Nate Schmidt returns to practice for Golden Knights
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A familiar face was on the ice Friday at KeyBank Center.
It had been 10 days since the Golden Knights last saw defenseman Nate Schmidt in uniform. They went 2-2 without him.
“When you hear of guys when they retire or they’re away from the game, this is what they say they miss the most, the banter in the locker room and being around the guys,” Schmidt said. “You don’t realize it how much you miss being around everyone until you’re not there.”
Schmidt said he was banged up when he left the game late in the third period Feb. 27 against the Los Angeles Kings and didn’t return. Rather than put him on injured reserve, the Knights gave him a week off to heal and get ready for the final stretch push and postseason.
“A little PTO,” Schmidt said with a laugh. “Paid time off.
“I was a little dinged up. As the game went on, it got a little bit worse. It really wasn’t worth pushing it, especially at that time of the year.”
Coach Gerard Gallant said he wasn’t sure if Schmidt would be in the lineup Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres when the Knights (43-19-5, 91 points) try to break the NHL record for most road wins by an expansion team. They have 19 road wins, the same as the 1993-94 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The Sabres have the NHL’s worst home record at 10-19-4.
Schmidt said he hopes to play.
“We’ll see,” he said. “I hope to play, but we’ll see what the training staff says.”
Gallant said the team missed Schmidt’s ability to log heavy minutes — he leads the team in time on ice at 22:12 a game — take a shift on the power play and kill penalties. He is second to Colin Miller in scoring by Knights defensemen with 30 points (five goals, 25 assists). Miller has 35 (eight goals, 27 assists).
“He plays against the other team’s top players, and he’s a shut-down kind of guy,” Gallant said. “He moves the puck real well, and he’s an important player for us.
“We’d love to get him back. But we want to make sure he’s ready to come back. He had a good practice (Friday), so we’ll talk to the trainers and see where he’s at in the morning.”
Schmidt appreciated the efforts of his fellow defensemen in his absence.
“They’ve been great,” said Schmidt, referring to Jon Merrill and Brad Hunt, who have been in the lineup while Schmidt and Luca Sbisa have been out. “That’s the beauty of our team. At the beginning of the year, it was something that was looked at as a problem with all the D we had.
“But it’s manifested into something, a really nice addition for our team having guys who can step in and be pretty seamless in how we want to play.”
Of course, the Knights also missed having their carefree spirit having fun, and they welcomed Schmidt back by playing a prank on him.
“It was good to be back out there on the ice, but they didn’t let me touch the puck the first drill. I thought it was pretty selfish. I thought they were better than that,” Schmidt said jokingly.
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Game day
Who: Golden Knights at Sabres
When: 10 a.m. Saturday
Where: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, N.Y.
TV: AT&T SportsNet (Cox 313/1313, DirecTV 684, CenturyLink 760/1760, U-verse 757/1757)
Radio: KRLV (98.9 FM, 1340 AM)
Line: Golden Knights -200; total 5½ o-125
Three storylines
1. The Smith watch. Reilly Smith didn’t practice Friday, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be in the lineup Saturday. He was hurt Tuesday and sat out Thursday. He probably will be a game-time decision.
2. Struggling Sabres. Buffalo has languished at the bottom of the Eastern Conference for most of the season. They will be missing star center Jack Eichel (high ankle sprain) and forward Kyle Okposo (concussion) against the Knights.
3. Eakin breakthrough? Cody Eakin has struggled offensively all season. But the third-line center had his first multiple-goal game of the season when he scored twice in Thursday’s 4-0 win over Detroit. He has played well on the trip.
