Sabres Edge

ATLANTA -- Well, the Sabres have their first six-game winless streak in two years. Goaltending, the one thing that had been pretty good for the first part of this skid, was bad in Sunday's loss to Atlanta. Ryan Miller got beat on plays from behind his net twice.

If a team can't score AND its goalie is struggling, there's no chance to win. At this rate, it wouldn't be a surprise to see this winless drought reach nine games. The next three games are against division leaders, starting with Tuesday's game in New Jersey. The Sabres visit Ottawa on Thursday then host the Devils on Saturday.

4:01 --- Rest of game is a formality. Hossa makes it 4-1 Atlanta with 14:46 to play.

3:59 --- No Derek Roy on the ice or the bench for the Sabres. He's day-to-day with a shoulder injury.

3:57 p.m. -- Colin Stuart skates from his own zone, past an uninterested Ales Kotalik, around a diving Jaroslav Spacek and puts a backhand past Miller 1:37 into the third period to give Atlanta a 3-1 lead. Pretty for Atlanta, ugly for Buffalo.

3:36 p.m. -- End of second period, Thrashers lead, 2-1.

3:10 p.m. -- Was just about to write "decent goaltending today" when Miller gives up a terrible one. Pascal Dupuis scores from behind net to give Atlanta a 2-1 lead.

3:08 p.m. -- Hedberg just robbed Jason Pominville with a pad save, a few minutes after Ryan Miller victimized Todd White.

2:50 p.m. -- There's a youth hockey game at intermission, and the son of a good friend of mine just scored. (Yes, here at the Sabres Edge, we occasionally look out for our friends.) Alec Schneider popped one in for the Thrashers squirt team. You have no doubt heard of his uncle, Anaheim defenseman Mathieu Schneider. Alec's dad, J.A., played college and minor-league hockey and saw the goal.

2:45 p.m. -- End of first period, 1-1.

2:25 p.m.: Tie game, 1-1. Marian Hossa scores on Dmitri Kalinin turnover.

2:20 p.m. -- Ignore next note, I guess. Sabres, 1-0. Vanek deflects Campbell's shot from point past Johan Hedberg with 6:10 gone.

2:15 p.m. -- I'd already welcome a Ilya Kovalchuk-Thomas Vanek trade.

2:11 p.m. --- A Sabres attempt just hit the post. Paul Gaustad threw the puck toward the net, and it hit the skate of Atlanta defenseman Mark Popovic then the post.

1:35: It's 30 minutes to game time, and no surprises. Maxim Afinogenov (groin) and Daniel Paille (likely concussion) won't be playing against the Thrashers.

As usual, plenty of Sabres fans/Buffalo transplants in Philips Arena. A few subtle changes to one of the best arenas in the country since we last visited. Big 2006-07 Southeast Division Champions banner in the rafters, and an All-Star Game logo at center ice. Any Sabres players who make the All-Star Game (and the guess here is Brian Campbell will be the only one) will be coming to town three times in less than a month. The All-Star Game is three weeks from today, and the Sabres come back Feb. 1.

Looking forward to seeing Ilya Kovalchuk. A few seasons ago, he played one of the best games I've ever seen, but he slipped last season. Now he's a candidate for MVP with 33 goals and 25 assists in 42 games.

There's no way, however, anything Kovalchuk does will look as good as the Thrashers' Ice Girls. Undoubtedly the top outfits in the NHL. (Sorry, guys, couldn't find a picture on Web to post here that does them justice.)

Oh, and the Columbus Cottonmouths beat Fayetteville, 6-2, Saturday. The Legends game was a 5-5 tie.

---John Vogl