"I feel l'm good and so does the staff. So it looks like I'm going to go in tonight," O'Reilly said. "I might not be used like I normally am. They said they're going to try to ease me back into it because I haven't had a ton of skates with the team, but I'm excited to get back playing tonight.
"It might not be the normal minutes I play, but still, just to be out there and contribute, it's going to be exciting."
And the Sabres will gladly welcome him back as well, even in a somewhat reduced role. O'Reilly is third among forwards in the league when it comes to ice time per game, skating an average of 21:31.
Sabres coach Dan Bylsma has said numerous times since the beginning of training camp that he'd like to reduce the minutes O'Reilly and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen play each night. Circumstances haven't allowed that to happen on a consistent basis, but O'Reilly's condition - and with him trying to get back to game speed after missing a week and a half - may force Bylsma's hand a bit.
"I talked about this in different situations before of limiting minutes and protecting him, but this will definitely be the case with Ryan in the lineup," Bylsma said.