Coming off a highly successful West Coast road trip, the Buffalo Sabres return to home ice on Wednesday to face the Minnesota Wild, when they will likely welcome back their leading goal-scorer.
Tage Thompson told reporters after practice Tuesday that he would be “ready to go” against the second-place team in the Central Division. The 27-year-old center, who scored 47 goals and 94 points two seasons ago, has not played since Nov. 11 due to a lower-body injury. Despite missing five games, his 11 goals still lead the team, and he ranks third in points with 18.
Buffalo swept its California road trip, beating Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose in four days. The Sabres were off Sunday and Monday before returning to the ice Tuesday morning.
The winning streak has Lindy Ruff’s team tied for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. However, with three-quarters of the season remaining, Ruff — who was in his first stint as the Sabres’ coach when the team last made the playoffs in 2011 — knows his team still needs to do more against tough competition.
It did not help matters that Tuesday’s practice could have started better, Ruff said.
“You come in off a road trip, and you’re hoping that the team can be ready to exceed the intensity that we were able to bring on the trip,” Ruff said. “It’s the only way to get better.”
One area in which Ruff, whom the Sabres rehired in April, wants to see improvement is staying out of the penalty box. Out west, Buffalo gave opponents 12 power-play opportunities while only getting seven.
Minnesota comes to Buffalo after falling at home 4-1 against Central Division leaders Winnipeg on Monday. It was the team’s second straight defeat following a shootout loss to Calgary on Saturday.
Monday’s loss was not for a lack of effort. The Wild generated a season-high 44 shots on goal, with half of those coming in the first period. The 22 shots were the second-most of any team in one period this season and were the most in a period for the Wild in nearly seven years.
Wild coach John Hynes felt his team played well but just could not get much past Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner.
“There’s some things that we can grow from the game, but we got a lot of hockey this week too,” Hynes told reporters after Monday’s loss. “So, we got to put this one behind us, grab what we can take out of it, and then we got to make sure that we’re refreshed again (Tuesday) and we’re ready to go against Buffalo.”
Despite the mini losing streak, Minnesota’s 30 points in 21 games is tied with the 2013-14 squad for the best start in franchise history.
Left winger Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild in both goals (13) and assists (21). His 34 total points entering Tuesday are tied for third in the NHL with Vegas’ Jack Eichel and a point back from co-leaders Martin Necas of Carolina and Nathan MacKinnon of Colorado.
Minnesota could be without defensive center Jakub Lauko, who left Monday’s game early with a lower-body injury. Hynes did not have an update on his status after the Jets game.
