Alex Tuch had quite a what-you-did-over-the-weekend story to tell Monday in KeyBank Center.
Tuch’s wife, Kylie, gave birth to their first child on Saturday, a son they named Tripp Michael. When the Buffalo Sabres’ winger met reporters following his return to the team after eight days out due to injury, the smile was wide and the emotion of the moment was clear for the 27-year-old.
Arizona is in KeyBank Center on Monday night, then it's off to the first Western roadie of the season: Wednesday in Colorado, Friday in Vegas and Saturday in Tempe with a rematch against the Coyotes.
“It was a special moment. Firstborn, you hear a lot of stories. I didn’t really know what to expect,” Tuch said. “All I can say is my wife is a warrior. Twenty-seven hours of labor and ended up having an emergency C-section. You never know what’s gonna happen when you go in there and she was unbelievable.
“It was a special moment for both of us and to have both of our parents there afterwards. ... She’s good. She’s recovering well, Tripp is doing great. He’s awesome, amazing. A special moment. You don’t really know until it happens.”
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Tuch missed the last three games with a hamstring injury suffered Dec. 3 against Nashville and took the morning skate Monday. He didn’t play in the game against the Arizona Coyotes but seems on target to return Wednesday night at Colorado in the opener of a three-game road trip.
“I would suspect it’s sooner than later,” said head coach Don Granato. “Meaning there’s high potential for the next game after he gets a couple skates in, the way he felt today.”
Tuch joked that he didn’t see much of Saturday’s shootout loss to Montreal because that was when his wife was in some of the most intensive parts of the labor and the TV was shut off.
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“The only good thing about (the injury) was I was able to be with my wife a little bit more and that’s really nice,” Tuch said. “It ended up being weirdly good timing. It’s never a good time to get injured. But if I’m gonna get injured and be able to 100% be there for the birth of my son, I’ll take it.”
Tuch was injured during a backcheck and knew he was going to make things worse if he continued to play.
“I was hustling hard. I was full stride there,” Tuch said. “And I just felt it. When it’s a muscle injury like that, it’s really tough to push it because you always can make it worse.”
A 36-goal scorer last season, Tuch has battled injuries all year and has just eight goals in 22 games. He said he was thrilled to see the Sabres’ dismantling of Boston and the way they had a 48-shot effort against Montreal.
“I think we’re causing the other team to be on their heels. It’s been great. It’s been relentless,” Tuch said. “And we haven’t seen that from our group this year. Maybe for a game, not a couple games in row. Now we’ve got to three games in a row, four games in a row. We’ve got to continue to play this way.”
The Boston game was of particular importance to Tuch because of the way the Bruins have been atop the Eastern Conference for two straight seasons.
The Sabres snap their four-game losing streak with a 3-1 over the Bruins.
“You have to continue to follow it up. It’s got to be an everyday thing in practice, in games,” he said. “We might hate it in this locker room but the Bruins did it last year. Bruins are doing it this year, too, for the most part.
“Love ‘em or hate them, you have to sit there and realize what an unbelievable accomplishment they were able to do last year and you have to try to replicate that.”
Murray swapped for Rosen
The Sabres opted for some extra size Monday when they returned Isak Rosen to Rochester and called up 6-foot-5 Brett Murray from the Americans. Murray was in the NHL lineup for the first time since Jan. 22, 2022.
“It has been a little while, but I try to keep myself ready and prepared for this moment so I can seize the opportunity,” said Murray, who had 23 goals and 26 assists for the Amerks last season.
Murray has two goals and five assists for Rochester this year while playing just 12 of the 20 games due to injuries. The Amerks are 11-7-2 and their .600 points percentage is sixth in the Eastern Conference.
“We’ve had some success,” Murray said. “I think the young guys are performing for us and the older leadership group is trying to be consistent and help them. We’ve definitely had our ups and downs and our growing pains, but I think we’ve learned a lot of lessons and especially from returning a good corps from last year.”