Sabres D Rivet ready to return; RW Afinogenov hurt

Jan 6, 2009 - 12:03 AM BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- The Buffalo Sabres received both good and bad news on Monday.

After being sidelined for nearly a month with a shoulder injury, captain Craig Rivet declared himself ready to return to action.

On the flip side, right wing Maxim Afinogenov is out indefinitely after hurting his groin last weekend.

Rivet is expected to play in Tuesday's game against the Ottawa Senators after missing the team's last 11 contests. The contest will be his first since December 10.

"As long as everything went well at practice, he'll be back in," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said.

"It felt good," Rivet said of his shoulder following Monday's practice. "The last week or so, I really tried to push hard on it and see kind of where it's at. It has responded real well. Obviously practice is not game-situation, that's something that I will be finding out very soon."

Acquired in an offseason trade with the San Jose Sharks, the 34-year-old defenseman has five assists in 21 games this season.

Afinogenov suffered a groin injury after absorbing a hard hit from captain Zdeno Chara during the first period of Saturday's 4-2 triumph over the Boston Bruins.

"Max is going to have further tests today, evaluate where (he is)," Ruff said. "I don't think it's short term. It could be a little while."

The 29-year-old Afinogenov has two goals and 10 assists in 34 contests this season.