EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo

[Johnny93g]

WHAT!!!!....Dylan Hunter released by the Knights....that makes no sense.....can you assign him to the AHL now?

[NoSkillz]

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

WHAT!!!!....Dylan Hunter released by the Knights....that makes no sense.....can you assign him to the AHL now?

My thoughts exactly. The Knights already had their allotment of overagers by the time I sent Hunter and Dennis back and they were released almost immediately. The A.I. should evaluate who the better players are and keep them.

Hunter definitely would be the best overager on the club so you're right, it makes no sense to drop him.

I don't have Hunter or Dennis signed yet but I will get them signed if they don't hook up with another junior team and then assign them to either Rochester or my ECHL affiliate (in Dennis' case).

[NoSkillz]

Sabres Reassign Paille; Ink Additional Trainer

Buffalo News
September 27 2005 (Buffalo, NY) -
The Buffalo Sabres announced today that left winger Daniel Paille has been reassigned to their AHL affiliate in Rochester.

Paille had one goal and one assist in three preseason games.

"We're pleased with Dan's progress thus far and look forward to him contributing more offensively down on the farm this year", indicated GM Matt Bosela.

"The organization has high hopes for Dan in the years to come."

Bosela also announced that former Toronto Maple Leafs trainer Brent Smith has been signed to a contract. As per club policy, contract terms were not released.

"Brent was the best trainer available on the market and we think he'll compliment Tim (Macre, the Sabres current trainer) very well. In this day and age, it's vital to have more than one physiotherapist on staff and Brent will contribute in that regard."

[NoSkillz]

Pominville, Drury Come up Big in Calgary Stalemate

Buffalo News
September 27 2005 (Calgary, AB) -
Jason Pominville is not only making life difficult for Buffalo opponents these days, but also for Sabres management.

Pominville, considered a long shot to make the club this year, scored twice and setup two others in helping the Sabres to a 5-5 tie against the Calgary Flames at the Pengrowth Saddledome Monday night.

"Jason is having a tremendous camp", indicated Lindy Ruff, "and he's made a really good case for himself here in Buffalo. That line (Pominville, Chris Drury and Ales Kotalik) have put goals on the board ever since we put them together."

"It would be tough to break them apart the way they're going", was all Ruff would say when asked if Pominville was going to make the team.

Drury contributed four assists on the night for the Sabres, who also got two goals from Derek Roy and one from Jeff Jillson. Marcus Nilson scored a pair of goals for Calgary while Craig MacDonald, Jarome Iginla and Lynn Loyns scored singles. Iginla (1g 3a) and Matthew Lombardi (4a) also had four point nights.

The Flames took a commanding 3-1 second period lead before the Sabres stormed back with four consecutive markers to take their own big lead. However, the Flames would score twice in the last eight minutes to get the game back to even.

"It was a really fun, fast-paced game out there tonight", offered Flames captain Iginla. "We're disappointed in giving up the early lead but I'm really pleased overall with the comeback in the last ten minutes. A competitive game like this is great preparation for the regular season games just around the corner."

Ruff utilized the following line combinations in the tie: Daniel Briere centered Thomas Vanek and J.P. Dumont, Drury was inbetween Kotalik and Pominville, Roy was in the middle of Taylor Pyatt and Mike Grier while Paul Gaustad centered Adam Mair and Andrew Peters.

On defense, Ruff employed Dmitri Kalinin and Teppo Numminen, Jay McKee and Jillson and lastly, Rory Fitzpatrick and Henrik Tallinder.

The Sabres are heading to Whistler, British Columbia for some team bonding before wrapping up their preseason on Thursday night in Vancouver. The Sabres still have a number of roster decisions to make before the season starts on October 3rd.

FINAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Buffalo	0	2	3		5
Calgary	2	1	2		5
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING
1. Calgary - M. Nilson (M. Lombardi, J. Iginla), 5:01 (PP)
2. Calgary - C. MacDonald (R. Regehr, B. Ritchie), 5:11
PENALTIES
Buffalo - P. Gaustad (Holding the Stick), 4:29
Buffalo - D. Roy (Charging), 8:21
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING
3. Buffalo - D. Roy (C. Drury, J. Pominville), 7:32 (PP)
4. Calgary - M. Nilson (M. Lombardi, J. Iginla), 14:05 (PP)
5. Buffalo - J. Pominville (C. Drury, A. Kotalik), 14:17
PENALTIES
Calgary - B. Ritchie (Hooking), 6:47
Calgary - C. Severson (Holding the Stick), 8:33
Calgary - C. Severson (Misconduct), 8:33
Buffalo - J. McKee (Holding), 13:08
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING
6. Buffalo - D. Roy (C. Drury, J. Pominville), 4:46 (PP)
7. Buffalo - J. Jillson (D. Kalinin, C. Drury), 6:32 (PP)
8. Buffalo - J. Pominville (unassisted), 7:07
9. Calgary - J. Iginla (M. Lombardi, R. Regehr), 12:38 (PP)
10. Calgary - L. Loyns (M. Lombardi, J. Iginla), 17:50
PENALTIES
Calgary - B. Ritchie (High Sticking), 1:19
Calgary - B. Ritchie (Misconduct), 1:19
Calgary - L. Loyns (High Sticking), 3:42
Calgary - R. Hamrlik (Charging), 6:29
Buffalo - J. McKee (Holding the Stick), 12:07
GAME INFORMATION
SHOTS ON GOAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Buffalo	13	16	15		44
Calgary	14	6	10		30
GOALTENDING
Buffalo	M. Noronen (T)
Calgary	B. Krahn (T)
POWERPLAYS		THREE STARS
Buffalo	3 - 5	1. C. Drury (BUF) 4a +2
Calgary	3 - 4	2. J. Pominville (BUF) 2g 2a +2
ATTENDANCE	17227	3. J. Iginla (CAL) 1g 3a

[NoSkillz]

Hecht's Pair Scores Win in Preseason Finale

Buffalo News
September 29 2005 (Vancouver, BC) -
The NHL's new rules have been the topic of countless conversations over the course of the preseason. Most agree something had to be done to open the game up for the skilled players; however, many have complained about all of the penalties being called, saying it disrupts the flow of the game and that special teams are now more important than five-on-five play.

Well, if the NHL wants to prove it's point to the naysayers, they'd be well advised to send a copy of last night's game between the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks to every single one of them.

This was hockey the way it's supposed to be played.

In a wildly entertaining game that saw only five minor penalties and 69 combined shots, the Sabres took advantage of Jochen Hecht's two goals to score a 4-3 victory over the Canucks at General Motors place.

J.P. Dumont and Ales Kotalik were the other Sabres goalscorers while Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi and Tyler Bouck tallied for Vancouver. The Sabres got multipoint games out of Hecht (2g), Toni Lydman (2a) and Tim Connolly (2a) while Naslund (1g 2a) and Bertuzzi (1g 1a) were multipoint producers for the Canucks.

"I've never really had the opportunity to play with Tim (Connolly) before but coach thought we'd compliment each other well", Hecht said after the game. "It's turned out really well in the preseason and we just hope that it continues when the season starts for real on Monday."

"Our team's depth is our greatest asset", Lindy Ruff indicated. "We can throw out three very solid lines; anyone in our top nine can score goals and that hopefully will be tough to handle for the rest of the league."

Ryan Miller got the start in goal and played well, stopping 29 of 32 shots thrown in his direction. Dan Cloutier took the loss for Vancouver.

Ruff utilized the following line combinations in the victory: Daniel Briere centered Thomas Vanek and Dumont, Chris Drury was inbetween Kotalik and Jason Pominville, Connolly was in the middle of Hecht and Maxim Afinogenov while Derek Roy centered Taylor Pyatt and Mike Grier.

On defense, Ruff employed Jay McKee and Toni Lydman, Dmitri Kalinin and Teppo Numminen and lastly, Brian Campbell with Jeff Jillson.

Buffalo still has a number of roster decisions to make in the next three days, as 28 players still remain with the team. All clubs must get down to 23 players before the season commences.

The Sabres finished the preseason with a 5-2 record with one tie. They open the regular season at home on Monday night versus the Boston Bruins. Game time will be 7:00pm.

FINAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Buffalo	2	1	1		4
Vancouver	2	0	1		3
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING
1. Vancouver - M. Naslund (E. Jovanovski, T. Bertuzzi), 7:40 (PP)
2. Buffalo - J.P. Dumont (T. Vanek, T. Lydman), 14:20
3. Buffalo -J. Hecht (D. Kalinin, T. Connolly), 18:10 (PP)
4. Vancouver - T. Bertuzzi (M. Naslund, B. Allen), 18:27
PENALTIES
Buffalo - T. Connolly (Hooking), 6:38
Vancouver - T. Bertuzzi (Tripping), 17:00
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING
5. Buffalo - A. Kotalik (J. McKee, T. Lydman), 14:52
PENALTIES
Vancouver - S. Butenschon (Charging), 2:35
Buffalo - T. Numminen (Hooking), 8:57
Buffalo - D. Kalinin (Charging), 12:27
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING
6. Buffalo - J. Hecht (T. Connolly, B. Campbell), 2:07
7. Vancouver - T. Bouck (M. Ohlund, M. Naslund), 14:31
PENALTIES
None
GAME INFORMATION
SHOTS ON GOAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Buffalo	12	10	15		37
Vancouver	13	8	11		32
GOALTENDING
Buffalo	R. Miller (W)
Vancouver	D. Cloutier (L)
POWERPLAYS		THREE STARS
Buffalo	1 - 2	1. M. Naslund (VAN) 1g 2a +1
Vancouver	1 - 3	2. A. Kotalik (BUF) 1g
ATTENDANCE	11885	3. J. Hecht (BUF) 2g +1

[MizzouRah]

I love those box scores!

Nice to see Hecht doing well.

