Sabres Edge

Greetings from HSBC Arena for tonight's Sabres-Columbus matchup. Is it fair to call the Blue Jackets' a jinx team for the Sabres? They only meet once a year but Buffalo has a terrible history against this mostly faceless group, non-Rick Nash division.

The Blue Jackets have made the playoffs just one time in their 10 seasons -- and didn't win a single game in that appearance as they were swept by Detroit in 2009. But they're off to their best start ever and fifth in the West this year. That's not good news for the Sabres, who have been downright terrible against Columbus.

The Jackets are 7-2-1 against the Sabres and have won four straight since Buffalo's 6-0 win here on March 29, 2004. Those four meetings have been captured by a combined count of 16-3, including a 6-1 rout here in November, 2008 and last year's 4-0 loss at Nationwide Arena. Hard to figure really. 

The Sabres, of course, are sliding into a real danger zone in the East standings. They're eight points out of a playoff spot and can largely blame their 4-8-1 home record for the bulk of their trouble. The eight regulation home losses are the most in the NHL and the Sabres have a league-low 34.6 percent of the points at home (9 of 26). Relatively quiet night in the East. The Rangers (31 points) host the Islanders (15) while Colorado is at Carolina (23).

The Sabres (21) are trying to pull even with Carolina and idle Ottawa for ninth place. How's this for a wash of perspective on their season to date -- The Sabres would be LAST in the Western Conference.

The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, have the best road record in the West (8-2-0) and lead the league in road points percentage (16-20, 80 percent). Not a good combination, it would appear. Columbus is wearing its pretty hideous/old Penguins-looking third jerseys tonight (see shot at left) while the Sabres are in classic white.

The cannon logo on the crest is based on this horrendous boom they unleash in otherwise-lovely Nationwide Arena every time the Jackets score a goal. I just about fell out of the press box the first time I heard it go off when I was there in February.

Columbus is starting backup goalie Mathieu Garon. He's 6-1 with a 1.33 GAA and .950 save percentage. Not Patrick Lalime territory. Garon, however, is 1-6, 3.36, .881 against the Sabres in his career. So something will give here.

Sabres starters: Gerbe-Roy-Vanek-Sekera-Myers. Goal: Miller (scratches remain Connolly, Butler, Rivet)
Blue Jackets starters: Umberger-Vermette-Nash-Tyutin-Kiesla. Goal: Garon.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Third Period

9:29 p.m. We're under way. No idea what's up with the TV broadcast folks. Just heard about it a few minutes ago. I've inquired. 

15:24 left: McCormick takes care of business with Commodore on the first draw after the veteran comes out of the box. Two solid rights. McCormick get two (instigating), five and 10 but it's worth it. Commodore gets five. 

13:01 left: Big applause as McCormick goes to the room (he got 17 minutes with 15 1/2 left). Shots are 3-1 for Columbus in the period with Sabres still holding 3-0 lead.

12:12 left: Ugh. Stafford drilled into the boards again by Jared Boll (looked like right shoulder). Montador and Boll go at it. They'll get five apiece. Boll gets two for charging while Montador gets two-five-10. So tonight, I guess we're calling the instigator penalty after we haven't seen it all year. 

11:03 left: Kaleta pounds Dorsett. Left after left. Probably the best bout of Kaleta's career. And in true Rob Ray fashion, Kaleta declares himself the winner as the crowd salutes him. The Blue Jackets weren't happy with that gesture. Too bad. Kaleta gets 2-5-10. The PIMs are adding up here all of a sudden.

9:32 left: Sekera gets drilled with a shot off the left ankle.

9:03 left: Penalty boxes empty. Finally. Shots are 30-17 for Buffalo. It's 5-1 Columbus in the third. 

7:29 left: Stafford back and stymied on a breakaway by Garon, who is shaken up as both players tumble into the end boards. 

4:55 left: Near-sellout of 18,529 is announced. Miller less than five minutes from first shutout of the season and one of the easiest of his career.

4:29 left: Ennis makes it 4-0 by one-timing home a beautiful pass from, of all people, Morrisonn. Just the second point of the year for the big guy. Ennis' 6th.

2:47 left: Boll gone, five and a game misconduct for elbowing Morrisonn's head into the glass. That could be a suspension.

47.0: Vanek with a tap-in from Ennis to make it 5-0. That's three PP goals tonight for the first time this season. 

It's over: A 5-0 win. Miller's first shutout. Shots were 37-19.

Second Period

8:30 p.m. We're under way.

16:26 left: Miller makes the save on a 2-on-1, stopping Chris Clark's shot from the right circle.

14:01 left: Clark's tips in a shot from the point with a high stick and it's waved off. Call confirmed. No goal.

11:00 left: Shots are 4-2 for Columbus in this period. This is a game tape not destined for the Hall of Fame.

8:52 left: Another Columbus goal wiped out. Tyutin fires a wrister home from the point but Ethan Moreau goes for goalie interference. He wiped out Ryan Miller just before the shot was taken. Another easy call.

7:59 left: It's Guys-Who-Havent-Scored-In-A-While Night. Stafford bangs one home off a beautiful behind-the-back feed from 'Roy. That makes it 3-0, Sabres. Stafford's fifth and his first since Nov. 3.

6:32 left: Memo to the people in front of the press box: Enough with trying to start the wave. A stupid vestige of the 80s and about as dumb as the blooper videos on the HD board (which we've thankfully been spared of tonight).

End-2nd: Apologies for the dearth of updates. Some Internet troubles here tonight. It's still 3-0 and the Sabres have a 29-12 edge in shots (15-7 in that period). Pretty good scrum with 44.4 seconds left after Mike Commodore got five mintues for boarding Kaleta. Montador and Leopold both jumped in to get roughing minors. Sabres in complete control. 

First Period

Of note: Terrific kudos to the Sabres for the pregame moment of silence offered for our esteemed friend and colleague Jim Kelley. A true professional, a true Hall of Famer who we strive to uphold the standards of every night in this box. If you missed Jerry Sullivan's column on Kelley, you owe it to yourself to head back a day and check it out.

16:22 left: Let's just say the building is a little deader than it was last Friday against the Laffs. Plenty of empties even in the high-rent areas. Maybe they're snowbound. Maybe they're fed up. Shots are 2-2. Best chance came when the Sabres had a 4-on-1 (yep) and Gaustad fired a slapshot wide to Garon's right and into the side of the net.  Another example of why he's got one goal in 30-something games (sorry, I've lost count).

14:02 left: The Sabres take a 1-0 lead as Hecht outbattles two Jackets in the crease to poke home his third after Garon stopped Ennis cutting in from the right side after a neat pass from Grier. Hecht's third. The shot counter in the building is not working but I can tell you it's 4-3 for Buffalo.

11:21 left: Kaleta robbed at the doorstep by Garon after a pretty backhand pass by Hecht. 

10:07 left: Shots are 6-4 for Buffalo. Roy just fired wide on the Sabres' last shift. Not much intensity out here from either side. When you see a team once a year, takes quite a while to develop some ooomph in the game.

8:33 left: Sabres have kept the lines they used in practice the last two days. So it's rolled like this: Gerbe-Roy-Vanek, Ennis-Hecht-Kaleta, Stafford-Adam-Pominville, McCormick-Gaustad-Grier.

8:12 left: Kris Russell goes for interference, putting the Sabres on the power play.

5:35 left: Another PP chance for the Sabres, thanks to Derek Dorsett's slashing penalty.

5:06 left: The PP looks so easy when the puck never leaves the zone. Total control and a Myers point shot is fished out and relayed to Pominville for a tap-in to make it 2-0, Sabres. Pominville's second and first in 10 games.

4:19 left: Hecht goes for hooking.

1:34 left: Roy for tripping.

End-1st: Shots are 14-5 for the Sabres, who lead, 2-0. Columbus hardly showed up in that period. I expected more. We'll see how the Jackets respond in the second.

Scott Arniel played for the Sabres in Memorial Auditorium and coached them as an assistant in HSBC Arena. Obviously, returning to stand behind the bench as the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets means something.

"It’s nice. I have great memories here," Arniel said this afternoon while preparing to face the Sabres tonight. "This city, there’s lots of family, friends and lots of people over the years that you grew up with and got to work with. I got my first sort of gig in the NHL with Lindy [Ruff], working with him, so I certainly have a lot of respect for him and what him and Darcy [Regier] have done here.

"It’s the game that’s most important, and it’s our 20 guys against their 20 guys. It’s nice when you go against guys you know on the other side, but again it’s about making sure that we win."

To do that, Arniel said, the Blue Jackets will attempt to outskate the Sabres from the start.

"They’ve had a week off," Arniel said. "I guess that gets them rested. Hopefully, it maybe gets them a little slow start. We need to get after them. I know it’s been one of our strong suits recently that when we get after people in the first period it gets us into the game and it gets kind of the momentum shifted our way. We won’t do anything different tonight."

