Another day, another Sabre on the shelf.
Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff has informed reporters that forward Ville Leino will be out several weeks with a lower-body injury. What ails Leino remains unclear, though it’s believed he was hurt in last night’s 3-2 loss to Ottawa -- the Finnish forward took just one shift in the final 9:25 of play, a 56-second turn that ended with just over a minute remaining.
(For what it’s worth, Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News suggests Leino could’ve suffered a knee or foot problem, possibly a broken bone in his foot.)
The loss is a big one for Buffalo, mostly because it adds another name to the walking wounded list. Tyler Myers, Brad Boyes, Nathan Gerbe, Jochen Hecht and Corey Tropp are already out injured while Patrick Kaleta -- who practiced fully on Wednesday -- is close to a return, but still not 100 percent.
The injury also comes at a time when Leino wasn’t playing like one of the worst free agent signings ever. He had five points in his last seven games -- hardly the output expected after signing a six-year, $27-million deal, but an improvement nonetheless.