After 9 months without Buffalo Sabres hockey, to see players back on the ice at KeyBank Arena was a welcome sight. Lines began to take shape, defensive pairings shuffled around, and talk of returning to the postseason after a long overdue absence renewed.
Barely a week into practice, those plans took a hard left turn on January 4th with the injury to projected 3rd line winger Zemgus Girgensons seen below.
I had originally thought that he suffered either a groin strain or the possibility of a knee collision based on the limited video available, but reports came out indicating that it was more severe than originally thought.