@boosbuzzsabres
The Buffalo Sabres announced today that forward Kyle Okposo has a concussion after getting one-punched to the ice in a tilt with the NY Rangers on Sunday. Reasons for why he decided to drop the gloves in the first place are now irrelevant as this concussion is something that could be very serious.
Okposo suffered a concussion late on March 21, 2017 that went undiagnosed and he eventually ended up missing the final six games of the regular season. What happened after was a ride that landed him in the neurological intensive care unit where he was left "incoherent, confused and paranoid," according to a piece by Tim Graham of The Athletic. "He strained to recognize loved ones. He thought staffers around his bedside were there to hurt him."
Back From the Abyss, the article by Graham, is a stark and very moving piece about a good guy thrown into the darkness of the unknown because of a concussion and a reaction to medication. Okposo eventually came out of it and made it back to the ice for the 2017-18 season but even then it took him months to be able to skate at the NHL-level without fear and trepidation and the repercussions of that event still seemed to linger at times. As this season went on he was back to digging in the corners and throwing his body around to the point where he may have felt too good. That's when he dropped the gloves in defense of himself and a perceived dangerous hit to a NY Rangers player.
Okposo's hit on the Rangers Matt Zuccarrello was anything but malicious but as the player's unwritten code dictates, a teammate must be defended. Rags d-man Tony DeAngelo and Okposo got together with both parties ready to go after dropping the gloves. Okposo didn't keep his guard up and DeAngelo landed a solid right that decked the Sabres forward. Down he went and he was soon led off of the ice looking somewhat unstable. The initial diagnosis was that Okposo didn't have a concussion, although anyone who watched the episode probably had a different view. Okposo flew to New Jersey for the Sabres next game but didn't suit up and early this morning the Sabres tweeted out that he in fact did have a concussion.
With Okposo's concussion history, as well suffering what was revealed as a detached retina back in January, 2015, one would assume that the Sabres will be very cautious when it comes to his health. The Sabres are in Florida for two games beginning tonight against the Panthers. They'll face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday before flying back to Buffalo for a game against the Washington Capitals on Saturday
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Sunny Florida is great if you want to get away from the Buffalo winter but bad if you're the Sabres. Dating back to the 2013-14 season Buffalo is a combined 5-14-1 when playing consecutive games in Florida against the Panthers and Lightning and they left the state without a win six times, with four of those sweeps coming during the Jack Eichel era beginning in 2015-16. The last two seasons ended on a sour note as they got swept out of Florida both years and the Sabres went 0-1-1 earlier this season.
With that in mind, this really isn't a very good situation for a Sabres team that has struggled as of late. Buffalo hasn't been able to put together back-to-back wins since December and just had a string of 11 games alternating between wins and losses broken when they lost to the Devils on Sunday. Although still in the playoff hunt, they're six points out of a playoff spot with one team to jump and they've just been caught by the Philadelphia Flyers who have been on a tear (12-1-1) for over a month.
Buffalo is coming off of a disappointing loss in New Jersey and with every loss the hole gets deeper. Head coach Phil Housley must have known the magnitude of the circumstances as he reformed his top line of Eichel centering Jeff Skinner and Sam Reinhart for the Devils game. Prior to that he had moved Reinhart to a line with rookie center Casey Mittelstadt and left wing Conor Sheary to help balance the scoring but he decided to go with his three best offensive players on the top line for Sunday's game. It didn't work out so well as the team only scored one goal.
If yesterday's practice is any indication, he's going back to what he went with prior to the New Jersey game:
Skinner-Eichel-Pominville
Sheary-Mittelstadt-Reinhart
Smith-Rodrigues-Thompson
Sobotka-Larsson-Girgensons
Housley told the gathered media after practice yesterday that he "liked the way Reinhart responded" on the Mittelstadt/Sheary line. "He sort of took his game to another level. He makes plays around tight traffic and when he gets his body over the puck down low, he creates offense when he drives out of the cycle. It's great to see him do the things that are going to help us win."
What's not understood is why he abandoned that line in the first place. They'd been playing very well as a trio with Reinhart seemingly opening up a little space for Mittelstadt while Sheary used his quickness and puck-hawking qualities to get them on that cycle.
Same thing with Housley's defense-pairings. They've been all over the place for a good chunk of the season and could get even crazier as Marco Scandella was pronounced week-to-week with a lower body injury while both Rasmus Ristolainen and Zach Bogosian missed the practice for "maintenance days." That said, Casey Nelson was recalled from his Rochester conditioning stint on Sunday and Nathan Beaulieu should be raring to go as he hasn't played in the month of February.
Housley also has himself a bit of a conundrum in net as starter Carter Hutton hasn't been tracking the puck very well going on months and Linus Ullmark is struggling with consistency.
Tonight there is a slate of games featuring every team the Sabres are chasing in the wild card race and it behooves them to come away with a win by any means necessary. Problem is they're struggling right now and are heading to a state where they haven't had much success.
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