[NoSkillz]

PRESEASON STATISTICS
BUFFALO SABRES
P	PLAYER	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
F	Jochen Hecht	5	7	6	13	7	4
F	Chris Drury	6	1	12	13	3	4
F	* Jason Pominville	6	5	6	11	5	0
F	* Thomas Vanek	5	6	4	10	10	0
F	Maxim Afinogenov	5	5	4	9	8	2
F	J.P. Dumont	5	5	3	8	9	0
F	Ales Kotalik	6	3	5	8	6	0
D	Dmitri Kalinin	5	2	5	7	2	2
F	Tim Connolly	5	2	4	6	10	2
F	Daniel Briere	5	0	6	6	10	6
D	Toni Lydman	5	0	6	6	8	0
D	Brian Campbell	5	1	4	5	5	2
D	Teppo Numminen	5	0	5	5	3	2
F	Derek Roy	5	3	1	4	0	4
D	Jeff Jillson	5	1	3	4	10	2
D	Jay McKee	5	0	4	4	7	6
F	* Clarke MacArthur	3	1	1	2	1	2
F	* Daniel Paille	3	1	1	2	1	0
F	* Paul Gaustad	3	1	1	2	-3	6
F	Taylor Pyatt	4	0	2	2	-1	0
F	* Marek Zagrapan	1	1	0	1	1	0
D	* Denis Denisov	1	0	1	1	2	0
F	* Jiri Novotny	1	0	1	1	-1	2
F	* Chris Thorburn	2	0	1	1	1	4
F	Adam Mair	3	1	0	1	-2	6
F	Mike Grier	4	1	0	1	0	0
D	Henrik Tallinder	4	0	1	1	1	0
D	* Denis Ezhov	1	0	0	0	2	0
D	* Slava Buravchikov	1	0	0	0	2	0
D	* Mike Card	1	0	0	0	1	0
F	* Patrick Kaleta	1	0	0	0	1	0
F	* Dylan Hunter	1	0	0	0	1	0
D	* Andrej Sekera	1	0	0	0	1	0
F	* Sean McMorrow	1	0	0	0	0	4
F	* Maxim Sheviev	1	0	0	0	0	4
D	* Calle Aslund	1	0	0	0	0	0
D	David Cullen	1	0	0	0	0	0
D	Brandon Smith	1	0	0	0	0	0
D	Sylvain Dufresne	1	0	0	0	0	0
F	* Jakub Hulva	1	0	0	0	0	0
D	* Michael Funk	1	0	0	0	0	0
F	* Phillip Gogulla	1	0	0	0	0	0
F	* Artem Kryukov	1	0	0	0	0	0
F	* Vasily Bizyaev	1	0	0	0	0	0
G	Michael Leighton	1	0	0	0	0	0
D	* Marc-Andre Gragnani	1	0	0	0	-1	0
F	* Marec Dubec	1	0	0	0	-1	0
F	* Michael Ryan	1	0	0	0	-1	0
F	* Branislav Fabry	1	0	0	0	-1	0
F	* Michal Vondrka	1	0	0	0	-1	0
F	Chris Taylor	2	0	0	0	0	2
D	Doug Janik	2	0	0	0	0	0
G	Mika Noronen	2	0	0	0	0	0
F	* Mark Mancari	2	0	0	0	0	0
G	Martin Biron	2	0	0	0	0	0
D	* Nathan Paetsch	2	0	0	0	-3	2
G	* Ryan Miller	3	0	0	0	0	0
D	Rory Fitzpatrick	3	0	0	0	0	0
F	Andrew Peters	3	0	0	0	-2	0
GOALTENDING
P	PLAYER	GP	W	L	T	GAA	S%
G	Martin Biron	2	2	0	0	1.00	0.950
G	Mika Noronen	2	1	0	1	2.50	0.898
G	* Ryan Miller	3	2	1	0	3.35	0.900
G	Michael Leighton	1	0	1	0	6.00	0.838

[NoSkillz]

Sabres Make Final Roster Cuts; Prepare for Season Opener

Buffalo News
September 30 2005 (Buffalo, NY) -
The Buffalo Sabres announced that the following players have been sent to their AHL affiliate in Rochester:

• Paul Gaustad
• Andrew Peters
• Derek Roy

The club also announced that they have placed goaltender Michael Leighton and center Chris Taylor on waivers, with the intention of sending them to the farm team in Rochester.

These moves get the Sabres down to 23 players.

"Derek and Paul had very good camps but we really only had one spot up for grabs at the pivot position", indicated Sabres GM Matt Bosela. "Timmy (Connolly) had a phenomenal camp and earned the right to center our third line this year."

"I expect to see both Derek and Paul get a chance sooner, rather than later with our club."

The Sabres still have three goaltenders on the roster in Martin Biron, Ryan Miller and Mika Noronen. Bosela tantalizingly says "it's a situation we've been trying to rectify for quite sometime now but it looks as if we're getting close to making an announcement in that regard."

Bosela wouldn't comment on who was going to start in net on opening night.

Here are the 23 players currently on the Sabres roster (* denotes rookie):

GOALTENDERS (3) -
Martin Biron, *Ryan Miller, Mika Noronen

DEFENSEMEN (8) -
Brian Campbell, Rory Fitzpatrick, Jeff Jillson, Dmitri Kalinin, Toni Lydman, Jay McKee, Teppo Numminen, Henrik Tallinder

FORWARDS (12) -
Maxim Afinogenov, Daniel Briere, Tim Connolly, Chris Drury, J.P. Dumont, Mike Grier, Jochen Hecht, Ales Kotalik, Adam Mair, *Jason Pominville, Taylor Pyatt, *Thomas Vanek

[NoSkillz]

2005-2006 Eastern Conference Preview

By Mike Brophy
Martin Brodeur's New Jersey Devils will continue to foil the opposition in the new season, while Philadelphia will challenge with it's many new faces. The Washington Capitals will have a tough season but at least their fans will be able to see future superstar Alexander Ovechkin in action.

Here's how we see the Eastern Conference shaping up:

[NoSkillz]

2005-2006 Western Conference Preview

By Mike Brophy
Even without Dominik Hasek, the Detroit Red Wings will prove to be the class of the new NHL, with young stars like Pavel Datsyuk and veterans like Steve Yzerman, Niklas Lidstrom and Brendan Shanahan leading the way. Vancouver and Calgary will be the main challengers while St. Louis, Columbus and Minnesota will struggle this year.

Here's how the West will unfold:

[NoSkillz]

Top 10 Players By Position

By Mike Brophy
Goalie Martin Brodeur, defenseman Chris Pronger, left winger Markus Naslund, center Mario Lemieux and right winger Jaromir Jagr. These stars are not merely great players; the Hockey News believes they'll be the best at their positions in 2005-06.

Our annual Top 10 player rankings consider players' achievements over their careers and their play in recent seasons to help predict how they'll perform this year.

[Narkissos]

Lovely. Just lovely.
Great work, Matt!

[NoSkillz]

Sabres Pull Trigger on Goaltender Trade

Buffalo News
October 2 2005 (Buffalo, NY) -
The Buffalo Sabres announced that they have traded goaltender Mika Noronen and an unsigned prospect, defenseman Denis Ezhov to the Phoenix Coyotes for their 2nd and 6th round picks in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

GM Matt Bosela expressed some disappointment with the move but insisted it was necessary. "Going into the season with three goaltenders was just not an option for us. We could have sent Ryan (Miller) down to the minors but he's pretty much accomplished everything possible there already and he needs to play in the NHL to continue his development."

"Mika was a true professional in every sense of the word and will be missed by everyone in the organization."

Noronen was a first round pick (#21) back in 1997 and leaves the Sabres with a 21-29-6 record over his 63 career games, posting a 2.55 goals against average. He also notched 6 career shutouts.

Ezhov, chosen by the Sabres in the 4th round (#114) of the 2003 Entry Draft, participated in his first big league camp this year but hasn't played an official NHL game as of yet.

Bosela also announced that both Chris Taylor and Michael Leighton have cleared waivers and have been sent to the team's affiliate in Rochester.

In one other move, forward Andrew Peters was recalled from the Americans and will rejoin the Sabres for practice tomorrow morning in preparation for tomorrow's opening night matchup with the Boston Bruins. Game time at HSBC Arena is 7:00pm.

[NoSkillz]

GAME DAY PREVIEW
Boston Bruins at Buffalo Sabres
October 3, 2005
HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY
Season Series:	First Game in 05/06
Last Meeting:	March 13, 2004 in Boston
	Boston wins 3-2, with Mike Knuble scoring game winner
	Boston	Buffalo
Overall Record:	0-0-0 0 pts	0-0-0 0 pts
Standings:	1st Eastern Conference	1st Eastern Conference
Last 10 Games:	0-0-0	0-0-0
Powerplay:	-	-
Penalty Killing:	-	-
Goal Leader:	-	-
Assist Leader:	-	-
Point Leader:	-	-
Penalty Minute Leader:	-	-
Goaltenders:	A. Raycroft (0-0-0 0.00gaa)	R. Miller (0-0-0 0.00gaa)
	H. Toivonen (0-0-0 0.00gaa)	M. Biron (0-0-0 0.00gaa)
Who's Hot:	-	-
Who's Not:	-	-
Injuries:	A. Zhamnov (shoulder)	None

[NoSkillz]

Sabres Drop Opener in NHL's First Official Shootout

Buffalo News
October 4, 2005 (Buffalo, NY) -
Sabres forward Ales Kotalik was foiled by Boston goaltender Andrew Raycroft in the fifth round of the NHL's first ever shootout, giving the Bruins a 5-4 opening night win last night in front of an energetic crowd at HSBC Arena.

The shootout began promisingly for the Sabres, as both Daniel Briere and rookie Thomas Vanek scored. However, Bruins forwards Sergei Samsonov and Joe Thornton also scored, making it 2-2. The Sabres had a chance to end it after Brad Isbister missed on the third penalty shot but Maxim Afinogenov couldn't put the winner away. Glen Murray started the sudden death portion of the shootout with a goal but was matched by a beauty from Tim Connolly to send the event to the fifth round, where Brad Boyes eventually gave the Bruins the win.

The Sabres still get a point for the shootout loss.

J.P. Dumont had two goals and an assist in the game, with Briere contributing a goal and two assists. Tim Connolly (2a) also had a multipoint game. Thomas Vanek scored his first NHL goal midway through the second period.

Samsonov, Nathan Robinson (first NHL goal), Travis Green and Tom Fitzgerald scored for Boston. Thornton had two assists in the game as well.

Ryan Miller got the start in goal for the Sabres and was merely average, stopping 26 of 30 shots. Raycroft was much busier for the Bruins, getting peppered with 42 shots overall.

"That (the shootout) is a tough way to lose a game", Lindy Ruff would say after the game. "I thought we outplayed them from the outset but you have to give them credit for coming back late in the game to tie."

"The Bruins will be a tough team this year."

The Sabres are back in action on Thursday in a game versus the Maple Leafs in Toronto. Game time at Air Canada Centre is 7:30pm.

FINAL	1	2	3	OT/SO	TOTAL
Boston	1	2	1	1	5
Buffalo	1	2	1	0	4
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING
1. Boston - S. Samsonov 1 (G. Murray, J. Thornton), 6:25
2. Buffalo - J. Dumont 1 (T. Connolly, D. Kalinin), 17:49 (PP)
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING
3. Boston - N. Robinson 1 (A. Alberts), 4:34
4. Buffalo - T. Vanek 1 (D. Briere, J. Dumont), 7:46
5. Buffalo - D. Briere 1 (T. Connolly), 14:01 (PP)
6. Boston - T. Green 1 (P. Bergeron, S. McEachern), 19:01
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING
7. Buffalo - J. Dumont 2 (D. Briere, T. Numminen), 11:09
8. Boston - T. Fitzgerald 1 (J. Thornton), 18:56
OVERTIME
SCORING
None
SHOOTOUT
Boston - S. Samsonov (goal)
Buffalo - D. Briere (goal)
Boston - J. Thornton (goal)
Buffalo - T. Vanek (goal)
Boston - B. Isbiter (missed)
Buffalo - M. Afinogenov (missed)
Boston - G. Murray (goal)
Buffalo - T. Connolly (goal)
Boston - B. Boyes (goal)
Buffalo - A. Kotalik (missed)
GAME INFORMATION
SHOTS ON GOAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Boston	8	8	11	3	30
Buffalo	13	14	9	5	42
GOALTENDING
Boston	A. Raycroft (W: 1-0-0)
Buffalo	R. Miller (SOL: 0-0-1)
POWERPLAYS		THREE STARS
Boston	0 - 1	1. D. Briere (BUF) 1g 2a +1
Buffalo	2 - 6	2. J. Dumont (BUF) 2g 1a
ATTENDANCE	18473	3. T. Fitzgerald (BOS) 1g

[Johnny93g]

no whining about the reffing from the Bruins?

[NoSkillz]

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

no whining about the reffering from the Bruins?

Haha. I assume you're referring to the powerplay advantage the Sabres had.

Let's just say if they had actually lost, I'm sure something would be coming out from them, even in this virtual world!

[NoSkillz]

Fitzpatrick Traded to Sharks

Buffalo News
October 5 2005 (Buffalo, NY) -
Buffalo Sabres GM Matt Bosela announced yesterday that defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick has been traded to the San Jose Sharks for a 3rd round pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

"Rory is a guy who fell victim to the numbers game here in Buffalo", Bosela said. "It's not a good situation for Rory, nor is it good for the rest of the team when you have eight capable blueliners on the roster at the same time. This move will allow Rory to get some much deserved playing time and also will allow our current defensemen to free up their games a bit, knowing they aren't going to be yanked out of the lineup for one little mistake."

Fitzpatrick signed as a free agent with Buffalo in August 2001 and logged plenty of miles travelling back and forth from Rochester. However, he found some consistent playing time with the Sabres in 2003/04, spending the whole year in Buffalo and participating in 60 games and logging career highs in every statistical category with four goals and seven assists.

Fitzpatrick leaves the Sabres having played in 154 career NHL games, with 5 goals and 13 assists.

[NoSkillz]

GAME DAY PREVIEW
Buffalo Sabres at Toronto Maple Leafs
October 6, 2005
Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
Season Series:	First Game in 05/06
Last Meeting:	April 2, 2004 in Buffalo
	Toronto wins 2-0, with Chad Kilger scoring the winning goal and Ed
	Belfour notching the shutout.
	Buffalo	Toronto
Overall Record:	0-0-1 1 pt	0-1-0 0 pts
Standings:	9th Eastern Conference	T-13th Eastern Conference
Last 10 Games:	0-0-1	0-1-0
Powerplay:	33.3% (T-5th)	0% (T-19th)
Penalty Killing:	100% (T-1st)	66.7% (T-25th)
Goal Leader:	J. Dumont - 2	D. Tucker & E. Lindros - 1
Assist Leader:	D. Briere & T. Connolly - 2	Three Tied with 1
Point Leader:	J. Dumont & D. Briere - 3	Five Tied with 1
Penalty Minute Leader:	D. Kalinin - 2	K. Klee - 4
Goaltenders:	R. Miller (0-0-1 3.69gaa .871)	E. Belfour (0-1-0 4.07gaa .862)
	M. Biron (0-0-0 0.00gaa)	M. Tellqvist (0-0-0 0.00gaa)
Who's Hot:	-	-
Who's Not:	-	-
Injuries:	None	None

[NoSkillz]

Biron Delivers Shutout in Victory over Maple Leafs

Buffalo News
October 7 2005 (Toronto, ON) -
It wasn't quite as dominating as the 12-1 preseason debacle but the Sabres will certainly take the 3-0 shutout victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in last night's game at Air Canada Centre.

Martin Biron was spectacular in his first start of the season, turning away all 34 Toronto shots in the win.

"I really saw the puck well out there tonight", Biron said after the game. "Things were happening fast but my concentration seemed to be there and my defensemen were doing a great job clearing the rebounds. There weren't many second chance opportunities out there, thankfully."

Adam Mair led the way offensively and physically, scoring two goals against his former team and picking up 17 minutes in penalties on the night, including a huge win in a fight against Toronto's Wade Belak.

"Well, that stuff happens I guess", Mair would say. "We were up pretty convincingly early and the guy (Belak) wanted to get his team fired up. Too bad for him, because I was pretty pumped up already with the two goals. That's the first time I've scored two in a game since juniors."

Chris Drury scored the other Buffalo goal. Mike Grier notched two assists in the contest as well.

Ed Belfour manned the cage for Toronto and made 31 saves in the contest. The Leafs lost defenseman Alexander Khavanov in the third period, as he appeared to injure his leg.

Buffalo's next game is at home on Saturday October 8th against the Los Angeles Kings. Game time is 7:00pm.

FINAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Buffalo	2	1	0		3
Toronto	0	0	0		0
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING
1. Buffalo - C. Drury 1 (M. Afinogenov, J. Hecht), 8:11 (PP)
2. Buffalo - A. Mair 1 (M. Grier, T. Pyatt), 13:07
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING
3. Buffalo - A. Mair 2 (M. Grier, D. Kalinin), 1:01
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING
None
GAME INFORMATION
SHOTS ON GOAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Buffalo	14	11	9		34
Toronto	5	13	16		34
GOALTENDING
Buffalo	M. Biron (W: 1-0-0)
Toronto	E. Belfour (L: 0-2-0)
POWERPLAYS		THREE STARS
Buffalo	1 - 4	1. M. Biron (BUF) 34sa shutout
Toronto	0 - 5	2. C. Drury (BUF) 1g
ATTENDANCE	19500	3. A. Mair (BUF) 2g +2

[NoSkillz]

GAME DAY PREVIEW
Los Angeles Kings at Buffalo Sabres
October 8, 2005
HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY
Season Series:	First Game in 05/06
Last Meeting:	February 13, 2004 in Buffalo
	Buffalo wins 8-3, chasing Roman Cechmanek from the contest; Martin
	Biron manned the cage for Buffalo and Rory Fitzpatrick scored the GWG.
	Los Angeles	Buffalo
Overall Record:	0-2-0 0 pts	1-0-1 3 pts
Standings:	T-13th Western Conference	T-7th Eastern Conference
Last 10 Games:	0-2-0	1-0-1
Powerplay:	18.2% (14th)	30% (T-2nd)
Penalty Killing:	90.0% (T-11th)	100.0% (T-1st)
Goal Leader:	P. Demitra & T. Gleason - 1	J. Dumont & A. Mair - 2
Assist Leader:	Four Tied with 1	Four Tied with 2
Point Leader:	Six Tied with 1	J. Dumont & D. Briere - 3
Penalty Minute Leader:	J. Cowan - 7	A. Mair - 17
Goaltenders:	J. LaBarbera (0-1-0 4.00gaa .905)	M. Biron (1-0-0 0.00gaa 1.000)
	F. Potvin (0-1-0 4.00gaa .860)	R. Miller (0-0-1 3.69gaa .871)
Who's Hot:	-	-
Who's Not:	-	-
Injuries:	V. Bure (knee)	None

[NoSkillz]

Connolly Leads Sabres Past Kings

Buffalo News
October 9 2005 (Buffalo, NY) -
Tim Connolly is finally starting to show Buffalo fans what all the fuss was about when he came over in the Michael Peca trade a few years ago.

Connolly notched his first ever two-goal game in the NHL and added an assist in a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings last night at HSBC Arena. Jason Pominville scored his first career National Hockey League goal for the Sabres, who also received goals from Maxim Afinogenov and Ales Kotalik. Afinogenov added an assist in a multipoint effort.

Jeremy Roenick and Luc Robitaille scored for Los Angeles.

"It's been a long time since I remember having the confidence I do know", stated Connolly after the game. "I had a terrible year, obviously, in 2002-03 and then got the concussion in the preseason in September 2003 that kept me out the whole year. Doubt sets in but the concussion worries are finally behind me. I worked out really hard in the offseason and have really made an effort to round out my game defensively as well."

"Coach (Lindy Ruff) is showing faith in me by giving me minutes on the penalty kill and it seems to be having a positive effect on me."

Ruff can't say enough positive things about Connolly. "To be honest, he was a huge question mark at the beginning of camp. He hadn't played NHL hockey in over two years and was really slumping when he last played. He showed up in phenomenal shape and really seems to grasp the idea that to be effective in this league, you have to be willing to go do the work at both ends of the ice."

"The transformation is almost incredible. He's been one of our best players right since the start of camp on the defensive side and is obviously still producing on offense as well."

The game saw an ugly incident mid-way through the second period, when Roenick caught Taylor Pyatt coming up the middle with a knee-on-knee hit. Pyatt was slow to get up but would recover. Roenick was assessed a five minute major and a game misconduct.

"It was a bulls&%t call", the ever outspoken Roenick indicated after the game. "I was pretty much standing still and the kid (Pyatt) collided with me."

"It's par for the course though. These guys (referees) have always been out to get me. It's really a f*&#ing disgrace."

The Sabres were unable to take advantage on the major penalty and had to rely on their goaltender to keep the Kings at bay. Martin Biron was solid in the Buffalo nets once again turning aside 24 of 26 shots. Felix Potvin played goal for Los Angeles, making 36 saves.

Henrik Tallinder and Andrew Peters were each scratched for the third time this year.

Buffalo next takes the ice in Atlanta on Tuesday October 11th to face Ilya Kovalchuk and the Thrashers. Game time will be 7:30pm.

FINAL	1	2	3	OT/SO	TOTAL
Los Angeles	1	1	0		2
Buffalo	2	0	3		5
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING
1. Buffalo - T. Connolly 1 (T. Vanek), 2:31 (PP)
2. Los Angeles - J. Roenick 1 (A. Frolov, P. Demitra), 3:42
3. Buffalo - J. Pominville 1 (J. Jillson), 4:18
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING
4. Los Angeles - L. Robitaille 1 (L. Visnovsky, C. Conroy), 19:11 (PP)
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING
5. Buffalo - T. Connolly 2 (J. Dumont, D. Briere), 12:14 (PP)
6. Buffalo - M. Afinogenov 1 (T. Connolly, D. Kalinin), 16:02
7. Buffalo - A. Kotalik 1 (C. Drury, M. Afinogenov), 17:35 (PP)
GAME INFORMATION
SHOTS ON GOAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Los Angeles	9	9	8		26
Buffalo	12	11	18		41
GOALTENDING
Los Angeles	F. Potvin (L: 0-2-0)
Buffalo	M. Biron (W: 2-0-0)
POWERPLAYS		THREE STARS
Los Angeles	1 - 5	1. T. Connolly (BUF) 2g 1a +1
Buffalo	3 - 8	2. A. Kotalik (BUF) 1g
ATTENDANCE	18268	3. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 1g 1a +1

[NoSkillz]

Sabres Sign Dylan Hunter; Other Prospect News

Buffalo News
October 11 2005 (Buffalo, NY) -
Buffalo Sabres GM Matt Bosela announced last night that the team has signed former London Knights standout Dylan Hunter to a three-year entry level deal. As per club policy, contract details were not released.

"We're very happy to have this young man under contract with our organization", Bosela enthused. "Dylan absolutely exploded last year in London and we look forward to watching him develop his game in the professional ranks."

Hunter was surprisingly cut from the Knights roster just before the season was to begin by his father, former NHL standout Dale Hunter, who runs the Knights organization. Dylan scored 31 goals and added 73 assists for 104 points last year in London and rocketed up the Sabres depth chart with his performance.

Hunter was assigned to the Rochester Americans last night.

In other news, two of Buffalo's top prospects were hurt in separate on-ice incidents. Marek Zagrapan, Buffalo's first round pick in this past year's draft, suffered a broken finger in a recent Chicoutimi game. Zagrapan was off to a tremendous start this season, winning Player of the Week honors in week one and compiling 13 points (6g 7a) in only 5 games. Zagrapan will likely miss two weeks with the injury.

