TAMPA, Fla. -- That Jochen Hecht-Jason Pominville-Clarke MacArthur line is pretty good. They have combined for eight goals and 16 assists since MacArthur was recalled from Rochester on Jan. 6.
More important for them, they have helped the Sabres get back-to-back victories for the first time in a month. The Sabres looked much better in the past two games, more like the team people expected: enough offense, good goaltending and smart plays.
Now they just have to keep it up for 32 more games.
9:30 p.m.: Sabres win, 4-2.
9:17 p.m.: Another Tampa power-play goal makes it 4-2.
8:37 p.m.: End of second period, Sabres lead, 4-1.
8:35 p.m.: Brad Richards scores with one second left on five-on-three power play to make it 4-1.
8:29 p.m.: Derek Roy takes advantage of lazy Lightning to sneak one past pitiful Johan Holmqvist with 3:15 left in second. Sabres go up, 4-0.
8:17 p.m.: Sabres make it 3-0 on Toni Lydman bouncer from point.
8:16 p.m.: Bucky Gleason's least-favorite player, Chris Gratton, misses open net.
8:08 p.m.: A. Roy flattens Kaleta with cheap after whistle. Both go to box as Kaleta gets "diving" penalty. Roy gets roughing.
8:04 p.m.: Kaleta and Andre Roy say hello again.
7:42 p.m.: End of first period, Sabres lead, 2-0.
7:30 p.m.: MacArthur returns favor, feeds Pominville to make it 2-0 with 7:46 left in first.
7:21 p.m.: Standing ovation for hero of the game, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Steve Wenner, who just got back from Iraq.
7:19 p.m.: Patrick Kaleta mixes it up with Tampa tough guy Andre Roy.
7:16 p.m.: St. Pete Times Forum erupts with Sabres fans as Jason Pominville feeds Clarke MacArthur for a goal with 4:58 gone.
7:09 p.m.: USA Hockey legend Jim Craig might be stalking the Sabres. He dropped the first puck in Dallas last week, and he did the "Let's Play Hockey!" intro just now in Tampa.
7:03 p.m.: There won't be any booing of certain folks in striped shirts tonight. Ice Girls take the ice in referee outfits.
6:57 p.m.: PA announcer just had me scrambling for no reason! He announced "No. 9, Derek Roy" as the first Sabres scratch. Turns out he should have said "No. 19, Tim Connolly.
6:30 p.m.: The Sabres take the ice for the pregame warm-up, with Paul Gaustad one of the first players out. The center skipped the morning skate because of the flu, but it appears he can go.
Game will feature two defensemen who will get a lot of attention in the coming weeks. Brian Campbell and Tampa's Dan Boyle are two of the better puck-moving blue-liners, and both are unrestricted free agents at end of the year. With Tampa and Buffalo near the bottom, the players could become trade material if wins don't come quickly after the All-Star break. Boyle just returned from a wrist injury and already has assumed responsibility for a turnaround, according to the Tampa Tribune.
Pretty impressive run of names on the media list tonight: Scotty Bowman, Pat Burns and Dave Andreychuk.
---John Vogl
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