The Blue Jackets are 0-2-1 in their last three games but are 14-8-1 this season. They will start goaltender Mathieu Garon, who is 6-1 with a 1.33 goals-against average and .950 save percentage.

---John Vogl

Tim Connolly was back on the ice with his teammates for the first time in nearly two weeks this morning but did admit his injured groin was still sore after taking the morning skate in HSBC Arena. There's no timetable for his return.

More on Connolly's health in a minute. The bigger question of the day was his first public comments on what happened at Ryan Miller's Catwalk for Charity event Nov. 21 in the Town Ballroom.

Connolly showed up for practice the next day with eye lacerations and rumors quickly spread around town, fueled on Twitter by ex-Sabre and current ESPN analyst Matthew Barnaby, that Connolly had been punched by Derek Roy. That story was quickly denied by Roy and coach Lindy Ruff.

"It was exactly what Lindy and Derek told you," Connolly said. "The record has been set straight. We'll just go with that. That's the true story."

Pressed to give details on the story, Connolly said, "I was backstage, preparing a dance move and I just fell. That was it. It was an accidental thing. It wasn't 'Roysie' punching me in the face. I don't know where that came out. Those things can snowball. ... I got a little work to do on [the dance move]. I saw Shaquille O'Neal doing it on TV. It needs a little work."

Asked if he was angry with Barnaby, Connolly said, "There's no hard feelings there. It's the job of the media to try to get the scoop, the early scoop on things. Sometimes the right story doesn't come out. It's just part of it. That's part of the deal."

Connolly said he's encouraged to be back on the ice, but said his return to skating doesn't necessarily discount the week-to-week timetable Ruff has labeled the injury.

"The last few days really turned the corner," Connolly said. "I didn't have much strength in it at all the last few days. Bu I've been able to get back on the ice on my own, get some light skating in and try to get a little bit more each day. ... It's one of those thoings you've got to be patient with. I've been able to get a good amount of work in the gym. It's just the skating motion that you have to strengthen in the inner groin area."

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

The Sabres will trot out new combinations on three of their four lines Friday when they host the Blue Jackets, and the reasoning is quite simple: The team that is averaging fewer than 2.5 goals per game wants to score more.

The Sabres, who haven't played since Saturday, finished a long week of practices with the following forward units in HSBC Arena:

Nathan Gerbe-Derek Roy-Thomas Vanek (new)

Drew Stafford-Luke Adam-Jason Pominville (new)

Tyler Ennis-Jochen Hecht-Patrick Kaleta (new)

Cody McCormick-Paul Gaustad-Mike Grier (not new)

"I’m just hoping just a little shake-up with the lines now with guys coming back in can breathe a little life into our offense," said coach Lindy Ruff, whose team is getting Drew Stafford back from a shoulder injury.

The most obvious chance belongs to Gerbe, who has no goals but is set to play with the Sabres' top two scorers.

"In Nathan’s case, he hasn’t been on the score sheet," Ruff said. "It’s a good opportunity. This is the type of opportunity he’s got to take advantage of."

The Sabres' lull in the schedule has allowed teams to play the games they had in hand and push Buffalo back in the points column. The Sabres are in 11th place, seven points behind eighth-place Boston (which has played two fewer games).

"With the start we got off to, let’s just be honest: We didn’t have many wins in those games at hand, so obviously some other teams are going to get some points," goalie Ryan Miller said. "We’re just going to have to make up ground over the course of 82 games."

They'll continue without center Tim Connolly (groin).

"He had a fairly good skate on his own today," Ruff said. "I would hope he would get involved in a more intense part of practice, a game-day practice tomorrow where he can come out with the team and start shooting. He hasn’t done any stops and starts yet."

---John Vogl

There are two more tributes today to late News columnist Jim Kelley, written by some of those who knew him best.

From Jerry Sullivan: "He was a hero to me, the older brother I never had. We had great times covering the Stanley Cup playoffs. Jim was amazing on deadline. He'd be so calm, sitting there crafting two columns at once. I'd be near panic, fretting over a simple sidebar, wondering what the angle would be.

Kell would smile and say, "I think I'll write something off the game." It was his way of telling me to relax and let the action play out. Watching him made me a better writer. His game columns were amazing. He had a gift for finding the essence of the contest and bringing it home to the reader.

Jim, right to the end you got the story right. The rest of us are just trying to measure up.