His training camp linemate Patrick Kaleta was seriously injured in a recent Peterborough game. Kaleta, who was slumping quite badly at the start of the OHL season, partially tore his ACL in a 5-1 Petes victory over Oshawa. Kaleta will likely miss at least three months.

[NoSkillz]

GAME DAY PREVIEW
Buffalo Sabres at Atlanta Thrashers
October 11, 2005
Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
Season Series:	First Game in 05/06
Last Meeting:	March 17, 2004 in Atlanta
	Buffalo wins 4-3, with Derek Roy scoring the winning goal
	Buffalo	Atlanta
Overall Record:	2-0-1 5 pts	1-1-1 3 pts
Standings:	T-5th Eastern Conference	9th Eastern Conference
Last 10 Games:	2-0-1	1-1-1
Powerplay:	33.3% (1st)	17.6% (14th)
Penalty Killing:	90.9% (T-7th)	76.5% (25th)
Goal Leader:	Three Tied with 2	Three Tied with 2
Assist Leader:	Three Tied with 3	J. Modry - 4
Point Leader:	T. Connolly - 5	J. Modry - 5
Penalty Minute Leader:	A. Mair - 19	P. Bondra - 8
Goaltenders:	M. Biron (2-0-0 1.00gaa .967)	M. Dunham (1-1-1 3.24gaa .907)
	R. Miller (0-0-1 3.69gaa .871)	K. Lehtonen (0-0-0 0.00gaa)
Who's Hot:	-	-
Who's Not:	-	-
Injuries:	None	S. Hnidy (shoulder)

[NoSkillz]

Bondra and Stefan Too Much for Sabres

Buffalo News
October 12 2005 (Atlanta, GA) -
Peter Bondra and Patrick Stefan each scored a pair of goals to lead the Atlanta Thrashers past the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Jason Pominville scored twice for the Sabres and Thomas Vanek added a single marker. Ales Kotalik contributed a pair of assists in the loss. Greg de Vries contributed two assists for the Thrashers to join Bondra and Stefan with multipoint games.

Buffalo was able to take control of the game in the second period, outshooting the Thrashers by a 19 to 4 margin while taking a 2-1 lead on the scoreboard. Atlanta would come out firing in the third, however, with Stefan scoring twice and Bondra scoring from a bad angle to take a two goal lead. Pominville's second with about four minutes remaining gave the Sabres hope but Atlanta poured on the pressure late, not allowing the Sabres to pull goaltender Martin Biron for the extra attacker.

"We got a lot of shots off but most were from the perimeter as opposed to getting in close", coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. "We'll have to do a better job of getting traffic to the front of the net to take advantage of the rebounds."

Mike Dunham turned away 37 of 40 shots to earn the victory, while Biron was a bit shaky for the first time this season, stopping 31 of 35 Thrasher shots.

Henrik Tallinder and Andrew Peters were scratched for the Sabres.

The Sabres will travel back to Buffalo in preparation for Thursday night's tilt with the St. Louis Blues. Game time is 7:00pm at HSBC Arena.

FINAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Buffalo	0	2	1		3
Atlanta	1	0	3		4
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING
1. Atlanta - P. Bondra 3 (A. Sutton, G. de Vries), 11:28
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING
2. Buffalo - T. Vanek 2 (B. Campbell, D. Briere), 10:21
3. Buffalo - J. Pominville 2 (C. Drury, A. Kotalik), 13:25
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING
4. Atlanta - P. Stefan 2 (M. Savard, M. Hossa), 1:25
5. Atlanta - P. Stefan 3 (G. de Vries), 6:37
6. Atlanta - P. Bondra 4 (I. Kovalchuk, K. Dallman), 9:51
7. Buffalo - J. Pominville 3 (A. Kotalik, T. Lydman), 16:59
GAME INFORMATION
SHOTS ON GOAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Buffalo	11	19	10		40
Atlanta	15	4	16		35
GOALTENDING
Buffalo	M. Biron (L: 2-1-0)
Atlanta	M. Dunham (W: 2-1-1)
POWERPLAYS		THREE STARS
Buffalo	0 - 3	1. P. Bondra (ATL) 2g
Atlanta	0 - 5	2. P. Stefan (ATL) 2g +1
ATTENDANCE	15516	3. G. de Vries (ATL) 2a +1

[NoSkillz]

GAME DAY PREVIEW
St. Louis Blues at Buffalo Sabres
October 13, 2005
HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY
Season Series:	First Game in 05/06
Last Meeting:	March 7, 2004 in Buffalo
	St. Louis wins 5-1, with Petr Cajanek scoring the winner past the
	beleaguered Martin Biron
	St. Louis	Buffalo
Overall Record:	1-1-1 3 pts	2-1-1 5 pts
Standings:	T-11th Western Conference	T-6th Eastern Conference
Last 10 Games:	1-1-0	2-1-1
Powerplay:	15.8% (T-15th)	28.6% (2nd)
Penalty Killing:	95.0% (1st)	93.8% (2nd)
Goal Leader:	Six Tied with 1	J. Pominville - 3
Assist Leader:	E. Weinrich & M. Sillinger - 2	D. Briere - 4
Point Leader:	Three Tied with 2	D. Briere & T. Connolly - 5
Penalty Minute Leader:	D. Lynch and B. Salvador - 14	A. Mair - 21
Goaltenders:	P. Lalime (1-1-1 1.95gaa .929)	M. Biron (2-1-0 2.00gaa .937)
	R. Tugnutt (0-0-0 0.00gaa)	R. Miller (0-0-1 3.69gaa .871)
Who's Hot:	-	-
Who's Not:	-	-
Injuries:	E. Boguniecki (shoulder)	None

[Narkissos]

Oh, boy. I pity the next EHM story poster.

[NoSkillz]

'Soupy' Finally Getting Chance to Shine; Leads Sabres to Victory

Buffalo News
October 14, 2005 (Buffalo, NY) -
Brian Campbell has spent the last number of years wondering if he'd be in the lineup on a game-by-game basis. Always the odd man out, Campbell continues to make a case for more playing time, contributing his first goal of the season and adding an assist in a convincing 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues at HSBC Arena last night.

Maxim Afinogenov, Jochen Hecht, Daniel Briere and Thomas Vanek also scored for the Sabres. Afinogenov, Briere and Vanek all added an assist as well to join Campbell with multipoint games.

St. Louis captain Dallas Drake was the only player to beat Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller.

Campbell says the big game won't go to his head. "I have to keep working hard to stay in the lineup", he said. "I'm smaller than most guys so I have to use my speed and play well positionally to be effective. It certainly doesn't hurt when I put some points on the board too!"

Miller wasn't overly busy in the Sabres net but was solid when called upon, turning away 23 St. Louis shots. Patrick Lalime was much busier, as the Sabres pelted him with 44 shots on the night.

"They capitalized on their powerplay tonight", Lalime pointed out. "The new rules emphasize special teams more than ever and we didn't do a good enough job limiting their chances. But they have a great powerplay, certainly one of the best in the league from the stats and it came through for them tonight."

Henrik Tallinder saw his first action of the year and was very solid. Jeff Jillson and Andrew Peters were scratched for the Sabres.

Other Sabres Notes -
Goaltending prospect Adam Dennis was signed to a three-year entry deal by the club last evening. Contract terms, as usual, were not announced. General Manager Matt Bosela indicated that the club was attempting to find a place for Dennis to play, as their affiliates in Rochester and Bossier-Shreveport already are set at the goaltender position.

Bosela also went on to say there are a few other players not getting enough ice time in Rochester, due to the shared affiliation agreement in place with the Florida Panthers. Therefore, the Sabres are exploring other alternatives, including the possibility of loaning a few of the prospects to other teams in order to get them valuable playing time.

FINAL	1	2	3	OT/SO	TOTAL
St. Louis	1	0	0		1
Buffalo	2	2	1		5
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING
1. Buffalo - M. Afinogenov 2 (A. Kotalik), 6:27 (PP)
2. St. Louis Blues - D. Drake 1 (E. Brewer, K. Tkachuk), 8:52 (PP)
3. Buffalo - B. Campbell 1 (J. Pominville, C. Drury), 18:04 (PP)
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING
4. Buffalo - J. Hecht 1 (M. Afinogenov, B. Campbell), 5:15
5. Buffalo - D. Briere 2 (T. Vanek), 18:24
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING
6. Buffalo - T. Vanek 3 (D. Briere), 8:34 (PP)
GAME INFORMATION
SHOTS ON GOAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
St. Louis	8	8	8		24
Buffalo	16	16	12		44
GOALTENDING
St. Louis	P. Lalime (L: 1-2-1)
Buffalo	R. Miller (W: 1-0-1)
POWERPLAYS		THREE STARS
St. Louis	1 - 6	1. B. Campbell (BUF) 1g 1a +2
Buffalo	3 - 6	2. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 1g 1a +1
ATTENDANCE	17753	3. T. Vanek (BUF) 1g 1a +1

[DeToxRox]

this is seriously too good, lol.

You're killing every other dynasty. Ever.

[Izulde]

*buys a Pominville jersey*

Even though I'm a Predators fan

[NoSkillz]

Originally Posted by Izulde

*buys a Pominville jersey*

Even though I'm a Predators fan

Awesome!

[NoSkillz]

GAME DAY PREVIEW
Buffalo Sabres at Minnesota Wild
October 16, 2005
Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Season Series:	First Game in 05/06
Last Meeting:	December 13, 2003 in Minnesota
	Minnesota wins 3-2, with Jim Dowd scoring the winner past Mika Noronen
	Buffalo	Minnesota
Overall Record:	3-1-1 7 pts	1-5-0 2 pts
Standings:	T-5th Eastern Conference	15th Western Conference
Last 10 Games:	3-1-1	1-5-0
Powerplay:	33.3% (1st)	10.7% (24th)
Penalty Killing:	90.9% (T-3rd)	84.4% (12th)
Goal Leader:	J. Pominville & T. Vanek - 3	M. Gaborik - 2
Assist Leader:	D. Briere - 5	M. Chouinard & F. Kuba - 3
Point Leader:	D. Briere - 7	F. Kuba - 4
Penalty Minute Leader:	A. Mair - 21	D. Boogaard - 24
Goaltenders:	M. Biron (2-1-0 2.00gaa .937)	M. Fernandez (1-4-0 3.23gaa .907)
	R. Miller (1-0-1 2.40gaa .909)	B. Boucher (0-1-0 2.07gaa .939)
Who's Hot:	D. Briere (2g 5a in last 5)	No One
Who's Not:	J. Jillson (1a & -4 in last 4)	P. O'Sullivan (0pts -4 in last 5)
Injuries:	None	None

[NoSkillz]

Minnesota's Rolston Carves Up Sabres

Buffalo News
October 17 2005 (St. Paul, MN) -
Minnesota forward Brian Rolston (pictured at left) scored on a brilliant individual rush, deking through three Buffalo defenders to put his team into a lead they wouldn't surrender, eventually prevailing 5-3.

Randy Robitaille scored twice for the Wild, including one into an empty net, with Filip Kuba and Kyle Wanvig scoring the other Minnesota goals. Ales Kotalik (pictured bottom right) scored twice for Buffalo and linemate Jason Pominville added a single marker. Kotalik (2g 1a) and Chris Drury (3a) both had three point nights go to waste.

