Michael Kesselring, a defenseman for the Buffalo Sabres, has seen improvement in his performance following his return from an ankle injury. After being in and out of the lineup since mid-November, Kesselring made his latest comeback against Minnesota on January 17. He then sat out two games to ensure he was fully recovered before playing in Montreal and New York.
Kesselring described the decision to rest as beneficial. “I thought I made a good decision to wait in Nashville,” he said after practice on Monday. “I was not feeling great great, so I waited the two days, felt a lot better and then played fine in Montreal. And then I thought last game was one of my better games.”
During the Sabres’ win over the New York Islanders, Kesselring logged 13 minutes and 45 seconds of ice time, blocked three shots, and recorded his first point with Buffalo by assisting on a goal. Importantly, he finished both recent games without any setbacks.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff praised Kesselring’s efforts following the victory over the Islanders. “He’s coming, now,” Ruff said. “I thought his skating, by far [his] best tonight. Not an easy task; I still think it’s gonna take him a while, but I thought it was a big step in the right direction.”
Kesselring joined Buffalo from Utah during the offseason along with Josh Doan. This season marks his first experience managing significant injuries during his professional career. He initially tried to play through a knee injury during training camp but missed the start of the regular season before debuting on October 28.
The addition of Kesselring’s size and shooting ability has added depth to Buffalo’s defense corps this year.
With playoff contention approaching, both Kesselring and Doan have adapted well to their new environment in Buffalo after being teammates in Utah. Doan recently signed a seven-year contract extension with the team.
Reflecting on his current situation and looking ahead to possible playoff hockey, Kesselring said: “It’s been really fun. I can’t remember the last time, honestly, I’ve been looking at the standings so much and looking at what other teams are doing and cheering for certain teams on certain nights. It’s a pretty exciting time.
“Obviously, I haven’t gotten to play playoff hockey. I thought World Championships (last May with Team USA) was a pretty good taste of the pressure and how it feels. You can feel it in all these games, too. It’s exciting. Keep building from here.”
At Monday’s practice session, forward Josh Norris and defenseman Jacob Bryson were absent due to injuries but are considered day-to-day according to Ruff. The coach does not expect Norris back this week and indicated that Norris might return after the Olympic break given next week’s lighter schedule of three games.
Bryson’s injury status is seen as relatively positive news for Buffalo as he is expected to manage pain while recovering.
The Sabres will next face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday evening.
