Scott in, Foligno likely out for Sabres

Thursday, 02.28.2013 / 12:55 PM

By Alain Poupart - NHL.com Correspondent / 2012-2013 At the Rink blog

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SUNRISE, Fla. -- Buffalo Sabres enforcer John Scott will be in the lineup Thursday night against the Florida Panthers.

Scott was a healthy scratch the past two games, but Sabres coach Ron Rolston said the 6-foot-8 wing would play because of the anticipated presence in the Florida lineup of enforcer George Parros.

Scott and Parros had a fight when the teams met in Buffalo on Feb. 3, a game the Panthers won 4-3.

With Scott in the lineup, left wing Marcus Foligno is expected to be a healthy scratch.

On defense, the Sabres again will be without veterans Jordan Leopold and Alexander Sulzer.

Leopold, nursing an upper-body injury, has missed the past four games but took part in the morning skate Thursday and could be back before long.

"He's getting better," Rolston said. "He's out there, which is a good start. It's a good start for him and he's moving pretty well. It's kind of a day-to-day thing now, getting him back on the ice and seeing what he can do out there."

Sulzer's situation is a lot murkier, and potentially a lot more serious. Sulzer sustained a lower-body injury in the first period of Saturday's 4-0 loss against the New York Islanders and was placed on injured reserve Monday.

"We're in a situation right now where we're waiting for a lot of the swelling to go down before they can actually get the real prognosis on things," Rolston said. "What happens in the trauma there is you get so much swelling, they can get an initial read, but they want to wait to see once that settles in exactly to get the right diagnosis."

Rolston didn't dismiss the possibility it could be a long-term injury.

Here are the Sabres' projected lines for Thursday night's game against the Panthers:

Thomas Vanek - Cody Hodgson - Jason Pominville

Nathan Gerbe - Tyler Ennis - Steve Ott

Jochen Hecht - Kevin Porter - Drew Stafford

John Scott - Mikhail Grigorenko - Patrick Kaleta

Robyn Regehr - Tyler Myers

Mike Weber - Adam Pardy

Christian Ehrhoff - Andrej Sekera

Ryan Miller

Johnas Enroth

Injured: D Jordan Leopold (upper body), F Ville Leino (upper body), D Alexander Sulzer (lower body)