Sabres battling flu, recall Pysyk, Larsson from AHL

Monday, 12.23.2013 / 1:31 PM

By Joe Yerdon - NHL.com Correspondent / 2013-2014 At the Rink Blog

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BUFFALO -- The Buffalo Sabres recalled a pair of players ahead of their game against the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday.

Defenseman Mark Pysyk and forward Johan Larsson were called up from their American Hockey League affiliate in Rochester. Following the optional morning skate, interim coach Ted Nolan said both players would be in the lineup against the Coyotes. The Sabres have a few players dealing with illness.

"We're hoping that they're ready to go," Nolan said. "Four or five of them called in this morning and couldn't make it out of bed. We're hoping by game time they'll feel a bit better."

Nolan only confirmed forward Linus Omark was one of the sick players. Omark was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel was sent down to the minors to make room for Pysyk.

Ryan Miller was the first goalie off and likely will get the start.

The Coyotes are coming off a come-from-behind 4-3 overtime victory against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

"When you have a come-from-behind win it's like you earned something by the work you put in to get back in the game," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "We got a real good performance from [Antoine] Vermette and it was good to see our group get rewarded with that. …We've got one last game before the break here and we want to make sure we come in here and play well."

Mike Smith was the first goalie off at the morning skate and likely will start.

As for the lineups, here's how they may look. The Sabres' flu outbreak may jumble things a bit.

COYOTES

Tim Kennedy - Martin Hanzal - Radim Vrbata

Rob Klinkhammer - Antoine Vermette - Mikkel Boedker

David Moss - Mike Ribeiro - Jeff Halpern

Lauri Korpikoski - Kyle Chipchura - Paul Bissonnette

Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Connor Murphy

Keith Yandle - Derek Morris

Michael Stone - Rostislav Klesla

Mike Smith

Thomas Greiss