Hutton assessed for injury following collision in Philadelphia

Carter Hutton was being evaluated for a potential injury when Sabres coach Ralph Krueger spoke to the media following a 3-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.
Hutton took an elbow to the head from Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov early in the second period and did not return for the third. He was replaced by Jonas Johansson, who allowed one goal on nine shots.
Here are five takeaways from the loss, beginning with the situation in net.

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1. Krueger disappointed with hit on Hutton

Krueger had been vocal about his disappointment regarding the lack of a suspension for Flyers forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel following his hit to the head of Rasmus Dahlin on Monday. Aube-Kubel was assessed a double-minor during the game and fined $4,633.62, the maximum allowed under the CBA.
Last week, in the opener against Washington, Eric Staal was forced to exit the game after taking an elbow to the head from Capitals forward Nic Dowd. That hit did not receive a suspension nor a fine, just a two-minute minor for an illegal check to the head.
Krueger was frustrated again with the hit on Hutton, which occurred early in the second period when Provorov was checked from behind by Brandon Montour as he drifted toward the Buffalo net. Provorov's elbow connected with Hutton's head, knocking the goaltender's mask onto the ice.
"It's, in four games, the third hit to the head of, for me, a violent type," Krueger said. "If you look at the way that the elbow comes extended, you know what you're doing. We'll see where this takes us. He's under assessment here tonight."
Hutton was playing for the second time in as many nights with Linus Ullmark unavailable due to a personal matter. He remained in the game for the duration of the second period, making a highlight-reel kick save on James van Riemsdyk less than a minute after the collision with Provorov.

Travis Konecny beat Hutton on a breakaway to open the scoring with 2:09 remaining in the period. Johansson came on in relief to begin the third.
"He didn't feel the effects of the hit, actually, which can happen sometimes, until the intermission when he got in and he sat down," Krueger said. "So, I think his adrenaline kind of kept him going. Yeah, it was a big hit here tonight."

2. Missed opportunities prove costly

The Sabres were shut out by Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott despite generating 40 shots and 11 high-danger attempts at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Buffalo missed a prime opportunity with a 5-on-3 power play during the first period, which produced at least one grade-A look that saw Victor Olofsson facing a seemingly open net. Olofsson paused momentarily to corral the feed from Jack Eichel and saw his shot deflect off a defender.
"I kind of had to settle it down a little bit before I could shoot it," Olofsson said. "Obviously, the goalie was completely out. I hit the shinpad of the defenseman."
Eric Staal suggested the Sabres could have done more at even strength in terms of getting to the net front to disrupt Elliott.
"That's a question you always ask when you see 40 and a zero on the production side," Krueger said. "It's something we will look at. We rung a crossbar, we rung a post, we did have bodies going to the net. There were some deflections and redirects.
"I thought Elliott played an outstanding game, and, of course, you need to visit the chances as a coaching staff and take a look at where and why we didn't create more second chances and get them out of position."

3. A budding rivalry?

The intra-division nature of the schedule will give teams plenty of time to get to know one another this season. There was already an edge between the Sabres and Flyers on Tuesday, their second of eight meetings this season.
Konecny drew the ire of the Sabres during the first period following a hit on Dahlin. When the Flyers forward opened the scoring with a breakaway goal, he was shown on the broadcast exchanging words with the Sabres' bench.
The Sabres and Flyers meet next for a two-game series in Buffalo beginning on Feb. 26.

4. Asplund enters for Thompson

Krueger said to expect occasional scratches when it's deemed a player could benefit from rest during the condensed schedule. Such was a factor in the decision to scratch Tage Thompson, who was replaced in the lineup by Rasmus Asplund.
Thompson had the longest layoff of any Sabres player going into this season, having had his 2019-20 campaign end with shoulder surgery in November 2019.
"We thought the back-to-back might be a little much," Krueger said. "We all know that he's coming from the longest break of anybody here, and we want to be careful on the integration. We like the way Tage has bought in here and what he gives us for a presence."
Asplund skated 7:20 and recorded two shots in his season debut.

5. Looking ahead

The Sabres have now outshot their opponents in three straight games with only one win to show for it. Part of the focus going into the upcoming series with Washington will be finding ways to consistently translate strong 5-on-5 performances into offense.
"I think that comes with continuing to push," Staal said. "You get to the net and get to those dirty areas. If you're consistently doing that and consistently getting those looks, you're gonna score, you're gonna get opportunity, you're gonna get chances to go in.
"We just got to continue with that and just be hungry and then I think that confidence comes with it once you get a few and you continue to grow. But it was a tough finish tonight and we'll have to respond in Washington."