Energy line left wing Ville Leino and first line right wing Drew Stafford were both forced from the Sabres surprising 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, both with upper body injuries. Leino took a hammer shot from Jack Johnson in the second period, but took one more shift before the trainers took him back in the room.Stafford left in the third after just 12:17 of ice time compared with his season average of 17:41 over 46 games played - and interim coach (why don't they just give him the gig already?) Ted Nolan offered no updates, though he doubts either will be go to go on Monday night in Pittsburgh.
Nolan had no info on Leino or Stafford. Didn't seem too optimistic about either for Monday.
— Mike Harrington (@BNHarrington) January 26, 2014
The 28-year-old Stafford is a particularly heavy loss for the Sabres to incur, though his seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points don't tell his entire story."Drew is a proven player. He's played here for a while. I think he deserved all the respect a player of his magnitude deserves." Nolan said of Stafford's tough season offensively thus far, "He didn't disappoint. He competed, but it just didn't go in for him. Now the last few weeks the puck seems to be finding the back of the net."
It's not as if the Sabres are headed to the playoffs, sporting the worst record in the league and a full 21 points behind the current 8th seed in the Eastern Conference - but 26 of their 36 points have come since Nolan took over as temporary bench boss, the team is 10-14-6 in that span but 3-4-3 since the calender turned.
http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/01/stafford-leino-suffer-upper-body.html
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