Ristolainen leads the NHL with 27:09 TOI per game.
The young Finn also QB’s Buffalo’s struggling power play.
Housley said Thursday that Beaulieu and Gorges appear to be options to replace Ristolainen.
Coach Housley says defensemen Nathan Beaulieu & Josh Gorges had a good practice & are close to returning to game action. #Sabres pic.twitter.com/bst81BZNyC
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) November 9, 2017
The Buffalo D duos as of Thursday’s practice:
Scandella-Falk McCabe-Fedun Beaulieu-Antipin Gorges-Redmond
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Evander Kane is hotter than a pistol right now.
Did you know that Kane has scored 37 goals in his past 71 games?
It’s true. Since December 3, 2016, Kane is averaging a half a goal per game for his past 73 games. He has scored 58 points in his past 73 games played.
For some reason, the pending UFA sniper continues to fly below the radar with his high offensive output.
Kane continues to be one of the NHL's most prolific goal scorers.
Kane has potted 37 goals since December 3, 2016. Tampa's sniper Nikita Kucherov has scored an NHL-best 43 goals since that time.
Of Kane's 37 goal scored since December 3, 2016, only seven have not been scored at even strength. Think about that. Only Toronto's Auston Matthews has more than 30 even strength goals in that time frame.
Kane scored 28 goals in 58 games in 2016-17. He suffered four busted ribs in the 2016-17 season opener versus Montreal and was forced to sit and watch until his season debut on December 3. Kane racked up 25 even strength goals and 3 power play goals last in 58 games played.
In his frst 15 games of the 2017-18 season, Kane has already scored a team-leading 9 goals on 73 shots on goal.
In 2011-12. Kane scored 10 goals in his first 22 games.
Kane currently leads the NHL with three shorthanded goals and also has just one power play goal.
Retroactive to December 3, 2016, Kane has scored 58 points in 73 games.
Every time he lights the lamp, his re-signing value increases that much more. So too does his trade value. Last time I checked, Matt Duchene checked out on his Colorado teammates last season and demanded a trade at Christmas 2016. The Avs and their fans were forced to endure the hell of a 48-point season. On Sunday night, Duchene was traded for seven valuable assets. Quit on your team, withhold your best efforts for 6 active NHL hockey months, then get traded for seven expensive pieces.
Doesn’t make sense, does it?
Rest assured. Kane isn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future. Jack Eichel is in now hurry to say goodbye to his favorite trigger man.
The remarkable thing is that he has scored 30 even strength goals, 4 PPG, and 3 SHG. Kane also has 21 assists (14 5v5, 7 PP) in that time frame.
Of Kane’s 37 goals in his last 73 games, 6 of them have been game winners and 3 others have been scored while he is killing a penalty.
Kane continues to light the lamp because he continues to rip the puck. Kane never met a shot that he didn't like. Evander has pelted enemy goalies with 304 shots since December 3, 2016. That's an average of 4.1 shots per game.
Kane is averaging scoring a .50 goals per game in his past 73 games played. That ranks him among the most elite scorers in the NHL.
Kane is an NHL elite scorer.
You better get used to it.