Sabres' Jack Eichel suffers high-ankle sprain in ugly fall during practice (Video)
While Sidney Crosby is back practicing with the Pittsburgh Penguins (in a no-contact jersey), the opening day of the 2016-17 NHL season is off to a rough start with a trio of stars going down.
First, we had the flu and Carey Price. Next, it was a lower-body injury keeping Patrice Bergeron out of Thursday night’s Boston Bruins opener. Now, it appears an ugly, ugly injury has felled Jack Eichel of the Buffalo Sabres.
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Toward the end of Wednesday’s practice, Eichel got his left skate caught under him after tangling with Zemgus Girgensons. He fell to the ice awkwardly and had to be helped off by teammates.
Here’s video of what happened via Tom Martin of News 4 Buffalo:
VIDEO: Jack Eichel goes down at #Sabres practice, has to be helped off the ice. Looks like left ankle. pic.twitter.com/ntUj3asIGE
— Tom Martin (@4TomMartin) October 12, 2016
That didn’t look good. Hopefully it’s nothing too serious.
Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma told reporters that Eichel suffered an ankle injury and will be evaluated later this afternoon. Buffalo, who will already be without Kyle Okposo, hosts the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night in their season opener.
UPDATE:
The #Sabres have announced Jack Eichel has a high ankle sprain. No timetable is set yet. #Buffalo
— Bill Hoppe (@BillHoppeNHL) October 12, 2016
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy