Connolly, Kotalik Out Tonight
Tim Connolly and Ales Kotalik did not make the trip to Pittsburgh and will be out tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Patrick Kaleta and Drew Stafford are back in the lineup after sitting out the previous two games.
Connolly deserves credit for playing Friday night after getting smoked by Keith Tkachuk on Wednesday against the Blues. Frankly, I thought the guy was headed for another lengthy visit to the injured list after getting caught with his head down. Not only did he play, he had a team-high 21 minutes and six seconds against the Blue Jackets on Friday.
Kotalik suffered a hamstring injury that looked nasty. It's not a good sign when one leg lands in Buffalo and the other in Nashville. He's back for more tests to determine the severity of the injury. It's a tough break for him. He was off to a decent start offensively. If Kolalik is sidelined for a long time, the Sabres could bring up somebody from Portland to supply some offense.
The top two candidates are Mark Mancari, who has been dominating down on the farm while playing alongside Tim Kennedy. Mancari had 10 goals and 23 points in his first 12 games. The other, of course, is rookie Nathan Gerbe. He had 12 goals and 18 points. Kennedy, by the way, had four goals and 17 points.
--- Bucky Gleason
