The Buffalo Sabres are thrilled to have Josh Norris back in the lineup, to say the least.
Norris and the Sabres look to build off one of their best wins of the season Wednesday when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers.
After coming over in a trade with the Ottawa Senators last season, Norris played only three games for the Sabres before suffering a torn oblique muscle that ended his campaign. This season, he was in uniform for the opener but suffered an upper-body injury that night, keeping him out of the next 24 games.
Norris’ long absence ended Monday, when he scored twice and added an assist in a resounding 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
“I just wanted to come back and get right back in and not be a distraction,” Norris said. “… I just thought they did a great job (without me) up to this point, and I just wanted to come in and contribute. I’m really happy to be back.”
Buffalo has won six of its last nine games, including lopsided wins over the Edmonton Oilers (5-1), Chicago Blackhawks (9-3) and Carolina Hurricanes (4-1), in addition to the recent rout against Winnipeg.
Still, Norris’ return has to be a welcomed sight for a team that has not made the playoffs since 2011.
“To replace a guy like that is (almost) impossible,” Sabres forward Alex Tuch said. “He has such a high-end skill set, such a good skater. Just an unbelievable 200-foot centerman. His IQ is off the charts. He put it on full display (Monday). He was unbelievable. When you miss a guy like that, it definitely hurts. It’s good to get him back.”
While Buffalo is welcoming back one of its top weapons, Philadelphia will be without one of its best players for the foreseeable future.
Flyers winger Tyson Foerster exited with a bizarre upper-body injury in Monday’s 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. While attempting an uncontested slap shot, Foerster fell to his knees in pain and hustled straight to the locker room.
The team announced Tuesday that Foerster, who leads the team with 10 goals, will miss two to three months with an upper-body injury.
“That’s tough. He’s such a big part of the team, the locker room, everything. So, yeah, I mean, it’s definitely difficult,” linemate Travis Konecny said of Foerster’s injury on Monday, per the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Foerster scored the Flyers’ only goal in the loss to the Penguins, a setback that snapped their winning streak at three games. Philadelphia has killed off 82.1% of power plays this season — ranking in the top 10 in the league — but the team allowed three man-advantage goals against Pittsburgh.
“The PK, which has been good all year, struggled,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said, noting that goaltenders Dan Vladar and Samuel Ersson have covered up for some of the penalty-killing unit’s flaws of late. “We’re a little out of structure. … We’ve got to clean up the structure part of it.”
Philadelphia has only lost back-to-back games in regulation once this season.
“All year long, we’ve responded well after losses and bad efforts,” Flyers captain Sean Couturier said. “We’ll forget about this one and move on.”
This is the first meeting of the season between the Flyers and Sabres. Philadelphia won two of the three matchups last season.
