Sabres Edge

Greetings from HSBC Arena where the Sabres are getting set to meet the Columbus Blue Jackets. Big news already: Center Tim Connolly IS in the lineup even though he didn't skate this morning after taking his tough hit Wednesday from St. Louis' Keith Tkachuk. Buffalo's scratches are Drew Stafford, Patrick Kaleta and Nathan Paetsch. You would think based on Lindy Ruff's comments the last two days that tonight might be Maxim Afinogenov's last chance to avoid a press box seat tomorrow in Pittsburgh.

Patrick Lalime is starting in goal for the Sabres and Pascal Leclaire returns from injury for Columbus. The first of his nine shutouts last season was here at HSBC. The Sabres are starting the Mair-Gaustad-Peters line. Interesting.

Live updates to come.

---Mike Harrington

Third Period

18:37 left: Lalime is back in the game and Buffalo is back on the power play with Peca off again for hooking.

16:35 left: Just as the penalty ends, Rick Nash is stopped by Lalime on a clear breakaway. The goalpost saves Lalime a few seconds later. The score aside, this is a big period for Lalime to re-establish some credibility to all concerned -- his teammates, Ruff, the fans and himself. Lalime has to be able to come in and get the job done so Miller doesn't get overworked.

14:17 left: Another deflection gets past Lalime to make it 5-1 and it looked like Dan Paille tipped it past his goalie trying to back-check. It's R.J. Umberger's second of the game and seventh of the year.

12:36 left: Lalime's credibility is sinking again. Too slow to get across the crease and cover a pass and Rick Nash taps it home to make it 6-1.

6:16 left: Let's add injury to insult. Kotalik just limped off with an apparent right leg/ankle injury.

It's mercifully over: A 6-1 final. Sabres had a 37-25 edge in shots but it was 15-10 for Columbus in the third.

Second Period

Opening 20 notes: Pretty ugly plus-minus sheet as you would expect. Spacek, Roy, Kotalik, Vanek, Rivet all minus-two and Kotalik takes a slashing penalty to kill a power play after failing to keep the puck in at the point.

14:47 left: Scratch what I said about Lalime. He just allowed the most brutal goal of the season, giving the puck to Jason Chimera right next to the net. That resulted in a feed to an open Manny Malhotra and an easy shot to make it 4-0. Four goals on eight shots and Ryan Miller is in. Lalime has GOT to be better than that. (Miller's own goal at Minnesota not counted in this post).

12:00 left: With Peca off for hooking, the Sabres had a power play with the puck in the Jackets' end for the entire two minutes. But Leclaire was up to the task. Associated Press correspondent and local stat maven Mike Haim reports that tonight's game is the first time the Sabres were down at least 3-0 after one period at home since they faced a 4-0 deficit against San Jose on Dec. 2, 2005. Mika Norenon was burned in that one en route to a 5-0 defeat.

8:55 left: The Sabres go to another power play with ex-Sabre Jiri Novotny off for tripping. Shots are 22-8 for Buffalo but Leclaire is more than halfway to his second shutout here in two seasons.

6:23 left: Pominville taps home a Roy pass on a two-man advantage o make it 4-1 as the Jackets' took three penalties in a row - including a  delay of game (puck over the glass) that came one second after  atripping call. It's the Sabres' NHL-leading fifth 5-on-3 goal of the season (the Rangers have four). Sabres info director Kevin Snow with the numbers here -- the Sabres had played 132 minutes and 29 seconds against Columbus without scoring a goal in the last two-plus meetings.

1:56 left: Miller robs Fredrik Modin with his left pad on his first shot against him after nearly 13 minutes. Shots are 27-9 for Buffalo and 13-3 in this period. Weird game.

End of the 2nd: Miller makes another nice save on a deflection in the final seconds. Still 4-1 and shots are 27-10.

First Period

14:23 left: Brian Campbell isn't here to take him out anymore, so R.J. Umberger just hurt the Sabres with his sixth goal of the year to put the Jackets up, 1-0. It was a 3-on-1 break as Thomas Vanek and Ales Kotalik were heading to the bench on a line change. Bad move for sure. Not much chance for Lalime.

While we're on the subject of line changes, here are the Sabres' combinations tonight: Mair-Gaustad-Peters, Hecht-Connolly-Pominville, Kotalik-Roy-Vanek, Paille-MacArthur-Afinogenov. Status quo on defense (Sekera-Spacek, Lydman-Numminen, Tallinder-Rivet).

12:40 left: Old friend Michael Peca didn't have a goal last season when he got to Buffalo and scored his first in the Jackets' 3-0 win over the Sabres. No goals for Peca again this year and again his first at his old home rink. Beautiful diving tip-in of Fedor Tyutin's shot from the left point. A 2-0 lead for Columbus early.

10:30 left: Vanek is cooling off a little (one goal in four games) and here's a sure sign -- passing up opportunities. He's already tried to make the extra pass twice tonight when he had a good chance from in close. With his linemates ice cold (Roy has two goals all season and Kotalik has one in his last 11 games), Vanek has to SHOOT THE PUCK AND KEEP SHOOTING.

6:00 left: The building is full but the place is dead. Two early goals from the visitors will do that. But the Sabres don't have much jump either. Do the fans have to get the crowd going or does the team have to do something? See above -- SHOOT THE PUCK. Roy guilty of an extra pass when he was 10 feet from Leclaire. Somehow, Buffalo has a 12-4 edge in shots on goal. Sure doesn't feel that way.

4:12 left: Sure doesn't. Especially when the scoreboard says 3-0, which is what it is now after rookie Derick Brassard just whistled a snapshot off the left post past Lalime. Three goals on six shots.

End of the 1st: Hearty and richly deserved boos rain down as it's 3-0 after one. Sabres have a 14-6 edge in shots and easily passed up three or four more quality scoring chances. Pretty hard to indict Lalime on any of the goals though. A 3-on-1, an acrobatic tip-in and a laser.  Apologies for the lag at times. The wireless network in here tonight is working with about as much passion as this team is. Blah.