Jason Zucker leaves the Sabres ahead of game vs. Pittsburgh

Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff has to make abrupt changes to his lineup ahead of tonight’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins seeing that his forward Jason Zucker had to leave the team and will be unavailable. He did not even get to practice with the team in the morning.

Zucker is reportedly dealing with a family matter and will miss tonight’s game.

Ruff hopes Zucker will be available for Saturday afternoon’s road game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Taking Zucker’s spot in the lineup will be Josh Dunne, who will possibly skate as a winger. He had been called up shortly before Tuesday’s 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators but scratched him for that contest.

In other lineup news…

As for Sam Lafferty, the update on the forward is that he took reps on a line this morning, but is expected to miss his third consecutive game with a groin injury.

Goalie James Reimer is expected to make his third straight start. He has registered a 2-0-0 with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage this week.

Both the Sabres and the Penguins are currently out of the playoff race.