With the game tied at three, Rolston took the puck at center ice, sped past two Sabres forwards, put a move on a startled Dmitri Kalinin and then ripped a wrist shot past goaltender Ryan Miller to take the 4-3 lead.

"The club has struggled quite a bit so far so we really needed the win tonight", Rolston said. "The goal is nice but I'm just happy to get the two points."

Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff was very dissatisfied with his club's effort. "We never really got into a groove tonight. Our legs seemed tired and with the exception of the Drury, Kotalik, Pominville line, I didn't see much effort out there."

Ruff would conclude that "changes may have to be made if the guys don't start competing."

Brian Boucher made his second start for the Wild since being picked up in a trade from Phoenix a week ago and turned away 27 of 30 Sabres shots. Miller was not sharp, allowing 4 goals on 25 shots.

The Sabres will continue their three game road trip in Vancouver on Tuesday night. Game time will be 10:00pm EST.

FINAL	1	2	3	OT/SO	TOTAL
Buffalo	2	1	0		3
Minnesota	2	1	2		5
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING
1. Minnesota - F. Kuba 2 (B. Rolston, P. Bouchard), 4:40 (PP)
2. Buffalo - A. Kotalik 2 (C. Drury, T. Numminen), 5:31
3. Buffalo - A. Kotalik 3 (C. Drury, T. Lydman), 10:02
4. Minnesota - K. Wanvig 2 (P. O'Sullivan, D. Boogaard), 10:47
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING
5. Buffalo - J. Pominville 4 (A. Kotalik, C. Drury), 4:23
6. Minnesota - R. Robitaille 1 (P. Dupuis, W. Walz), 7:04
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING
7. Minnesota - B. Rolston 2 (N. Schultz), 13:54
8. Minnesota - R. Robitaille 2 (W. Walz, P. Dupuis), 19:46 (EN)
GAME INFORMATION
SHOTS ON GOAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Buffalo	13	6	11		30
Minnesota	13	7	5		25
GOALTENDING
Buffalo	R. Miller (L: 1-1-1)
Minnesota	B. Boucher (W: 1-1-0)
POWERPLAYS		THREE STARS
Buffalo	0 - 3	1. C. Drury (BUF) 3a +1
Minnesota	1 - 3	2. A. Kotalik (BUF) 2g 1a +1
ATTENDANCE	18600	3. B. Rolston (MIN) 1g 1a +1

[NoSkillz]

GAME DAY PREVIEW
Buffalo Sabres at Vancouver Canucks
October 18, 2005
General Motors Place, Vancouver, BC
Season Series:	First Game in 05/06
Last Meeting:	October 20, 2003 in Vancouver
	Vancouver wins 6-1, chasing Martin Biron from the cage in favor of Mika
	Noronen; Trevor Linden scores the game winner
	Buffalo	Vancouver
Overall Record:	3-2-1 7 pts	5-1-0 10 pts
Standings:	T-7th Eastern Conference	1st Western Conference
Last 10 Games:	3-2-1	5-1-0
Powerplay:	30.0% (1st)	19.4% (12th)
Penalty Killing:	88.0% (5th)	89.3% (3rd)
Goal Leader:	J. Pominville - 4	T. Bertuzzi - 4
Assist Leader:	C. Drury - 6	M. Naslund - 8
Point Leader:	Three Tied with 7	M. Naslund - 11
Penalty Minute Leader:	A. Mair - 26	T. Bertuzzi - 12
Goaltenders:	M. Biron (2-1-0 2.00gaa .937)	D. Cloutier (3-1-1 1.78gaa .931)
	R. Miller (1-1-1 2.93gaa .886)	A. Auld (1-0-0 3.00gaa .893)
Who's Hot:	A. Kotalik (3g 4a +2 in last 5)	M. Naslund (1g 6a in last 5)
Who's Not:	J. Jillson (1a & -4 in last 4)	J. King (1a in last 5)
Injuries:	None	Tyler Bouck (rotator cuff)

[NoSkillz]

Unstoppable Powerplay Propels Canucks to Victory

Buffalo News
October 19 2005 (Vancouver, BC) -
Markus Naslund scored three times and the Canucks powerplay converted on four of five opportunities in a 7-2 destruction of the Buffalo Sabres last night at General Motors Place.

Todd Bertuzzi, Matt Cooke, Jason King and Sami Salo also scored for Vancouver. Naslund (3g 1a), Ed Jovanovski (3a), Bertuzzi (1g 1a) and Steve McCarthy (2a) all had multipoint games.

J.P. Dumont and Daniel Briere scored for Buffalo and each added an assist. Linemate Thomas Vanek assisted on both Buffalo goals.

The Sabres lost sniper Ales Kotalik late in the first period to an ACL sprain. Coach Lindy Ruff says the injury doesn't look to be too serious. "It's just a sprain, thankfully, so he should be back in a couple of weeks", Ruff indicated. "We were in the game until he got hurt so it shows how big a part he plays for this club. We looked lost after the lines were shifted around but really, it came down to poor penalty killing and poor goaltending."

"We'll be devoting more time to the penalty kill in practice and may change our personnel as well."

Martin Biron got chased from the game after allowing the fourth Vancouver goal. Ryan Miller wasn't much better, allowing a goal on the first shot he saw and three goals overall.

The defeat marks the first time the Sabres have lost two in a row all year. Things don't get any easier for the club, as they'll face the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.

Other Sabres Notes -
Chris Taylor, who had been playing in Rochester, has been fined and suspended by the Buffalo Sabres after he refused a loan assignment earlier this week.

"We need to get some of our prospects some playing time and it's proving to be difficult with our shared affiliation right now", pointed out Sabres GM Matt Bosela. "I wanted to ensure Chris got playing time as well and had a loan agreement arranged for that purpose. However, Chris refused and I have no choice but to suspend him for conduct detrimental to the organization."

Bosela went on to say that he's attempting to trade Taylor in an effort to free up room in Rochester.

In related news, two Sabres prospects did accept loan assignments. Both Jiri Novotny (C) and Adam Dennis (G) will be reporting to the Hamilton Bulldogs, rivals of the Americans in the AHL. "It will be something I'm monitoring on a daily basis", Bosela said. "We need those kids to get playing time and Hamilton has promised they will see the ice. If they don't, I'll bring them back and find someone else who will play them."

Neither player had seen game action for the Americans this year.

FINAL	1	2	3	OT/SO	TOTAL
Buffalo	1	1	0		2
Vancouver	1	5	1		7
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING
1. Buffalo - D. Briere 3 (T. Vanek, J. Dumont), 7:58 (PP)
2. Vancouver - T. Bertuzzi 5 (E. Jovanovski, M. Naslund), 14:50 (PP)
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING
3. Vancouver - M. Naslund 4 (T. Bertuzzi, E. Jovanovski), 6:50 (PP)
4. Buffalo - J. Dumont 3 (T. Vanek, D. Briere), 7:35
5. Vancouver - M. Cooke 3 (H. Sedin, S. McCarthy), 7:47
6. Vancouver - J. King 1 (R. Park, B. Allen), 9:24
7. Vancouver - S. Salo 1 (D. Sedin, S. McCarthy), 10:49 (PP)
8. Vancouver - M. Naslund 5 (unassisted), 14:33 (PP)
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING
9. Vancouver - M. Naslund 6 (E. Jovanovski), 9:26
GAME INFORMATION
SHOTS ON GOAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Buffalo	16	6	9		31
Vancouver	8	18	2		28
GOALTENDING
Buffalo	M. Biron (L: 2-2-0 11/15); R. Miller (10/13)
Vancouver	D. Cloutier (W: 4-1-1)
POWERPLAYS		THREE STARS
Buffalo	1 - 4	1. E. Jovanovski (VAN) 3a +1
Vancouver	4 - 5	2. M. Naslund (VAN) 3g 1a +1
ATTENDANCE	17780	3. T. Bertuzzi (VAN) 1g 1a +1

[NoSkillz]

GAME DAY PREVIEW
Buffalo Sabres at Colorado Avalanche
October 20, 2005
Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
Season Series:	First Game in 05/06
Last Meeting:	October 26, 2003 in Colorado
	Buffalo wins 3-1, with former Avalanche player Chris Drury potting the
	winner past Phillipe Sauve
	Buffalo	Colorado
Overall Record:	3-3-1 7 pts	5-2-0 10 pts
Standings:	T-7th Eastern Conference	T-4th Western Conference
Last 10 Games:	3-3-1	5-2-0
Powerplay:	29.4% (1st)	22.0% (10th)
Penalty Killing:	76.7% (26th)	83.8% (13th)
Goal Leader:	J. Pominville - 4	A. Tanguay - 6
Assist Leader:	D. Briere & C. Drury - 6	J. Sakic - 7
Point Leader:	D. Briere - 9	A. Tanguay - 12
Penalty Minute Leader:	A. Mair - 28	B. Boughner - 19
Goaltenders:	M. Biron (2-2-0 2.87gaa .909)	D. Aebischer (3-2-1 gaa 2.80 .892)
	R. Miller (1-1-1 3.36gaa .870)	V. Kolesnik (1-0-0 1.00gaa .950)
Who's Hot:	C. Drury (6a +3 in last 5)	R. Blake (1g 5a in last 5)
Who's Not:	R. Miller (3.50gaa in last 2)	D. Svagrovsky (0pts in last 5)
Injuries:	A. Kotalik (ACL)	M. Hejduk (shoulder)

[NoSkillz]

Sabres Swept on Road Trip; Lose to Avalanche

Buffalo News
October 20 2005 (Denver, CO) -
The Colorado Avalanche erupted for three goals in the first period and eased to a 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres last night in Denver. Alex Tanguay scored his seventh goal of the season in the win, with Patrice Brisebois (pictured), Pierre Turgeon and Dan Hinote also scoring for the Avalanche. Chris Drury was the only Sabre to beat David Aebischer on the night.

The Sabres gave up multiple odd-man rushes in the first period and looked completely outmatched early in the contest. The Avalanche would outshoot Buffalo 16 to 8 in the first period.

"It was easily our worst twenty minutes of the year", coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. "We were completely listless out there. Our defensive zone coverage was extremely poor and it's something we'll have to work on in practice this weekend."

Martin Biron was left on his own most of the night and fared about as well as could be expected, stopping 30 of 34 shots. Aebischer was excellent all night, turning away 25 of 26 from the Sabres.

Teppo Numminen suffered a thigh contusion late in the contest and will likely miss a few games.

Buffalo went 0-3 on the western road trip and returns home to face the Montreal Canadiens in the comfortable confines of HSBC Arena on Sunday night. Game time is 7:00pm.

Other Sabres Notes -
Chris Taylor had a change of heart and accepted his loan assignment. Taylor has been loaned to the Manitoba Moose and will join Jiri Novotny tomorrow night. Novotny, originally expected to play with Hamilton, instead will be playing with the Moose.

"Chris didn't want to uproot his family but understands that this is a business", GM Matt Bosela said. "Chris has been with this organization for a number of years and has always been a true professional. We're very happy he made this decison."

