Criscuolo out 4-6 weeks with upper-body injury

It seems like the injury bug has focused its attention on the centers of the Buffalo Sabres.
Kyle Criscuolo will miss four to six weeks after sustaining an upper-body injury in Monday's tilt with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Sabres announced Tuesday. Criscuolo had been recalled on Sunday to fill in at center for Evan Rodrigues, who has been labeled as week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

Criscuolo was playing his first shift of the second period on Monday when he went to deliver a hit on Maple Leafs forward Matt Martin along the boards. He skated directly to the bench after the collision and went to the dressing room.
"In the little time that he did play in the game I thought he played a really solid game and brought his speed," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "He's one of those guys that goes to the tough area. He took that hit. It's unfortunate for him, it's unfortunate for us moving forward."

The Sabres are also without their top center in Jack Eichel, who resumed skating this past weekend as he continues his recovery from a high-ankle sprain. The team has not put a timetable on Eichel's potential return, although Housley did say that Eichel's goal is to play before the season ends.
Buffalo still has 12 healthy forwards on its roster, with Seth Griffith having sat as a healthy scratch on Monday. The team has the option to move Zemgus Girgensons from the top-line wing back to center, as it did in Florida on Friday.
The Sabres held a light optional skate on Tuesday amid a stretch of three games in four days. They won 5-3 over the Maple Leafs on Monday, host Calgary on Wednesday and then visit Ottawa on Thursday.

Tomorrow's goaltender

With back-to-back games coming up against Calgary and Ottawa, Housley said it's fair to expect both Chad Johnson and Robin Lehner to start against their former teams. Johnson spent last season as a member of the Flames and is a Calgary native, while Lehner played parts of five seasons with the Senators.
"I believe so," Housley said. "We look at the track records, obviously, and who's had success against other teams. We know Chad had a huge game against Calgary. We know where he's from and he'll be playing tomorrow night in net."

Johnson stopped 32 of 33 shots in a win over the Flames on Jan. 22. That began a stretch of nine appearances in which he's gone 6-2-0 with a .933 save percentage and a 2.05 goals-against average, including a 38-save performance in the win over Toronto on Monday.
"I think we're playing a lot better, boxing out guys in front of our net," Housley said. "I think he's seeing more pucks. But let's make no mistake, Chad has really given us some keys saves at key moments of the games. He's really stepped up his game.
"You can see it in the results of the last games he's played. But I really like his demeanor in the net. He looks very comfortable. He doesn't chase anything. He's letting pucks hit him, he's square to the puck."

A chat from the penalty box

Rasmus Ristolainen admitted to laughing off a GIF of his post-fight chat with Nazem Kadri on Monday, which featured subtitles of the two players discussing how many games were left between the Sabres and Maple Leafs this season (there are three). He would not, however, confirm whether those subtitles were accurate.
"I'm not going to tell you guys what we said," Ristolainen said. "Obviously you can read a little bit what we're talking [about]. We're just two guys who play hard and [don't] like each other."