Beaulieu, Josefson join Sabres for optional practice

When Jacob Josefson tweaked his ankle in Montreal on Nov. 25, it was said he'd take four to six weeks to recover. For now, he's ahead of schedule. Josefson was back on the ice with the Buffalo Sabres for an optional practice on Monday, just two weeks removed from sustaining his injury.
Josefson was among a group of 13 that also included defenseman Nathan Beaulieu, who's missed the last three games due to an illness. Sabres coach Phil Housley said that Josefson remains week-to-week, while Beaulieu is day-to-day.
"It's good to see him out there moving his feet and turning hard, cutting hard on his lower-body injury," Housley said of Josefson. "It's going to be a progression for him but we've got to be smart because of his injury."

Josefson missed 15 games after initially sustaining his ankle injury in Anaheim on Oct. 15. He quickly made an impact upon returning to the lineup in mid-November, scoring a goal and an assist in two games, but reinjured the ankle early in his third game back.
"It was frustrating, but I feel a lot better now," Josefson said. "It feels like I'm a little bit ahead of schedule. The rehab's been responding well."
Beaulieu, meanwhile, left Buffalo's game in Pittsburgh on Dec. 2 due to flu-like symptoms.
"I threw up twice on the bench," Beaulieu said. "It just wasn't the right thing to do, to be around my team. It wasn't fair to them."
In the days that followed, Beaulieu said he felt weak and lost "an extreme amount" of weight. He said Monday was the best he's felt, and expressed optimism about his status for Tuesday's home game against the Ottawa Senators.
In the meantime, he was just happy to be on the ice with his teammates after a long week apart.
"It was unfortunate, I really wanted to get on the road and join the team," he said. "I thought they did a hell of a job on the road trip getting four out of six and showed a lot of passion, lot of grit. It was just really nice to see the boys this morning."

Well-deserved rest for Lehner, Risto

With a quick turnaround between their recent road trip and their game on Tuesday, the Sabres understandably kept a large group of players off the ice on Monday. Of the players who received rest days, none were more deserving than Robin Lehner and Rasmus Ristolainen.
Lehner started all three games in net for the Sabres and faced a combined 133 shots, stopping all but eight of them. Housley said it may have been the goaltender's best stretch of the season.
"I'd have to think so," Housley said. "I think he's been pretty consistent all year, but obviously we gave up way too much in Chicago and St. Louis and he provided us a chance to win. He saw a lot of rubber but he was up to the task. It's good to see."
Ristolainen, meanwhile, came 43 seconds short on Sunday of becoming the first Sabre to log 30-plus minutes in three straight games. He skated a combined 91:43 on the road trip, tallying 11 shots, 12 hits and 13 blocked shots along the way.
Housley said he'd like to cut down Ristolainen's ice time - doing so might allow him to become more active on offense - but added that the heavy workload was a testament to the defenseman's preparation and competitiveness.
"I think he brings a physical presence to the game," Housley said. "He's tough to play against. I know you wouldn't want to go into a corner [with him] because you're going to pay a price. It's good to see him being that type of player."

Up next

The Sabres will host the Senators for the first time this season on Tuesday. The Senators come to Buffalo having won just once in their last 12 games after making it to the Eastern Conference Final last season.
Coverage on MSG-B begins at 6:30 p.m. with GMC Gamenight, or you can listen live on WGR 550. The puck drops at 7 p.m.