The Sabres held a lengthy practice session at HarborCenter for the second day in a row after having had Sunday and Monday off. Tuesday marked Eichel's first practice with the team since sustaining his injury on Feb. 10, and he was please with the response from his ankle.
"It was a good practice yesterday, for sure," he said. "I think it was probably one of the hardest practices we've had and obviously coming off of an off day and not skating for four and a half weeks, it was tough. But I felt good this morning. … I felt better today than I did yesterday, and I think that's what you want to look at for the positives.
"You just want to take a step forward every day and I thought I did that today."
Evan Rodrigues and Seth Griffith also participated in practice for the second day in a row as both forwards work their way back from upper-body injuries. Housley said he expects Rodrigues, who has missed the last five games, to return to the lineup on Thursday.
Rodrigues had tallied nine points (4+5) in his last 11 games prior to sustaining his injury, including goals in back-to-back contests. He's scored a career-high 16 points (6+10) in 35 games with Buffalo this season.
"I was getting put in a lot of good situations to succeed," Rodrigues said. "My linemates were playing great with me and I just felt like every time I had the puck I wanted it on my stick and I wanted to make a play. I'm going to continue to try and do that tomorrow."
Rodrigues centered a line with Zemgus Girgensons on the left wing and Nicholas Baptiste alternating with Griffith on the right. He also practiced on Buffalo's top power-play unit alongside Ryan O'Reilly, Sam Reinhart, Scott Wilson and Rasmus Ristolainen.
