Dan Bylsma will ride Chad Johnson as Robin Lehner will miss the Ottawa and Toronto games this weekend.
“For the next two, three days we’ll just rest and rehab on that ankle,… coach Bylsma said Friday.
“The high-ankle sprain is just one you deal with for a long time. I don’t think at any one point in time he hasn’t been dealing with it since he’s come back.…
Lehner had a scheduled appointment to have his ankle evaluated on Thursday. The orthopedic doctor obviously thought it a good idea for Lehner to rest and recover rather than risk further injury by playing in the wonky ankle.
Lehner missed thirteen weeks this season with a high ankle sprain.
Bylsma also said that the team has not entertained the idea of parking Lehner for the rest of the season. His weekend off is merely a respite
Johnson is 16-14-3 with a .918 save %.
Veteran AHL D-man Chad Ruhwedel was also dispatched from AHL Rochester to replace the dinged up Carlo Colaiacovo, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Ruhwedel, the UMass Lowell product, has scored 8 goals and 14 assists in 46 games.
***