Getting consistent secondary scoring has been a concern for the Sabres as of late and they’ll be without one of the few players who had been providing it for a little bit. Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald reports that forward Marcus Johansson will miss at least the next three games due to an upper-body injury. The 29-year-old currently sits tied for fifth in teams scoring with 10 points through his first 17 games, his highest point-per-game pace since 2016-17. Head coach Ralph Krueger indicated that it’s a minor issue for Johansson and that he could return as soon as Tuesday night. Considering they’ve been off since Saturday, Buffalo could backdate an IR placement for Johansson if they decide to recall someone from AHL Rochester.
Other injury notes from around the league:
- It was only last week that Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov was believed to be out week-to-week due to a broken jaw. However, head coach Jared Bednar told reporters, including Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic (Twitter link), that the blueliner will join up with the team as their road trip continues in Vancouver and that he could be available on Saturday night. That would be a nice boost for a team that has recently been ravaged by injuries and finds themselves down both of their regular goalies for the time being although Colorado Hockey Now’s Adrian Dater relays (via Twitter) that Pavel Francouz is currently in concussion protocol but might only miss another day or two.
- Blackhawks winger Drake Caggiula is in concussion protocol, notes Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago. The team initially believed he was sick but that certainly doesn’t appear to be the case now. This is Caggiula’s second concussion of 2019 as he also missed 13 games to one he sustained back in February. There is no timetable for his return.