FINAL	1	2	3	OT/SO	TOTAL
Buffalo	0	1	0		1
Colorado	3	1	0		4
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING
1. Colorado - P. Brisebois 2 (J. Sakic), 8:10 (PP)
2. Colorado - D. Hinote 2 (J. Liles), 8:32
3. Colorado - P. Turgeon 2 (A. Brunette), 17:09
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING
4. Buffalo - C. Drury 2 (T. Lydman, M. Grier), 10:47
5. Colorado - A. Tanguay 7 (M. Svatos, R. Blake), 15:56
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING
None
GAME INFORMATION
SHOTS ON GOAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Buffalo	8	8	10		26
Colorado	16	4	14		34
GOALTENDING
Buffalo	M. Biron (L: 2-3-0)
Colorado	D. Aebischer (W: 4-2-1)
POWERPLAYS		THREE STARS
Buffalo	0 - 5	1. P. Brisebois (COL) 1g +1
Colorado	1 - 6	2. C. Drury (BUF) 1g -1
ATTENDANCE	18007	3. P. Turgeon (COL) 1g +1

[NoSkillz]

GAME DAY PREVIEW
Montreal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres
October 23, 2005
HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY
Season Series:	First Game in 05/06
Last Meeting:	April 3, 2004 in Montreal
	Montreal wins 6-3, ending the Sabres playoff hopes in the process
	Montreal	Buffalo
Overall Record:	4-3-1 9 pts	3-4-1 7 pts
Standings:	T-6th Eastern Conference	T-12th Eastern Conference
Last 10 Games:	4-3-1	3-4-1
Powerplay:	21.4% (T-7th)	25.6% (3rd)
Penalty Killing:	86.7% (9th)	77.8% (T-24th)
Goal Leader:	M. Ribeiro - 6	J. Pominville - 4
Assist Leader:	Four Tied with 4	D. Briere & C. Drury - 6
Point Leader:	R. Zednik - 9	D. Briere - 9
Penalty Minute Leader:	P. Stock - 25	A. Mair - 33
Goaltenders:	J. Theodore (3-3-1 2.52gaa .910)	M. Biron (2-3-0 3.12gaa .903)
	C. Huet (1-0-0 2.90gaa .906)	R. Miller (1-1-1 3.36gaa .870)
Who's Hot:	A. Kovalev (3g 3a in last 5)	C. Drury (1g 5a +2 in last 5)
Who's Not:	G. Latendresse (0pts in last 5)	T. Pyatt (0pts -2 in last 5)
Injuries:	S. Souray (shoulder)	A. Kotalik (ACL)
		T. Numminen (thigh)

[NoSkillz]

Sabres Recall Roy from Minors

Buffalo News
October 23 2005 (Buffalo, NY) -
Sabres GM Matt Bosela announced that Derek Roy has been recalled from Rochester and will dress tonight in the game against the Montreal Canadiens.

Roy (pictured) played four games with Rochester so far this year, scoring four goals and adding two assists and was a plus seven in those contests.

"Connolly is going to shift over to the left wing to make room for Derek, and we plan on reuniting him with Pominville tonight", indicated coach Lindy Ruff. "We need to shake things up a bit and I think this line will be dangerous tonight."

Teppo Numminen was placed on IR along with Ales Kotalik due to their injuries. Both players are eligible to come off injured reserve in seven days.

[NoSkillz]

Sabres Pull Out of Mini-Slump; Defeat Montreal

Buffalo News
October 23 2005 (Buffalo, NY) -
Rookie Thomas Vanek and linemate J.P. Dumont each scored once and added assists within a 21 second span early in the second period, leading Buffalo to a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens last night in front of a sellout crowd at HSBC Arena. The win ended a three game losing streak for the Sabres.

Jason Pominville also scored his team-leading fifth of the season, while Niklas Sundstrom notched the only goal for Montreal. Goaltending for both teams was excellent, as Martin Biron turned away 26 of 27 Canadiens shots while Jose Theodore stopped 38 of 41 shots fired his way by the Sabres.

"It was a much better defensive effort by the guys tonight", Lindy Ruff said after the game. "We have some injuries and the guys really pulled together and played a smart, focused game. There was a lot of effort and determination out there and that's great to see."

"We'll need the same type of effort back in Montreal on Tuesday night."

Andrew Peters was the only scratch for Buffalo on the night, as the team is only carrying 21 healthy players at the moment. Ales Kotalik and Teppo Numminen will both miss at least a week with their respective injuries.

The Sabres play the back end of a home-and-home series with Montreal on October 24th at the Bell Centre. Game time in Montreal is 7:30pm.

FINAL	1	2	3	OT/SO	TOTAL
Montreal	1	0	0		1
Buffalo	0	2	1		3
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING
1. Montreal - N. Sundstrom 2 (A. Kovalev, A. Markov), 19:13
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING
2. Buffalo - J. Dumont 4 (D. Briere, T. Vanek), 0:13
3. Buffalo - T. Vanek 4 (D. Kalinin, J. Dumont), 0:34
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING
4. Buffalo - J. Pominville 5 (M. Afinogenov, T. Connolly), 7:03 (PP)
GAME INFORMATION
SHOTS ON GOAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Montreal	9	7	11		27
Buffalo	16	15	10		41
GOALTENDING
Montreal	J. Theodore (L: 3-4-1)
Buffalo	M. Biron (W: 3-3-0)
POWERPLAYS		THREE STARS
Montreal	0 - 5	1. T. Vanek (BUF) 1g 1a +2
Buffalo	1 - 4	2. J. Dumont (BUF) 1g 1a +2
ATTENDANCE	18690	3. N. Sundstrom (MON) 1g +1

[NoSkillz]

GAME DAY PREVIEW
Buffalo Sabres at Montreal Canadiens
October 24, 2005
Bell Centre, Montreal, PQ
Season Series:	Buffalo leads 1-0-0
Last Meeting:	October 22, 2005 in Buffalo
	Buffalo wins 3-1, with Thomas Vanek and J.P. Dumont each notching
	a goal and an assist
	Buffalo	Montreal
Overall Record:	4-4-1 9 pts	4-4-1 9 pts
Standings:	T-7th Eastern Conference	T-7th Eastern Conference
Last 10 Games:	4-4-1	4-4-1
Powerplay:	25.6% (3rd)	19.1% (12th)
Penalty Killing:	80.5% (21st)	85.7% (T-10th)
Goal Leader:	J. Pominville - 5	M. Ribeiro - 6
Assist Leader:	D. Briere - 7	A. Kovalev - 5
Point Leader:	D. Briere - 10	A. Kovalev & R. Zednik - 9
Penalty Minute Leader:	A. Mair - 35	P. Stock - 25
Goaltenders:	M. Biron (3-3-0 2.74gaa .912)	J. Theodore (3-4-1 2.58gaa .913)
	R. Miller (1-1-1 3.36gaa .870)	C. Huet (1-0-0 2.90gaa .906)
Who's Hot:	C. Drury (1g 4a in last 5)	M. Ribeiro (4g in last 5)
Who's Not:	R. Miller (3.50gaa in last 2)	P. Stock (0pts -5 in last 5)
Injuries:	A. Kotalik (ACL)	S. Souray (shoulder)
	T. Numminen (thigh)

[NoSkillz]

Dumont Delivers in Homecoming

Buffalo News
October 25 2005 (Montreal, PQ) -
Every one of the 82 games on the Sabres schedule is meaningful. However, for guys like J.P. Dumont, Martin Biron and Daniel Briere, games played at the Bell Centre in Montreal are much more special.

The Montreal-born Dumont (pictured) scored once and added two assists in a 4-2 Buffalo win last night against the Canadiens. Gatineau, Quebec native Daniel Briere also scored in his homecoming, with Chris Drury and Brian Campbell contributing single markers as well. Dumont (1g 2a) and Tim Connolly (2a) notched multipoint games.

Lac St. Charles native Martin Biron was uniformly excellent, stopping 26 of 28 Montreal shots.

Andrei Markov and Mathieu Dandenault scored for Montreal. Jose Theodore once again got the start in goal for Montreal and saved 34 of 38 Buffalo shots.

"We went out there and played an excellent road game", coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. "Positionally, we were pretty good but still gave up a few too many odd-man rushes. It's something we'll have to work on in practice."

Ruff also lauded the efforts of the underappreciated fourth line. "Mairsy (Adam Mair), Grier and Pyatt were excellent all night and really set the tone with their physical play."

"We need that kind of effort and determination on the road"

Andrew Peters was once again scratched for the Sabres.

Teppo Numminen and Ales Kotalik both skated in pre-game practices. Ruff says that Numminen should be ready to go for the game against New Jersey on Thursday night while Kotalik will be kept out of contact drills in practice for a few more days while his ACL heals.

FINAL	1	2	3	OT/SO	TOTAL
Buffalo	2	1	1		4
Montreal	0	2	0		2
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING
1. Buffalo - C. Drury 3 (J. Dumont, T. Connolly), 2:31 (PP)
2. Buffalo - B. Campbell 2 (A. Mair), 16:48
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING
3. Montreal - A. Markov 1 (unassisted), 0:13
4. Montreal - M. Dandenault 1 (A. Markov, S. Koivu), 10:08 (PP)
5. Buffalo - D. Briere 4 (J. Dumont), 15:15
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING
6. Buffalo - J. Dumont 5 (D. Kalinin, T. Connolly), 1:04 (PP)
GAME INFORMATION
SHOTS ON GOAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Buffalo	16	9	13		38
Montreal	8	8	12		28
GOALTENDING
Buffalo	M. Biron (W: 4-3-0)
Montreal	J. Theodore (L: 3-5-1)
POWERPLAYS		THREE STARS
Buffalo	2 - 6	1. J. Dumont (BUF) 1g 2a +1
Montreal	1 - 6	2. D. Briere (BUF) 1g +1
ATTENDANCE	21200	3. A. Markov (MON) 1g 1a -1

[NoSkillz]

GAME DAY PREVIEW
New Jersey Devils at Buffalo Sabres
October 27, 2005
HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY
Season Series:	First Game in 05/06
Last Meeting:	February 25, 2004 in New Jersey
	New Jersey destroys Buffalo 8-2, as Martin Biron got replaced in goal; Jay
	Pandolfo is credited with the winning goal
	New Jersey	Buffalo
Overall Record:	5-4-0 10 pts	5-4-1 11 pts
Standings:	10th Eastern Conference	T-5th Eastern Conference
Last 10 Games:	5-4-0	5-4-1
Powerplay:	11.3% (25th)	26.5% (2nd)
Penalty Killing:	83.1% (16th)	80.9% (20th)
Goal Leader:	V. Kozlov - 7	J. Dumont & J. Pominville - 5
Assist Leader:	B. Rafalski - 5	D. Briere - 7
Point Leader:	V. Kozlov - 10	D. Briere & J. Dumont - 11
Penalty Minute Leader:	K. Oliwa - 32	A. Mair - 37
Goaltenders:	M. Brodeur (4-4-0 2.85gaa .903)	M. Biron (4-3-0 2.62gaa .915)
	A. Ahonen (1-0-0 3.00gaa .875)	R. Miller (1-1-1 3.36gaa .870)
Who's Hot:	V. Kozlov (6g 1a in last 5)	C. Drury (2g 3a in last 5)
Who's Not:	Z. Parise (1g -2 in last 5)	T. Numminen (1a -6 in last 5)
Injuries:	None	A. Kotalik (ACL)

[NoSkillz]

Hecht Finally Breaks Out in Sabres Win

Buffalo News
October 27 2005 (Buffalo, NY) -
Jochen Hecht has never been a guy who gets flustered when things aren't going his way. He always just goes about his business and eventually good things happen.