From Kevin Allen of USA Today, who introduced Kelley at the Hockey Hall of Fame induction in 2004: Using some vernacular from the sport Kelley covered, he was a power forward in the sportswriting world. He had top-line talent, plus the toughness and grit that not everyone has in their writing. He was an old-school sportswriter, someone who liked the reporting maybe even more than the writing. He could smell a lie, and he pushed aggressively for the truth as anyone in this business.

I last saw Kelley at the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame induction last month and I knew the end was near. Jim mentioned that he had lasted longer than most patients with pancreatic cancer. He talked about having a good run in our business. He was touched that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stopped by to say hello. Kelley had been critical of Bettman's decisions. Clearly, Kelley seemed to have a sense of pride that Bettman respected him enough not to take it personally.

The hockey writing community has lost a special member of our family.

---John Vogl

Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano was asking for $175 million from billionaire businessman Terry Pegula to purchase the team, The Buffalo News has learned. The asking price had been a subject of widespread speculation, including one report that had it at $150 million.

No word yet on whether any agreement, verbal or otherwise, has been reached. It didn't appear that Pegula signed a letter of intent to purchase the team, but sources confirmed the $175 million price tag and suggested Pegula would accept such a deal.

Pegula did not return telephone calls seeking comment today and has not spoken publicly about his interest in purchasing the franchise. It could be several weeks before an agreement is reached and months before any sale is complete.

---Bucky Gleason

I'm thinking Jim Kelley would really hate that my first blog from Sabres practice today at the Northtown Center of Amherst concerns what was said about him and not about any Sabres updates. But that what happens when you're a Hall of Famer. Here were Lindy Ruff's comments today on Kelley's death:

"I traded texts with Jim a couple weeks ago," Ruff said. "I've been around Jim for a long time and I have a lot of respect for the job he did and the way he handled himself. I know how well-respected he was in the hockey media community. He was a good man. He'll be missed. He was a good example for a lot of young writers."

Ruff, of course, morphed from a young player when Kelley got on the beat in the 1981 to the team captain and then returned as coach in 1997. How did his relationship with Kelley change?

"When I coached, I didn't read anymore so the relationship got better," Ruff said with a big smile. "As a player, there was always stuff that bothered you and that's a part of the business too. That's part of what goes on. Players and coaches have to understand that. Overall, Jim was a very respected media person, especially in the hockey world."

Here are four tribute columns I have found on Kelley today.

--WGR Radio's Mike Schopp -- who hosted the wonderful "Sharpshooters" show on WNSA with Kelley and Mike Robitaille -- provides plenty of personal glimpses in this column and describes how Kelley learned to respect the craft of radio. 

--SI.com's Stu Hackel, the former NHL director of broadcasting and Kelley's boss when he moved to Foxsports.com in 1999, recalls Kelley's fire and passion for the job.

--SI.com's Michael Farber, a fellow giant in the world of hockey journalism, put it out there bluntly and wonderfully: "Jim Kelley was a better person than he was a hockey writer."

--And yet another giant, Eric Duhatschek of the Globe & Mail and Hockey Night in Canada, fondly remembers remembers the road he and Kelley traveled that dates all the way back to the 1980s.

Kelley would want some practice updates too. Rob Niedermayer (knee) and Tim Connolly (groin) both skated on their own, although Niedermayer cut his skate short after a few laps. Ruff said Connolly is progressing.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

I am charged with the task today of covering Sabres practice on the day after the death of Hall of Fame hockey writer Jim Kelley, a larger-than-life figure at The News for more than 30 years. An awesome responsibility.

Frankly, I'm still gathering some of my favorite Kelley memories over the last 26 years I've spent at One News Plaza. And I'm sure you'll be reading the thoughts of others on the staff as well. For now, here's a look at some terrific Kelley links as well as audio and video on his death.

His bio on Sportsnet.ca is uproarious, classic Kelley. Click the link and read it. Trust me.

Here's Kelley's final column on Sportsnet, which the network said was filed at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday and was posted yesterday. 

Here's a brilliant Kelley column posted Nov. 19 upon the death of Pat Burns, recalling some of their final conversations about the turns in their lives.

How about Kelley's 10-years-later retrospective on his night in the press box during No Goal? A gem from Western New York Hockey Magazine.

Click below for an audio retrospective that was compiled on WBEN Radio by longtime producer Steve Cichon. Hysterical clips. This is how Kelley was on the air, in the press box, in the office, wherever. 

And here's a video look at coverage of Kelley's death on Sportsnet and locally on Channel 4.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)