- Alex Lyon left Thursday’s preseason loss to the Red Wings with an upper-body injury
- Jiri Kulich also exited the game for precautionary reasons
- Read below for what Lindy Ruff said about both injuries after the game
The Buffalo Sabres walked out of Detroit with two fresh injuries to worry about.
Goaltender Alex Lyon and center Jiri Kulich both left Thursday’s preseason game against the Red Wings and didn’t return, a 3-2 overtime loss at Little Caesars Arena.
The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn was covering the game in Detroit and caught Lyon’s exit live:
Lyon got hurt with about two minutes left in the first period, diving forward to cover a loose puck. He favored his left shoulder as he stood up, then skated straight to the Sabres’ bench. Colten Ellis took over in net and stopped seven of eight shots the rest of the way.
Kulich lasted a little longer. He scored 33 seconds into the second period, then didn’t come back out after his next shift, at the 9:25 mark, for what the team called a precautionary reason.
Fairburn tracked both exits as the game wound down:
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff addressed both injuries with reporters after the game:
“I’m optimistic it’s not too bad,” Ruff said, calling Lyon’s issue an upper-body injury. On Kulich, Ruff said the center wanted to keep playing. “Didn’t want to take any chances,” he said.
Watch Ruff’s full postgame session with reporters in Detroit here.
Lyon was excellent for Buffalo last season, going 20-10-4 with a .907 save percentage and 2.77 goals-against average in the regular season, then posting a .904 save percentage over 10 playoff games as the Sabres reached the second round in their first playoff trip since 2011. Kulich, who missed most of last season recovering from a blood clot and hadn’t played in a regular-season game since Nov. 1, had dressed for all three of Buffalo’s preseason games before Thursday.
The two injuries add to a pile Buffalo already had. Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson (lower body) and Olen Zellweger (concussion) both got hurt in Tuesday’s win over Columbus.
Buffalo opens the regular season Oct. 1 on the road against the Blue Jackets, and Ruff now has extra roster questions to sort out before the opener.
