Girgensons day to day, Samuelsson out vs. Sharks due to upper-body injuries

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Zemgus Girgensons is considered day to day with an upper-body injury after exiting the Buffalo Sabres’ game in Los Angeles on Wednesday during the first period. 

Girgensons was absent from the Sabres’ practice on Friday, as was defenseman Mattias Samuelsson. Samuelsson is still undergoing evaluations for his own upper-body injury after missing the game against the Kings, but coach Don Granato said the team is hopeful he will be available after the All-Star break.

Erik Johnson, who has missed the last three games, practiced with the team for the first time since sustaining his upper-body injury against Chicago on Jan. 17. He will not play against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday – Buffalo’s last game before the break – but is expected to be available when the schedule resumes on Feb. 6.

“He should be back to 100 percent (after the break),” Granato said.

The Sabres took the ice at the Kings’ practice facility before departing for San Jose, where they’ll meet the Sharks Saturday at 4 p.m. Pregame coverage on MSG/MSG+ begins at 3:30.

Here are more notes from the skate in El Segundo.

1. Here’s how the Sabres lined up for practice:

Forwards

53 Jeff Skinner – 72 Tage Thompson – 21 Kyle Okposo

12 Jordan Greenway – 37 Casey Mittelstadt – 89 Alex Tuch

22 Jack Quinn – 24 Dylan Cozens – 77 JJ Peterka

9 Zach Benson / 71 Victor Olofsson – 19 Peyton Krebs – 50 Eric Robinson

Defensemen

26 Rasmus Dahlin – 78 Jacob Bryson

25 Owen Power – 10 Henri Jokiharju

33 Ryan Johnson – 75 Connor Clifton / 6 Erik Johnson

Goalies

1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

27 Devon Levi

2. Alex Tuch skated 21:24 in the victory over the Kings, the highest ice time among Sabres forwards. He played on a line with Jordan Greenway and Casey Mittelstadt and also filled in alongside Peyton Krebs and Eric Robinson after Girgensons left the game in the first period.

Tuch was on the ice with Robinson and Krebs when he scored the winning goal during the third period, one of a team-high six shots he took against the Kings.

“When Alex is going, we are a completely different hockey team,” Granato said. “He is a force. And the other night, he was going. I was literally looking to get him on the ice as much as I could. We lost Girgensons … and Tuch was the guy to kind of fill in with two different lines. And it was easy that night for me to do that because he was on his game.”

3. The Sabres have a chance to take four out of six points on their California road trip with a win over the Sharks, who are 3-0-1 since losing 3-0 in Buffalo on Jan. 15.

Granato said the focus will be to play with the same identity that carried the Sabres to a come-from-behind victory in Los Angeles.

“We want to make sure that we play tomorrow in the areas of compete, in the areas of willingness to battle, in the shot mentality, willingness to go after a loose puck, create a loose puck to go after,” he said. “Those are the areas we need to make sure we are doing consistently day in and day out, night in and night out.”