Hecht, who came into the game with only two points on the season, broke out in a big way, scoring once and adding three assists in a 5-3 Sabres victory over the New Jersey Devils last night at HSBC Arena in Buffalo.

"I don't really feel I was playing poorly but the bounces just weren't going my way earlier this year", Hecht said after the game. "I was given some more opportunities to play today on the powerplay and I was able to take advantage."

Tim Connolly, Chris Drury, Brian Campbell and Maxim Afinogenov also scored for the Sabres. Hecht, Afinogenov (1g 1a) and Jason Pominville (2a) notched multipoint games. Paul Martin, Brian Gionta and John Madden scored for the Devils.

Martin Biron once again manned the pipes for the Sabres, turning away 29 of 32 New Jersey shots, while Martin Brodeur was uncharacteristically subpar, allowing five goals on 36 shots.

Lindy Ruff praised Hecht's work ethic through his scoring slump. "He's always one of the first on the ice at practice and one of the last guys off. He's played well defensively, as usual, and tonight the bounces went his way."

Andrew Peters and Jeff Jillson were the Sabres scratches on the night. Teppo Numminen returned from injury and looked a little shaky in his 15 minutes, going -1 on the night.

FINAL	1	2	3	OT/SO	TOTAL
New Jersey	1	1	1		3
Buffalo	1	4	0		5
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING
1. New Jersey - P. Martin 4 (V. Kozlov, C. White), 17:18 (PP)
2. Buffalo - J. Hecht 2 (J. Pominville, M. Afinogenov), 18:39 (PP)
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING
3. Buffalo - T. Connolly 3 (J. Pominville, J. McKee), 0:09
4. Buffalo - C. Drury 4 (J. Hecht, D. Kalinin), 2:11 (SH)
5. Buffalo - B. Campbell 3 (D. Briere, J. Hecht), 12:34 (PP)
6. Buffalo - M. Afinogenov 3 (D. Roy, J. Hecht), 12:56
7. New Jersey - B. Gionta 2 (Z. Parise), 17:53
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING
8. New Jersey - J. Madden 2 (S. Gomez), 8:07
GAME INFORMATION
SHOTS ON GOAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
New Jersey	11	9	12		32
Buffalo	10	13	13		36
GOALTENDING
New Jersey	M. Brodeur (L: 4-5-0)
Buffalo	M. Biron (W: 5-3-0)
POWERPLAYS		THREE STARS
New Jersey	1 - 5	1. J. Hecht (BUF) 1g 3a +1
Buffalo	2 - 7	2. T. Connolly (BUF) 1g
ATTENDANCE	16859	3. B. Campbell (BUF) 1g -1

[NoSkillz]

GAME DAY PREVIEW
Florida Panthers at Buffalo Sabres
October 30, 2005
HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY
Season Series:	First Game in 05/06
Last Meeting:	March 20, 2004 in Sunrise
	Buffalo wins 2-1, with Derek Roy scoring the winner past Roberto Luongo
	Florida	Buffalo
Overall Record:	1-5-4 6 pts	6-4-1 13 pts
Standings:	T-11th Western Conference	T-6th Eastern Conference
Last 10 Games:	1-5-4	6-4-0
Powerplay:	10.3% (27th)	26.8% (2nd)
Penalty Killing:	84.2% (12th)	80.8% (18th)
Goal Leader:	Four Tied with 2	J. Dumont & J. Pominville - 5
Assist Leader:	J. Bouwmeester & O. Jokinen - 4	D. Briere - 8
Point Leader:	O. Jokinen - 6	D. Briere - 12
Penalty Minute Leader:	C. Gratton - 27	A. Mair - 39
Goaltenders:	R. Luongo (1-5-3 2.47gaa .917)	M. Biron (5-3-0 2.67gaa .913)
	J. McLennan (0-1-0 3.00gaa .893)	R. Miller (1-1-1 3.36gaa .870)
Who's Hot:	J. Nieuwendyk (1g 2a in last 3)	C. Drury (3g in last 5)
Who's Not:	N. Hagman (1g in last 5)	T. Pyatt (0 pts -1 in last 5)
Injuries:	K. Huselius (UCL tear)	A. Kotalik (ACL)
	R. Suchy (groin)

[NoSkillz]

Florida Comeback All for Not; Sabres Win in Shootout

Buffalo News
October 31 2005 (Buffalo, NY) -
Sabres rookie goaltender Ryan Miller hasn't received much playing time lately. It didn't seem to hinder him in a 5-4 shootout victory over the Florida Panthers yesterday, as he stopped all three opposing shots in the exciting climax to the game.

Daniel Briere was the only shooter to score in the shootout, beating Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo to seal the victory. The Sabres were ahead 3-1 after one period but allowed the Panthers to comeback from two goals down to send the game to overtime.

Jochen Hecht continued his fine play recently, scoring two goals for Buffalo. Rookie forwards Jason Pominville (with his team leading sixth of the campaign) and Thomas Vanek also scored for the Sabres. Rostislav Olesz, Jozef Stumpel, Olli Jokinen and Stephen Weiss scored for the Panthers.

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff was happy with Miller's performance, even though he let in four goals.

"I thought Ryan played well tonight. Three of the four goals were point blank shots that were pretty much unstoppable but late in the third, he came up huge when Florida was pressing."

The Sabres once again outshot their opponent by a wide margin, peppering Luongo with 50 shots on the night. Florida put 38 shots on net.

Jeff Jillson, Andrew Peters and rookie goaltender Adam Dennis were the scratches. Dennis was recalled from loan due to the fact he wasn't getting any playing time in Hamilton. Sabres GM Matt Bosela indicated he would be working on alternative arrangements for both Dennis and Dylan Hunter, who currently is seeing little playing time in Rochester.

Other Sabres Notes -
Sabres winger Ales Kotalik resumed with contact drills in practice yesterday morning and likely will be back in the lineup in the game next week against New Jersey.

FINAL	1	2	3	OT/SO	TOTAL
Florida	1	2	1	0	4
Buffalo	3	1	0	1	5
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING
1. Florida - R. Olesz 3 (M. Gelinas, J. Bouwmeester), 3:26
2. Buffalo - J. Pominville 6 (T. Connolly), 3:42
3. Buffalo - T. Vanek 5 (C. Drury, D. Briere), 6:56
4. Buffalo - J. Hecht 3 (J. McKee), 16:59
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING
5. Florida - J. Stumpel 3 (O. Jokinen, S. Weiss), 2:37 (PP)
6. Buffalo - J. Hecht 4 (M. Afinogenov, D. Roy), 6:12
7. Florida - O. Jokinen 3 (J. Stumpel, J. Bouwmeester), 17:40 (SH)
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING
8. Florida - S. Weiss 2 (M. Gelinas), 16:44
OVERTIME
SCORING
None
SHOOTOUT
SCORING
Florida - O. Jokinen (missed)
Buffalo - D. Briere (goal)
Florida - M. Gelinas (missed)
Buffalo - T. Vanek (missed)
Florida - J. Stumpel (missed)
GAME INFORMATION
SHOTS ON GOAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Florida	9	12	14	3	38
Buffalo	16	18	8	8	50
GOALTENDING
Florida	R. Luongo (L: 1-6-3)
Buffalo	R. Miller (W: 2-1-1)
POWERPLAYS		THREE STARS
Florida	1 - 4	1. J. Hecht (BUF) 2g +1
Buffalo	0 - 6	2. S. Weiss (FLO) 1g 1a +1
ATTENDANCE	17111	3. J. Stumpel (FLO) 1g 1a

[NoSkillz]

October 2005 Summary

Eastern Conference

POS		TEAM	GP	W	L	OTL	PCT	GF	GA	PTS
1st		Ottawa	13	9	3	1	0.731	51	36	19
2nd		Tampa Bay	12	9	3	0	0.750	35	36	18
3rd		Philadelphia	13	7	4	2	0.615	34	30	16
4th		Pittsburgh	12	7	3	2	0.667	31	31	16
5th		Buffalo	12	7	4	1	0.625	42	37	15
6th		Boston	13	7	5	1	0.577	39	38	15
7th		Toronto	11	6	3	2	0.636	30	32	14
8th		Atlanta	13	6	6	1	0.500	40	40	13
9th		Montreal	13	6	6	1	0.500	36	37	13
10th		NY Rangers	11	6	5	0	0.545	29	27	12
11th		New Jersey	12	6	6	0	0.500	33	36	12
12th		Washington	10	4	2	4	0.600	33	32	12
13th		Carolina	13	3	5	5	0.423	27	36	11
14th		NY Islanders	9	5	4	0	0.556	27	29	10
15th		Florida	11	1	5	5	0.318	20	30	7

Western Conference

POS		TEAM	GP	W	L	OTL	PCT	GF	GA	PTS
1st		Vancouver	13	10	2	1	0.808	48	30	21
2nd		Nashville	13	8	4	1	0.654	37	29	17
3rd		San Jose	13	7	5	1	0.577	31	33	15
4th		Colorado	12	9	2	1	0.792	41	25	19
5th		Detroit	13	7	4	2	0.615	36	32	16
6th		Columbus	13	7	5	1	0.577	37	40	15
7th		Edmonton	13	7	5	1	0.577	31	33	15
8th		Calgary	11	7	4	0	0.636	26	28	14
9th		Minnesota	14	6	6	2	0.500	35	35	14
10th		Chicago	12	5	3	4	0.583	28	32	14
11th		Dallas	12	6	5	1	0.542	33	28	13
12th		Phoenix	13	5	7	1	0.423	38	46	11
13th		Anaheim	11	4	6	1	0.409	34	36	9
14th		Los Angeles	12	2	5	5	0.375	26	39	9
15th		St. Louis	11	3	7	1	0.318	21	36	7

2005-06 Goals

POS	PLAYER	TEAM	GP	G
1st	Markus Naslund	Vancouver	13	12
T2nd	Todd Bertuzzi	Vancouver	13	10
	Martin Havlat	Ottawa	13	10
	Daniel Alfredsson	Ottawa	13	10
T5th	Martin St. Louis	Tampa Bay	12	9
	Alex Tanguay	Colorado	12	9
T7th	Dany Heatley	Ottawa	13	8
	Glen Murray	Boston	13	8
	Nils Ekman	San Jose	13	8
	Ilya Kovalchuk	Atlanta	13	8
	Marek Svatos	Colorado	12	8
T12th	Viktor Kozlov	New Jersey	12	7
	Shane Doan	Phoenix	13	7
	Jarome Iginla	Calgary	11	7
	Ladislav Nagy	Phoenix	13	7
	Mike Ribeiro	Montreal	13	7
	Peter Schaefer	Ottawa	13	7
	Bill Guerin	Dallas	12	7
	Martin Straka	NY Rangers	11	7
	David Vyborny	Columbus	13	7
	Marek Zidlicky	Nashville	13	7
	Alexander Ovechkin	Washington	10	7
	Richard Zednik	Montreal	13	7
T24th	Jason Pominville	Buffalo	12	6

