Sabres’ Justin Danforth leaves game against Senators with lower-body injury

An early exit for one of the new faces in Western New York.

The Buffalo Sabres announced that forward Justin Danforth wouldn’t return to the team’s game against the Ottawa Senators due to a lower-body injury.

The team didn’t specify exactly when or where Danforth was hurt in the game. The 32-year-old registered just 6:14 of ice time across 10 shifts, blocking a shot in his brief action against the Senators. Buffalo went on to win the high-scoring affair, 6-4, marking the team’s first win of the season.

Danforth has had his share of injury woes over his career. He started the 2024-25 season, then as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, on non-rostered injured reserve with a wrist injury. Then, a lower-body injury last December led to another trip to IR, keeping him out of action for almost a month. In October 2022, he suffered a torn labrum that kept him out for the final 76 games of the season.

During the 2021-22 campaign, the Oshawa, Ont. native sprained his MCL, which led to a near-two-month absence.

After four seasons with the Blue Jackets, Danforth signed a two-year contract with the Sabres. The deal has a cap hit of $1.8 million through the 2026-27 campaign. He’s played in each of Buffalo’s four games thus far, but has yet to register a point. He’s a -2 while averaging less than 13 minutes of ice time per game.

Danforth is coming off a 2024-25 campaign where he scored nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points, a few shy of his career-best 26-point performance from the 2023-24 season. In 187 career games, he has posted 31 goals and 33 assists for 64 points.

The Sabres (1-3-0) are off until Saturday, when they host the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.