Okposo out indefinitely with concussion

Kyle Okposo will be out indefinitely after sustaining a concussion in the second period of the Buffalo Sabres' game in Ottawa on Thursday night. Okposo was skating through the neutral zone when he collided with Senators forward Bobby Ryan, with neither player seeing the other coming.
Okposo was tended to on the ice by the Sabres medical staff but skated to the dressing room on his own.
"It was an unfortunate play, they just ran into each other," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "… I thought he looked really good last night on the flight home, so we'll just have to go day-to-day with that, see where he's at."

The collision was particularly unsettling given Okposo's history with head injuries. He missed the final six games of last season with a concussion, when a negative reaction to sleep medication sent him to intensive care.
"It's awful," alternate captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "I didn't see the hit, but you see him on the ice after and just praying he's OK. It's a tough bounce. He's been through a lot, but hopefully it's a speedy recovery and he's back with us soon."

Housley said that the concussion Okposo dealt with last season hasn't given the team any extra cause for concern at this point.
"I don't think so," he said. "From my personal knowledge, just seeing him last night, I thought he was in a good place. Obviously, there's things that can happen down the road. But from my perspective, I thought he was in good spirits, so that's a good sign."

Okposo's injury is the latest in a long line of ailments that have struck the Sabres as of late, particularly at forward.
Evan Rodrigues (upper body) is day-to-day and has been skating but is unlikely to play on Saturday. Kyle Criscuolo is out four to six weeks after sustaining an upper-body injury in his first game after being recalled from Rochester, while fellow recall Seth Griffith (upper body) is day-to-day.
Jack Eichel has been out since Feb. 11 with a high-ankle sprain and there is still no timetable for his return, although he has been skating. Defensemen Zach Bogosian (hip) and Jake McCabe (shoulder) have both had season-ending surgery.
If there's a silver lining, Housley said, it's that other players are getting opportunities to contribute down the stretch. Nicholas Baptiste, Casey Nelson and Brendan Guhle were all in the lineup on Thursday and each player has surpassed their career-high for games played in a season.
"On the other side of it, guys are getting opportunities to play," Housley said. "I think we played some pretty good hockey lately, and that's good for them to experience the winning part. … It's good to see our guys rally around this, all that's gone on recently, and coming out with some wins."

Josefson gets his shot

The Sabres went 2-6 in shootouts last season, and thus much was made of Jacob Josefson's high career marks in the skills competition when he signed with the team on July 1. He was 11-for-21 on shootout attempts entering this season but was unsuccessful on his attempt against Montreal on opening night.
It took a long time for him to get a second chance, but he made the most of it. The Sabres went to their second shootout of the season on Thursday, and it was Josefson who scored the winner.
"If you go way back in our first game against Montreal, our last shootout, we played the percentages," Housley said. "He's been terrific in shootouts, that's why we went back to him last night. You could see why he's had success. He had a great shot there."
Josefson said he has multiple moves to choose from, as opposed to one go-to shot. On Thursday, he beat Senators goalie Craig Anderson with a well-placed wrist shot to the top-right corner.

"I'd rather win games before the shootout," Josefson said. "But it was a good feeling to be able to contribute a little bit yesterday."

Vegas up next

The Vegas Golden Knights will make their first-ever visit to Buffalo on Saturday afternoon, kicking off a six-game homestand for the Sabres at KeyBank Center. The two teams last met on Oct. 17, when the Sabres erased a three-goal deficit in the final 10 minutes only to lose 5-4 in overtime.
Back then, the expansion Golden Knights were a team that had started hot but still faced questions about their sustainability. Those questions have since been answered, as the Golden Knights sit atop the Pacific Division with 91 points and just 15 games to go.
While their success as come as a shock to some, O'Reilly said he hasn't been all that surprised.
"Not really," he said. "You look at the players they have, the depth they have. They're bringing on all these guys, a lot of them are coming from successful teams. They're all veteran players I think have been around. When you bring a group like that together, you kind of see … how consistent they are and how they've found a way to work.
"I didn't maybe expect then to be at the top, but you expect them to at least be competing every night. What they've done is very impressive."
Puck drop on Saturday is scheduled for 1 p.m. Kids Days ticket packages are available and can be found here.