The Buffalo Sabres will be facing off against a former teammate, Alex Tuch, on Saturday night in Washington. They will be looking for the win but will be doing so without a key part of their lineup as Jiri Kulich will not play against the Capitals.
Kulich suffered the injury in practice on Friday after he was hit in the face with a puck. Lindy Ruff said that the center remained in Buffalo for more testing, and there is a chance he could join them for the West Coast portion of their road trip, according to WGR550's Paul Hamilton.
The former first-round pick missed almost all of last season after dealing with blood clots, and he entered this season with high expectations. He was expected to be one of the pieces that could replace the production lost after Alex Tuch left in the offseason.
Buffalo Sabres are set to debut a new top line against the Capitals
On Wednesday, Kulich was on the top line for the Sabres with Tage Thompson, but with the center not available for this game, the Sabres are going to be rolling out a new top line. After Kulich's injury in practice, the Sabres had Jason Zucker and Konsta Helenius with Thompson and that is certainly an interesting line with a lot of potential.
Helenius was another one of those players who had high expectations after a promising run in the playoffs. However, it has been a slow start for him, with only two points through nine games and a +/- of -4.
A move to the top line to play with the Sabres' best forward, Tage Thompson, and a veteran like Zucker could be a great move for him. Jason Zucker just returned to the lineup, and made his season debut on Wednesday, and had an immediate impact with a power-play goal.
The Sabres have dealt with their fair share of injuries to begin the season, and having to shuffle the lines is nothing new. It will be interesting to see how this new top line looks against a good Washington Capitals team.
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