Nathan Beaulieu, Josh Gorges, Justin Bailey return to practice as Buffalo preps for Florida Friday night.
By Chris Ryndak / Sabres.com
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo practiced yesterday and received some good news in the form of a few players take part in full. Nathan Beaulieu, Josh Gorges, and Justin Bailey were full participants and are trending toward making their respective returns to the lineup.
The Sabres practiced today as they ready themselves for tomorrow night’s game against the Florida Panthers. It will be Military Appreciation Night.
From the Ice Level Practice Report by Jourdon LaBarber:
With two days separating the Sabres from their next game, at home against Florida on Friday, the light session also served as an opportunity for three injured players to acclimate to being back on the ice with the team. Defensemen Nathan Beaulieu and Josh Gorges both skated with the team for the second day in a row, while Justin Bailey made his return after missing the last three games.
The impending return of Beaulieu and Gorges adds some much-needed depth to the Sabres defense corps, which has also been without Zach Bogosian since the start of the regular season and more recently lost Rasmus Ristolainen and Matt Tennyson, both of whom are day-to-day.
Gorges, who has missed the last eight games due to a lower-body injury, said that he feels he’s back to game shape.
“I feel ready, that is now up to the coaching staff and what they feel is best,” he said. “I put myself in a position to train hard and got myself feeling good again, so no questions on my part.”
It was a light practice for the Sabres following the victory, and Jack Eichel and Kyle Okposo were each given maintenance days.
“Typically, they drive that themselves in their game the night before,” coach Phil Housley said. “I thought they worked really hard so we kept it a little bit lighter and tried to work on the offensive part of their game.”