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The Thanksgiving Day practice the Buffalo Sabres had consisted of a mysterious disappearance as Rasmus Dahlin left the ice with an injury before line rushes. Dahlin popped on the ice for the initial shoot-around and first drill, before heading off. The defenseman’s status for Friday’s game is uncertain.
“Just a little bit of maintenance,” head coach Lindy Ruff said following practice. “[I] don’t believe it will affect him, but you never know until tomorrow.”
The news comes following Buffalo’s 1-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night. The Sabres played well against a tough opponent, but couldn’t find a way to score on Filip Gustavsson.
Rasmus Dahlin Injury
Dahlin missed the entire preseason after suffering an injury on the first day of training camp. He returned for the season opener and has played every game this season. Dahlin’s 19 points in 22 games leads all Sabres defensemen. He’s tied for fifth among defensemen across the entire league.
Jiri Kulich
Ruff praised Kulich for his growth recently but noted he thinks the young forward has more to give.
“I thought it was an average game for him last night,” Ruff said. “I thought there was some better plays to be made last night that you need if you want to be an NHL center. I think a little bit of his youth showed in his game, but he’s doing some real good things for us, too, at the same time.”
Kulich passed up an opportunity to distribute the puck on a three-on-two rush against the Wild. He instead took a lower-danger shot on Gustavsson, which the goalie handled with ease.
“We got to make a better play,” echoed Ruff. “I think in the American League, he could probably score from there. Probably in the NHL, you’re not going to score.”
Sabres Lines
Aside from Owen Power, Bowen Byram, and Henri Jokiharju mixing and matching due to Dahlin’s absence, the Sabres’ lines looked similar to Wednesday’s. Nicolas Aube-Kubel took the first rep with Ryan McLeod and Sam Lafferty on the fourth line, suggesting that he may be in for Beck Malenstyn on Friday.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, donning his red and black gear, worked in the starter’s end. He’s likely to get the call between the pipes against the Canucks.
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Juraj Slafkovsky is one of the most promising players in the NHL, but now he has been called out by David Pastrnak, who stated he lacks humility. After being picked No. 1 overall in 2022 NHL Draft, expectations were high in Montreal for young star Juraj Slafkovsky, and thus far, he's shown glimpses of being the elite level player many expected when he entered the National Hockey League. However, there are still some major steps to go, and in a recent interview, Boston Bruins star David Pastrnak pointed out perhaps one area where the 21-year old may need to improve moving forward. When asked about Slafkovsky and his potential, Pastrnak gave nothing but a glowing review of the young Canadiens star, but he did note that he believes Slafkovsky needs more humility. 'He's still a young player who is gaining experience in the NHL every year. This season it was already clear that he gave the team more than before...He just needs a little more humility, he should set an example for the young ones.' On the ice, there's no doubting that Slafkovsky has the presence, the size and the talent to be a true star, posting 101 total points over the past two seasons, but for whatever reason, it appears as though Pastrnak believes he needs to improve off the ice before he can take a major leap in Montreal. Ultimately, the talent is still there for Slafkovsky, and at 21-years old, he'll continue to learn off the ice, and if he can go anywhere close to living up to the potential that he's shown in his first three years at the NHL level, there's no doubt that he can be a big time star and help lead the Canadiens to significant post-season success.
Top moments from 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame inductions
The 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame class had its day in Cooperstown on Sunday. This year's class included Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, who were elected by the eligible voters from the Baseball Writer's Association of America, and Dave Parker and Dick Allen, who were elected by the Classic Baseball Era Committee. Here are some of the top highlights from Sunday's induction speeches. Dave Parker's son reads poem written by Hall of Fame father Parker's induction into the Hall of Fame was long overdue, and he sadly did not have the opportunity to enjoy the moment of seeing his name in the Hall of Fame as he died June 28. That left his speech in the hands of his son, Dave Parker II, who read a poem written by his dad. Parker spent the majority of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates where he was an MVP winner, two-time batting champion and World Series champion with the 1979 "We Are Family" team. Dick Allen's wife remembers his kindness Allen was the other veterans committee inductee, and his widow, Willa Allen, spent the majority of her speech remember the kindness of Allen off the field as much as his ability on the field. Allen is going into the Hall of Fame as a Phillie but won the 1972 American League MVP with the Chicago White Sox. He led the league in OPS four times and was the 1964 National League Rookie of the Year. A reminder that Billy Wagner wasn't naturally left-handed Being left-handed is a huge advantage (and money-maker) for pitchers, and Wagner was one of the most dominant left-handed relief pitchers to ever step onto a mound in the big leagues. But he wasn't always left-handed. Wagner was a natural-born right-handed person but taught himself how to throw left-handed after fracturing his right arm twice as a kid. It led to quite a career. Wagner made a name for himself with the Houston Astros but also spent years with the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox. CC Sabathia takes playful dig at Ichiro Sabathia accomplished a ton in his 19-year big league career. He won 251 games, won the 2007 American League Cy Young Award, was the 2009 ALCS MVP and a World Series champion. He still has apparently not gotten over the one individual award he did not win — the 2001 American League Rookie of the Year Award, which went to fellow 2025 inductee Ichiro. Sabathia made sure to make a playful dig at that. Sabathia was the only American League rookie outside of Ichiro — who also won the American League MVP that year — to get a first-place vote. He received one. The others all went to Ichiro. Ichiro stole the show Ichiro stole 509 bases in his Hall of Fame career, and on Sunday, he added one more steal to his list of accomplishments by absolutely stealing the show at Cooperstown. He delivered two of the best lines of the day, first by calling out the one lone writer who did not vote for him, keeping him from being just the second unanimous Hall of Fame inductee ever (after Mariano Rivera). His best line of the day, however, might have been when he referenced his brief time as a member of the Miami Marlins toward the end of his career. Ichiro played 14 of his 19 seasons with the Seattle Mariners while also spending time with the Marlins and Yankees.
Kirk Cousins makes notable leadership move after Falcons practice
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