The Sabres took it easy today with an optional skate, with only a handful of skaters and one goalie (Jhonas Enroth) taking the ice in First Niagara Center. The Sabres host Pittsburgh on Friday and visit Toronto on Saturday, so the plan was to rest up for the weekend.
"With back-to-back games coming up, we wanted to make sure we went light and save everything for the game," coach Lindy Ruff said.
Center Derek Roy, who skipped Wednesday's practice with flu-like symptoms, returned today and should be ready for Friday. He's looking forward to the meeting with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the surging Penguins.
"It’s a good test for us," Roy said. "It’s fun. These are the games you play for."
Left wing Nathan Gerbe said he's still in wait-and-see mode as to whether he's ready to return from his upper-body muscle strain.
"He’s kind of stuck in that 80-90 percent but hasn’t got over the hump yet," Ruff said. "We’re hoping that one of these days it just clicks in."
---John Vogl
