Lost in the shuffle since it occurred in the same period as David Backes’ more noticeable head injury on Thursday, Johan Larsson also suffered a serious injury when the Buffalo Sabres faced the Boston Bruins two nights ago. Following the Sabres 3-1 loss to the Bruins today, Sabres coach Dan Bylsma revealed that Larsson will be out “weeks” with a dislocated wrist. Larsson took a hard hit from Adam McQuaid in the first period and did not return, due to the injury.
The 24-year-old Larsson has worked his way up through the Sabres’ system and has taken on the greatest role of his young career this season in Buffalo. Larsson was on pace to shatter his career highs, and is still likely to do so. The young forward has six goals and five assists for 11 points in 35 games so far this season. In his first full NHL season in 2015-16, Larsson had just 17 points in 74 games. Even if he misses a few weeks, Larsson will still likely beat 17 points this season if he returns to his top six role upon his return.
Bylsma also added that early indications following the game are that Josh Gorges, who left the game, suffered a hip pointer injury. There has been no official word on the extent of Gorges injury, but the veteran blue liner has already missed time this season with injury. Buffalo continue to struggle to string together wins, and that task will only prove to be more difficult with Larsson and potentially Gorges out of the lineup long term.