Anderson continues to progress, will evaluate playing status on Friday

Craig Anderson said he is continuing to progress in his recovery from an upper-body injury but will need at least another day of practice before determining his status for the Sabres' upcoming road trip, which begins Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes.
Anderson discussed his recovery after practicing on Thursday. He had his first full skate with the team last Friday following an absence of two-plus months.
"We're just trying to see how the recovery is now, right? Felt pretty good," Anderson said. "Kind of the trend is as soon as you get out there, start moving, warm up, things start to feel better. As the day goes on, you see how the recovery goes. It's hard to say true yes or no as far as what your status is for the weekend, but we'll know more tomorrow after we get on the ice and keep progressing."

The Sabres will make the trip without goaltender Aaron Dell, who was suspended three games for interference against Ottawa Senators forward Drake Batherson on Tuesday. Michael Houser has split the last four games in goal with Dell, going 2-0-0 in his starts.
Dell did not practice Thursday. The Sabres took the ice with Houser, Anderson, and Dustin Tokarski, the latter of whom has yet to return to games due to lingering symptoms of COVID-19.
"Both Craig and Tokarski have had injuries that nobody knows but them," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "No doctor, no medical advisor. It's just how they feel and only they know how they feel with what they're dealing with. So, yeah, they remain day to day because of that."
Anderson sustained his injury on Nov. 2 after taking a hit from San Jose Sharks forward Tomas Hertl. He had posted a .921 save percentage while starting six of the Sabres' first nine games.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is week to week with a lower-body injury while Malcolm Subban is expected to miss the remainder of the season after having surgery to repair an upper-body injury. Mat Robson and Charles Williams, neither of whom are on NHL contracts, are handling goaltender duties in Rochester.
Video: AFTER PRACTICE: Anderson
"There's no pressure," Anderson said. "When the time is right, the time is right. We're all competitors. I'm a competitor. My job is to get better and get out there and play, and I want to play. I think that's the best thing, is the mentality of wanting to play. But on the other side of it, you have to be honest with yourself.
"Just because if you're not honest with yourself, A) You're going to hurt yourself or, B) You're going to hurt the team. And that's just a selfish play. Even though you think you're doing what's best for the team is sometimes being selfish and not what's best for the team."
Kyle Okposo practiced without a no-contact jersey for the first time since sustaining his upper-body injury on Jan. 18. The group lined up as follows:
| January 27 | | --- | | LW | C | RW | | 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 89 Alex Tuch | | 19 Peyton Krebs | 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 96 Anders Bjork | | 74 Rasmus Asplund | 24 Dylan Cozens | 71 Victor Olofsson | | 28 Zemgus Girgensons | 20 Cody Eakin | 21 Kyle Okposo | | | 17 Mark Jankowski | 15 John Hayden | | LD | RD | G | | 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 10 Henri Jokiharju | 32 Michael Houser | | 8 Robert Hagg | 13 Mark Pysyk | 41 Craig Anderson | | 23 Mattias Samuelsson | 78 Jacob Bryson | 31 Dustin Tokarski | | 4 Will Butcher | 45 Casey Fitzgerald | |