2005-06 Assists

POS	PLAYER	TEAM	GP	A
T1st	Scott Niedermayer	Anaheim	11	13
	Jason Spezza	Ottawa	13	13
	Joe Thornton	Boston	13	13
	Markus Naslund	Vancouver	13	13
5th	Sergei Fedorov	Anaheim	11	12
T6th	Todd Bertuzzi	Vancouver	13	11
	Nicklas Lidstrom	Detroit	13	11
T8th	Bryan McCabe	Toronto	11	10
	Wade Redden	Ottawa	13	10
	Alex Tanguay	Colorado	12	10
	Pavel Kubina	Tampa Bay	12	10
	Martin Skoula	Dallas	12	10
	Jiri Slegr	Boston	12	10
T14th	Paul Kariya	Nashville	13	9
	Brian Rolston	Minnesota	14	9
	Joe Sakic	Colorado	12	9
	Todd Marchant	Columbus	13	9
	Alexander Frolov	Los Angeles	12	9
	Jaroslav Modry	NY Islanders	11	9
	Daniel Briere	Buffalo	12	9
	Zdeno Chara	Ottawa	13	9
	Henrik Zetterberg	Detroit	13	9

2005-06 Points

POS	PLAYER	TEAM	GP	P
1st	Markus Naslund	Vancouver	13	25
2nd	Todd Bertuzzi	Vancouver	13	21
3rd	Alex Tanguay	Colorado	12	19
T4th	Daniel Alfredsson	Ottawa	13	18
	Sergei Fedorov	Anaheim	11	18
	Jason Spezza	Ottawa	13	18
T7th	Martin Havlat	Ottawa	13	17
	Joe Thornton	Boston	13	17
T9th	Marek Svatos	Colorado	12	16
	Dany Heatley	Ottawa	13	16
T11th	Ilya Kovalchuk	Atlanta	13	15
	Glen Murray	Boston	13	15
	Shane Doan	Phoenix	13	15
	Brian Rolston	Minnesota	14	15
	Scott Niedermayer	Anaheim	11	15
T23rd	Daniel Briere	Buffalo	12	13

Players of the Month -
Offensive: Markus Naslund (VAN) 13GP 12g 13a 25pts +9
Defensive: Brian Boucher (MIN) 7GP 4-1-2 1.40gaa .948sp
Rookie: Alexander Ovechkin (WAS) 10GP 7g 7a 14pts +8

Players of the Week -
Week Ending 10/10/05: Offensive - Mark Parrish (NYI); Defensive - Marty Turco (DAL)
Week Ending 10/17/05: Offensive - Ilya Kovalchuk (ATL); Defensive - Antero Niittymaki (PHI)
Week Ending 10/17/05: Offensive - Jaromir Jagr (NYR); Defensive - Tom Poti (NYR)

Key Transactions -

• BUF trades Mika Noronen and Denis Ezhov to PHO for 2nd Rd and 6th Rd picks
• PHO trades Mike Leclerc to CHI for 3rd Rd pick
• BUF trades Rory Fitzpatrick to SJ for 3rd Rd pick
• TOR trades Jeremy Williams and Ian White to ANA for Keith Carney
• STL trades Renhard Divis, Jay McClement, Dennis Wideman, 3rd, 4th & 6th Rd picks to ANA for Stanislav Chistov and Ladislav Smid
• PIT trades Sebastien Caron to PHO for 3rd Rd pick
• FLO trades Sean Hill to LA for Brendan Irwin
• MIN trades 3rd & 4th Rd picks to NAS for Shea Weber
• CLB trades Kirill Starkov and Dan LaCosta to LA for Tim Gleason
• CLB trades Radoslav Suchy to FLO for Greg Campbell and 3rd Rd pick
• MIN trades 2nd Rd pick to PHO for Brian Boucher
• CAR trades Frantisek Kaberle to NYR for Marc-Andre Cliche
• CAL trades 3rd Rd pick to CAR for Bret Hedican
• FLO trades Mike Van Ryn to PHO for Doug Doull, Fredrik Sjostrom and 5th Rd pick
• CAR trades Glen Wesley to LA for Dustin Brown
• ATL trades Jaroslav Modry to NYI for Wes O'Neill
• FLO trades Kamil Kreps, 3rd and 4th Rd picks to PHO for Derek Morris
• ATL trades Jani Hurme and Andrew Kozek to PIT for 2nd and 3rd Rd picks
• MIN trades Willie Mitchell to SJ for Milan Michalek and Josh Gorges
• CLB trades 4th Rd pick to MON for Steve Begin
• PIT trades Ryan Whitney, Johannes Salmonsson and 3rd Rd pick to ANA for Sandis Ozolinsh and Jean-Philippe Levasseur
• EDM trades Steve Staios to SJ for Michael Vernace and Dmitri Patzold
• NYR trades Maxim Kondratiev to WAS for 3rd and 4th Rd picks
• FLO trades David Shantz to LA for Denis Grebeshkov
• MON trades Mike Komisarek to CAR for 3rd, 4th and 6th Rd picks

[NoSkillz]

2005-06 BUFFALO SABRES
AS OF OCTOBER 31 2005
P	PLAYER	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
F	Daniel Briere	12	4	9	13	4	8
F	J.P. Dumont	12	5	6	11	2	12
F	Chris Drury	12	4	7	11	3	18
F	* Thomas Vanek	12	5	5	10	5	6
F	Tim Connolly	12	3	7	10	-6	4
F	* Jason Pominville	12	6	3	9	0	6
F	Maxim Afinogenov	12	3	6	9	-3	6
F	Jochen Hecht	12	4	4	8	-1	16
F	Ales Kotalik	7	3	4	7	1	0
D	Dmitri Kalinin	12	0	6	6	-3	16
D	Brian Campbell	12	3	2	5	0	6
F	Adam Mair	12	2	1	3	-2	39
D	Toni Lydman	12	0	3	3	7	0
F	Mike Grier	12	0	3	3	-2	4
F	Derek Roy	4	0	2	2	1	4
D	Teppo Numminen	10	0	2	2	-4	4
D	Jay McKee	12	0	2	2	4	10
D	Jeff Jillson	6	0	1	1	-4	2
F	Taylor Pyatt	12	0	1	1	-2	2
F	Andrew Peters	1	0	0	0	0	0
G	* Ryan Miller	5	0	0	0	-	0
D	Henrik Tallinder	8	0	0	0	3	0
G	Martin Biron	8	0	0	0	-	0
GOALTENDING
P	PLAYER	GP	W	L	T	GAA	S%
G	Martin Biron	8	5	3	0	2.67	0.913
G	* Ryan Miller	5	2	1	1	3.44	0.880

[NoSkillz]

GAME DAY PREVIEW
Buffalo Sabres at New Jersey Devils
November 1, 2005
Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
Season Series:	Buffalo leads 1-0-0
Last Meeting:	October 27, 2005 in Buffalo
	Buffalo wins 5-3, with Jochen Hecht notching four points in the victory
	Buffalo	New Jersey
Overall Record:	7-4-1 15 pts	6-6-0 12 pts
Standings:	T-5th Eastern Conference	T-10th Eastern Conference
Last 10 Games:	6-4-0	4-6-0
Powerplay:	24.2% (2nd)	11.4% (25th)
Penalty Killing:	80.4% (20th)	81.0% (T-18th)
Goal Leader:	J. Pominville - 6	V. Kozlov - 7
Assist Leader:	D. Briere - 9	S. Gomez & B. Rafalski - 6
Point Leader:	D. Briere - 13	V. Kozlov - 12
Penalty Minute Leader:	A. Mair - 39	K. Oliwa - 37
Goaltenders:	M. Biron (5-3-0 2.67gaa .913)	M. Brodeur (5-6-0 2.98gaa .902)
	R. Miller (2-1-1 3.44gaa .880)	A. Ahonen (1-0-0 3.00gaa .875)
Who's Hot:	A. Kotalik (3g 4a in last 5)	J. Madden (2g 2a in last 5)
Who's Not:	T. Pyatt (0 pts in last 5)	S. Maltais (0pts in last 5)
Injuries:		S. Gomez (foot contusion)

[NoSkillz]

Sabres Blow Big Lead; Lose in Shootout

Buffalo News
November 2 2005 (East Rutherford, NJ) -
The New Jersey Devils came back from a 3-0 deficit midway through the first period, eventually taking a 5-4 shootout win over the Buffalo Sabres last night at Continental Airlines Arena.

Brian Rafalski (pictured) scored the shootout winner for the Devils after Buffalo's Tim Connolly couldn't foil goaltender Martin Brodeur. Rafalski (1g 1a) also scored in regulation, as did Patrick Elias, Viktor Kozlov and John Madden.

Daniel Briere scored twice for Buffalo, while Brian Campbell and Mike Grier scored singles.

Rafalski was pleased with the result. "Buffalo came out really hard to start the game and we really had no answer for their speed early on", he said. "They seemed to lose a bit of steam when McKee went down with the injury and we were able to take advantage on the powerplay to gain a bit more momentum."

Rafalski is referring to Sabres defenseman Jay McKee, who went down with a knee injury in the first. Coach Lindy Ruff indicated after the game that McKee is day-to-day at this point.

Martin Brodeur garnered the win in another average performance while Ryan Miller had some trouble for the Sabres, letting in some loose goals once again.

Ales Kotalik made his return to the lineup after missing 5 games with an ACL injury. He picked up an assist on the first Buffalo goal. Taylor Pyatt was scratched for the first time all season after struggling for the last number of games. Andrew Peters was also scratched for the 12th time this season.

Buffalo will be back in action once again on Thursday night in Buffalo, when the Edmonton Oilers come to town. Game time is 7:00pm.

FINAL	1	2	3	OT/SO	TOTAL
Buffalo	3	0	1	0	4
New Jersey	1	1	2	1	5
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING
1. Buffalo - B. Campbell 4 (J. Dumont, A. Kotalik), 9:24 (PP)
2. Buffalo - M. Grier 1 (A. Mair, H. Tallinder), 9:48
3. Buffalo - D. Briere 5 (unassisted), 10:33
4. New Jersey - B. Rafalski 2 (D. McGillis, V. Kozlov), 18:16 (PP)
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING
5. New Jersey - P. Elias 5 (A. Mogilny, B. Rafalski), 13:45 (PP)
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING
6. New Jersey - V. Kozlov 8 (J. Pandolfo, S. Brown), 6:51
7. New Jersey - J. Madden 4 (P. Elias, A. Mogilny), 15:09
8. Buffalo - D. Briere 6 (T. Vanek, H. Tallinder), 17:14
OVERTIME
SCORING
None
OVERTIME
SCORING
Buffalo - D. Briere (goal)
New Jersey - P. Elias (goal)
Buffalo - T. Vanek (missed)
New Jersey - A. Mogilny (missed)
Buffalo - T. Connolly (missed)
New Jersey - B. Rafalski (goal)
GAME INFORMATION
SHOTS ON GOAL	1	2	3	OT	TOTAL
Buffalo	14	12	9	3	38
New Jersey	13	6	11	4	34
GOALTENDING
Buffalo	R. Miller (SOL: 2-1-2)
New Jersey	M. Brodeur (W: 6-6-0)
POWERPLAYS		THREE STARS
Buffalo	1 - 5	1. D. Briere (BUF) 2g
New Jersey	2 - 4	2. B. Rafalski (NJ) 1g 1a +1
ATTENDANCE	15385	3. P. Elias (NJ) 1g 1a