Sabres defensemen Mattias Samuelsson, Olen Zellweger injured in preseason debuts
· Yahoo Sports
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A pair of Sabres defensemen are out indefinitely after getting hurt during their first game action of the preseason.
Mattias Samuelsson was listed as week to week with a lower-body injury and Olen Zellweger is going through the concussion protocol, coach Lindy Ruff said following practice Wednesday.
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Both players got hurt during the second period of Tuesday night's 5-1 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Buffalo's second exhibition game, and first for most of the club's NHL players.
Zellweger needed assistance skating off the ice after taking a hit from Blue Jackets defenseman Carson Soucy and hitting his head on the ice.
“My conversation with him today, he felt better already,” Ruff said. “That’s very encouraging to me, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself.”
Zellweger is a fourth-year NHL player acquired by Buffalo in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks shortly after the Sabres traded second-pair defenseman Bowen Byram to the Chciago Blackhawks.
Samuelsson, an alternate captain coming off his best NHL season playing on the top pair with captain Rasmus Dahlin, did not return to the game after blocking a shot and going to the dressing room with 9:40 left in the second period.
With forward Jason Zucker already ruled out for the start of the regular season while recovering from surgery to repair a sports hernia, the two injured defenseman are questionable to return for for Buffalo's opener Oct. 1 at Columbus.
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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter.The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette.Read more of his work here.
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