Sabres Edge

Yes, I'm watching the Bills game on the HSBC Arena televisions as I type this, but it's easy to tell we're getting near hockey season, too, just by the sights and the sounds on the way in. The Blue and Gold jerseys flooding Washington Street. The yells of "Tickets, who needs tickets?" And, of course, the smell of rotten eggs in front of the arena.

Seriously, we've got a $127 million palace that actually draws people to downtown and no one in Buffalo can figure out how to get rid of that odor yet?

No bad smells inside the arena, thankfully, as we're about 20 minutes from faceoff. Should be fun to see the home debuts of Tim Kennedy, Nathan Gerbe and Patrick Lalime. And let's see if Maxim Afinogenov can keep up the fine play of last night, and if Marek Zagrapan can continue to push for a roster spot. He's getting plenty of opportunities.

FIRST PERIOD

7:08 p.m.: Sabres captain for tonight is Jason Pominville (which is where I think it should stay). Alternates are Jochen Hecht and Craig Rivet.

7:18 p.m.: I'd seen Nathan Gerbe from a press box before, when Team USA played in Portland, Maine, but it's different in the upper reaches here. His shortness sticks out more than Tyler Myers' tallness. I still don't think it'll matter. The Sabres will be hard-pressed to send him to the minors, and if they do he won't be there very long.

7:29 p.m.: Kennedy's Buffalo debut starting well. He just buried a Minnesota player to knock him off the puck, and then he intercepted a Wild pass seconds later. Gerbe follows by going after a Minnesota player for the second time this game.

SECOND PERIOD

7:58 p.m.: Clarke MacArthur adds to the "why I should stay with Sabres" list with a nice play in the opening seconds of the period. He knocked the Wild off the puck behind its net, then fed out front for a Jochen Hecht goal with 13 seconds gone. It's 1-0 Sabres.

I was watching the goal from Section 326 rather than the press box, and I'm impressed by the netting that rises from the boards. I remember when it first came out, and you couldn't see through the black. Don't even notice it now.

8:10 p.m.: I know the thing that's going to keep Mike Weber in Buffalo is his physical play, but at the moment it's the thing that's going to get him sent to the minors. Too many penalties the past two nights.

8:20 p.m.: Camaraderie is in effect. Marc-Andre Bergeron buries Sabres forward Daniel Paille at blue line (side note: NO ONE absorbs hits like Paille, who limped off the ice with an apparent left leg injury). Paul Gaustad quickly fights Bergeron, making this second night in a row a Sabres player stuck up for another one. Craig Rivet did it Saturday.

THIRD PERIOD

8:50 p.m.: Third period under way. Paille not on bench for Sabres. More on that following coach Lindy Ruff's postgame comments.

9:06 p.m.: Gaustad has yet to return since his fight. More on that following Ruff's comments.

9:09 p.m.: This must be what it's like at Florida Panthers games on a nightly basis. Pretty boring. Seats are half empty, hockey is mediocre, atmosphere is stale.

Speaking of the Panthers, got the official word from Buffalo native Brian Biggane of the Palm Beach Post that his paper is no longer covering the hockey team. Brian is now writing about the Dolphins. That's a bummer for Biggane, for our now-defunct postgame gatherings at the Quarterdeck in Florida or on Delaware here, and for the newspaper industry.

9:16 p.m.: Jaroslav Spacek scores with 2:57 left to tie the game. How? Because he scored into his own net. Oh well. It's just preseason. It's 1-1.

OVERTIME/SHOOTOUT

9:23 p.m.: Extra hockey for the second night in a row. If there's two things coaches usually want to avoid in preseason, it's overtime and injuries. Sabres have both.

9:36 p.m.: Owen Nolan and Drew Stafford trade goals in shootout, which goes to extra shooters when no one else scores. Kennedy gets huge ovation but Niklas Backstrom makes pad save, and Andrew Brunette follows with sudden-death winner. Wild wins, 2-1.

POSTGAME

Ruff said Paille has a bruised thigh: "He'll be OK, he'll be a day or so." Ruff said Gaustad jammed his thumb: "X-rays were negative, so we'll see how he in the next couple days, too."

It's tough to get a read on two games that feature two different rosters, but Ruff said this weekend's games have shown him the Sabres are becoming dedicated to playing well without the puck.

"I've been stressing play away from the puck, and I think it's been good," Ruff said. "Even with a 1-0 game, we were still taking it to them. We were still pinching, trying to play in their end. I think we only gave up three shots [in the third period] and had the majority of the chances in that period. Our play away from the puck is something I think that needs to be improved, and I think it's something we've worked hard on. In the last couple games, it's the area that I've focused most on. I've liked that."

---John Vogl