BUFFALO -- The Buffalo Sabres will be without Josh Gorges for the remainder of the season.

Sabres coach Ted Nolan announced Gorges will have surgery to repair a lower body injury and will miss the final 23 games of the season.

“Josh is going to have surgery, we’ll miss him for the remainder of the season for sure,” Nolan said. “He should be back ready and able for training camp.”

Gorges played 46 games in his first season with the Sabres with six assists. He was tied for fourth in the NHL with 148 blocked shots with Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson. Gorges’ last appearance was Feb. 10 against the Ottawa Senators. He had no points and played 21:34.

Nolan also said Mike Weber will miss a minimum of two weeks with an upper body injury.

BUFFALO -- The New York Rangers will give rookie goalie Mackenzie Skapski his first NHL start when they face the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.

Skapski's debut comes a night after the Rangers lost 5-4 in a shootout to the Vancouver Canucks.

"We've played a lot of hockey lately, including a back-to-back, and after talking to Benoit [Allaire] and [Jim Schoenfeld] and [Jeff Gorton], who know him well, they all said it was a good thing to give him a start," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "He's been playing really well in Hartford, and back-to-back it just felt like the right thing to do."

BUFFALO – The Philadelphia Flyers have points in eight consecutive games and will have two regulars returning to the lineup when they face the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.

Forward Michael Raffl and defenseman Braydon Coburn will play against the Sabres. Raffl has been out since Jan. 20, a span of seven games, when he battled a case of pneumonia. Coburn has been out since Jan. 12 with a broken foot and missed 12 games.

"They're two big players for us and two good players," Flyers coach Craig Berube said. "It's good to get them back for sure."

BUFFALO -- Bobby Ryan, the Ottawa Senators' leading scorer, will be a game-time decision Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres.

Ryan left the Senators' morning skate early and did not return. Ryan skated on a line with Mika Zibanejad and Clarke MacArthur.

"Cramped up," Senators coach Dave Cameron said. "He'll be a game-time decision. He just had a cramp and best to get off and be worked on so he'll be a game-time decision."

If Ryan can't play Jean-Gabriel Pageau would take his place at forward. Ryan has 14 goals and 37 points this season.

BUFFALO -- The Buffalo Sabres will have forward Marcus Foligno back in the lineup on Sunday against the New York Islanders.

Foligno missed the past 19 games with a broken hand he sustained in a fight against the Boston Bruins on Dec. 21. The Sabres have gone 3-16-0 in his absence.

“Marcus is a big, powerful forward, and big guys got to do certain things, and he was just starting to do it with the best of them in the league,” Sabres coach Ted Nolan said.

BUFFALO -- Tyler Seguin is hoping he can get his scoring touch back when the Dallas Stars face the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.

Seguin has scored three goals since Jan. 3, a span of 15 games, and even though he’s still second in the NHL in points, he said he wants to start putting more shots past goalies.

“I’m trying to figure out that side of the game, too, where now I have every guy staring at me on the power play and every guy treating me with more respect on the ice than I’ve had before,” Seguin said. “I’m going through that growing and figuring out different ways to score and different ways to produce.”

BUFFALO -- The St. Louis Blues take a six-game winning streak into the game against the Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center on Thursday.

The Blues are coming off a 2-1 overtime win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday and are 11-0-1 in the past 12 games. Despite the winning streak, the Blues sit two points behind the Nashville Predators for first place in the Central Division.

"I think it's been emblematic of our season," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We haven't reached our stride from a details standpoint, but we find ways to get points. Last game's a perfect example. We weren't good in the game, we were tired. It was a very tough schedule for us. To play three in three-and-a-half nights is very difficult, but we found a way not to get too far away from the game and then got points at the end. I think it's typical of our season is we've gotten points where the game's been even or it's been up for grabs and we've had the same three or four guys that snipe a goal for us and keep us going, but it's more that we don't let the games get away from us."

The Blues may have center Patrik Berglund back in the lineup against Buffalo. Berglund has missed the past three games with an upper-body injury. He skated on a line with Dmitrij Jaskin and Ty Rattie on Thursday.

BUFFALO -- When the Buffalo Sabres host the Philadelphia Flyers at First Niagara Center on Saturday, it will be a game that features a pair of teams trying to turn things around.

The Flyers have been shut out in two consecutive games and may be without forward Matt Read who Flyers GM Ron Hextall said has a 24-hour illness. The Flyers recalled forward Jason Akeson from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League in case Read can't play.

"He's got good skill," Flyers coach Craig Berube said. "[Akeson] up here at the time we had him up here, he was on the fourth line. It's not a real position for him to succeed I think, but that's reality a lot of times. Coming up here he needs to find a niche where he can fit in there."

BUFFALO -- The Minnesota Wild and Buffalo Sabres are both looking to end lengthy losing streaks at First Niagara Center on Thursday.

The Wild are winless in six consecutive games and goaltending has been a problem during Minnesota's losing streak. The Wild acquired goalie Devan Dubnyk from the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday in exchange for a 2015 third-round pick. Dubnyk will make his Wild debut against the Sabres.

"He looked good in the morning," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "That's not necessarily a great indicator, but I think we're just excited. I know from playing against him that I really do believe this is a guy that can come in and be successful here."

BUFFALO -- The Detroit Red Wings will be without starting goalie Jimmy Howard for 2-4 weeks because of a slight groin tear, according to the Associated Press.

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock on Tuesday said Howard was week-to-week with his injury, according to the AP. Howard will not play in the All-Star Game.

Red Wings general manager Ken Holland told MLive.com that an ultrasound revealed Howard's injury.

Howard was injured during a 3-1 loss Saturday to the Washington Capitals when he stretched across the crease in an attempt to stop a Troy Brouwer wraparound goal.

With Howard out, Petr Mrazek will start in goal Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres. Tom McCollum was recalled Sunday from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League to be the backup.