After an ugly 5-2 loss to the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday (Dec. 8), Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff shook up the club’s lines at their latest practice.
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Peyton Krebs moved up to the first line at left wing and skated with Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch. This is after Krebs played right wing on the third line in the Sabres’ last game.
Zach Benson remained on the second line at practice but had different linemates in Ryan McLeod and Jason Zucker. McLeod played third-line left wing and Zucker was on the first line last game.
The third line was also different, as Jiri Kulich had new wingers in JJ Peterka and Dylan Cozens. Jordan Greenway, who is currently on the path to returning from injury, also had reps on the third line at practice.
The fourth line of Beck Malenstyn, Tyson Kozak, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel remained together.
On defense, the top pairing had a new look, as Bowen Byram skated with Ryan Johnson. This was after Byram played with Jacob Bryson on the top pairing last game.
While the second pairing of Owen Power and Henri Jokiharju stayed together, Connor Clifton now had Bryson as his partner on the third pairing. Dennis Gilbert skated as an extra defenseman with Mattias Samuelsson.
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