The Sabres recalled winger Isak Rosen from AHL Rochester on Tuesday, per a team announcement. Tyson Kozak was moved to injured reserve in a corresponding transaction after missing Sunday’s win over the Devils with an illness. It turns out the moves were precursors to more injury news today, as head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed leading scorer Tage Thompson won’t play tonight against the Blue Jackets and is day-to-day with the upper-body injury he sustained on a hit from New Jersey winger Stefan Noesen over the weekend (via Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald). Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson also won’t play due to a lower-body issue, per Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. Neither player is expected to miss significant time.
It’s Rosen’s second recall of the season after an eight-day stint on the roster in November. The 2021 first-rounder entered the lineup for a Nov. 23 win over the Sharks, posting zeros across the board in just 6:29 of ice time.
The 21-year-old is having a great season on the farm, leading Rochester with 23 goals and 39 points in 40 games. It’s yet to translate into a legitimate NHL role, but by already setting a career-high in goals, he’s put himself on the radar for a spot on next year’s opening night roster. The Stockholm native is already in his third season of professional hockey stateside and has 57 goals and 126 points in 173 games with the Americans.
He’s still looking for his first NHL point as he gears up to play game No. 9 of his career tonight. He’s expected to skate in a third-line role with Jiri Kulich and JJ Peterka, presumably receiving more ice time than he did in November.
Thompson exits after Noesen caught him in the head with an open-ice hit early in the third period of Sunday’s game. It earned the Devils forward a match penalty but no supplemental discipline, which Ruff said was surprising. He’s the Sabres’ lone point-per-game player, leading the club with 26 goals and 48 points in 47 games. He had four goals and eight points in his last three games until the Noesen hit, so he’s an even more significant short-term loss for the Sabres with how he’d been playing in the last few days.
Samuelsson, 24, had suited up in nine straight after missing two with an illness. He’s averaging 18:31 per game this season, the lowest since his rookie stint in 2020-21, and has nine points with a minus-two rating in 35 appearances.
I still can’t tell if Noesen shouldered Thompson in the head or somewhere else on the upper body. I haven’t seen a definitive camera angle.
The fact that Tage left with his face bleeding indicates that his head was hit in some way, whether Noesen’s should hit his face or helmet it made contact because (thankfully) Tage’s head didn’t hit the ice.