Struggling Quinn Scratched Against Utah

The Buffalo Sabres are hoping to snap their five-game losing skid in the middle game of their five-game homestand against the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday afternoon. Head coach Lindy Ruff will be without the services of team captain Rasmus Dahlin, defensemen Mattias Samuelsson, and forwards Jordan Greenway, and Sam Lafferty due to injury, but winger Jack Quinn will be a healthy scratch for a second straight game.

A great deal was expected of the 23-year-old winger coming off an injury-plagued 2023-24 season. Quinn was out until December recovering from an off-season Achilles tear and then suffered a broken fibula in late January that kept him out two months, but the former first-rounder still managed 19 points (9 goals, 10 assists) in 27 games.

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Quinn was on the first power play and the second line with Dylan Cozens to start the season, but he was moved off of the top unit after it struggled in October. The hope was that he would eventually break out of his early-season slump, but through 24 games Quinn managed only one empty-net goal against Detroit and four assists.

After playing just over 10 minutes in the Sabres 5-4 loss to Colorado on Tuesday, head coach Lindy Ruff chose to scratch Quinn in favor of rookie Tyson Kozak, who scored his first NHL goal before it was erased for goalie interference by the officials.

"I think Jack admittedly would say that he's hard on himself. He's not performing to the level that he expects, that we expect, but it's not going to be because he doesn't put the work in," Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said on Friday. "Sometimes, especially with younger players, not that Jack is young, but he is still finding his way in the league. They have ups and downs, but you have to work with them. You have to just help them find ways to improve."

Ruff indicated that both Samuelsson and Greenway – who skated without non-contact jerseys on Friday are getting closer to returning to the lineup. He did not have an update on Dahlin (who left Tuesday’s game with back spasms), other than saying the Swedish blueliner is still being evaluated.

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