Ristolainen, Skinner to return against Flyers with Eichel out

Rasmus Ristolainen, Tobias Rieder and Jeff Skinner will be back in the lineup for the Buffalo Sabres against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon.
Jack Eichel will miss a second straight game with a lower-body injury and remains day-to-day. Coach Ralph Krueger also announced that goaltender Linus Ullmark will miss a minimum of one month after sustaining a lower-body injury on Thursday.
Ullmark has started 12 of 17 games for the Sabres, including each of the past four.

"We're still digesting that," Krueger said of Ullmark. "We're going to work with Linus to get him up to speed as quick as possible, but it's a long-term injury."
Carter Hutton will get the start against the Flyers. Jonas Johansson will be recalled from the taxi squad to serve as the backup.
Ristolainen becomes the last of Buffalo's eight players who tested positive for COVID-19 to return to the lineup. He was among the first to enter protocol, along with forward Taylor Hall, on Feb. 2.
The defenseman detailed an arduous experience battling the virus with flaring symptoms that ranged from chest pains to intense fatigue. He was removed from the COVID-related absence list on Feb. 16 but stayed back from Buffalo's four-game road trip to recuperate his strength.

"The most important thing here is that Risto is patient in his game," Krueger said. "He had the most sever case of COVID symptoms of any player in the National Hockey League. So, we need to be really smart and manage him well. He's such a battler and such a character and we just want him to play a simple game here today."
Skinner has been a healthy scratch the past three games. He practiced on a line with Casey Mittelstadt and Riley Sheahan on Friday.
"Just build on the conversations we had this week and on the hard work that he put in in a difficult position," Krueger said of Skinner. "We look forward to having him back on the team and on the bench and hopefully this proves to be a good really regroup to launch an excellent rest of the season for Jeff."

Scouting the Flyers

The Flyers, too, are returning to form following a COVID-19 outbreak. They dropped two straight games upon returning from a 10-day hiatus before beating the Rangers, 4-3, on Wednesday.
Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux returned for the win over New York and tallied three assists. Forwards Jakub Voracek, Scott Laughton, and Oskar Lindblom have come off the COVID-related absence list and returned to practice over the two days since.
Coach Alain Vigneault said following practice on Friday that he expected Voracek, Laughton, and Lindblom to be in the lineup against the Sabres.
"They all saw how [Giroux] did the other day and they all want to get out there," he said.
The Flyers will be without forward Travis Konecny, their lone remaining player on the COVID-related absence list. Brian Elliott will start in net.

Players to watch

Buffalo - Sam Reinhart
The forward enters Saturday riding a five-game point streak, with four goals and three assists in that span. His average of .93 points per game this season represents the best mark of his career.
Philadelphia - James van Riemsdyk
Van Riemsdyk is like Reinhart in his reputation as a dangerous presence around opposing nets. He is also scoring at the best pace of his career (1.38 points per game), pacing the Flyers in both goals (9) and total points (22). His 13 assists are tied with Giroux for the team lead.

Tune in

Coverage on MSG begins at 12:30 p.m. You can also listen on WGR 550 with puck drop set for 1.