Sabres LW Ellis out indefinitely with knee injury; D Sekera diagnosed with pneumonia

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Buffalo Sabres fourth-line forward Matt Ellis is out indefinitely after hurting his knee last weekend.

Without calling the injury season-ending, coach Lindy Ruff said Ellis will miss an extended period as Buffalo prepared to host Montreal on Monday night. Ellis was hurt in a 4-3 shootout win at Ottawa on Saturday.

The Sabres will also be minus defenceman Andrej Sekera for an uncertain stretch after Ruff said the player has now been diagnosed with pneumonia. Sekera had missed the previous three games with what the team called flulike symptoms.

On the bright side, second-leading scorer Thomas Vanek is expected to return Monday after missing one game with an upper body injury.