Sabres and Briere look ready to talk

Satellitte Hotstove reported this evening, and my sources have confirmed that Daniel Briere has approached the Sabres about a new contract.

Briere, scheduled for unrestricted free agency in July, is the Sabres leading scorer with 46 points in 37 games. He cuurently makes 5 million on his one year arbitration deal.

Sabres drop Thrashers

Thomas Vanek scored twice, and Daniel Briere had a goal and an assist as the Buffalo Sabres beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-1 Saturday at HSBC Arena.

In a battle of Eastern Conference powerhouses, the top offenses in the East played a strong defensive game for the first 40 minutes. Briere scored in the first to make it 1-0 and Jason Pominville scored on a 3 on 1 break midway through the second to make it 2-0.

Glen Metropolit scored early in the third to cut the deficit to one before Vanek tipped a Maxim Afinogenov shot past Kari Lehtonen with three minutes to go to seal the win. Vanek would later score an empty net goal.

Ryan Miller made 29 saves in recording his 20th win of the season. Lehtonen took the loss, stopping 28 of 31 shots. Buffalo hosts the New York Islanders on Monday night.

GameDay Skate: Sabres/Hurricanes

The Buffalo Sabres continue their four game homestand tonight as they host their old pals from North Carolina, the Carolina Hurricanes.

Sabres crush Caps

For anyone that thought the Sabres offense may finally be slowing down, think again.

The Buffalo Sabres scored six in the first 10:57 seconds, that proved to be all they would need as the Sabres defeated the Washington Capitals 6-3 at HSBC Arena.

GameDay Skate: Sabres/Capitals

The Buffalo Sabres open a four game homestand to end 2006 and begin 2007, starting tonight when they host Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at HSBC Arena.

Blues edge Sabres in OT

Bill Guerin scored his second goal of the night 1:35 into overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

Guerin took a pass from Doug Weight in the slot and redirected it past Martin Biron to extend the Blues winning to a season high three games. It also makred the ninth straight time the Blues have defeated the Sabres, dating back to 1997.

Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville scored forBuffalo, while Daniel Briere had two assists. Ryan Johnson also scored for St. Louis in the first period. Henrik Tallinder made his return to the lineup after missing 24 games with a broken arm. He finished with one shot and a -3.

Buffalo had a third goal disallowed early in the third after the referee ruled Jochen Hecht deliberately kicked the puck past Manny Legace. Legace made 21 saves in the win, his eighth of the season. Martin Biron stopped 29 shots again in place of Ryan Miller.

Buffalo returns to action Tuesday night at home against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.

Sabres rout Preds 7-2

Maxim Afinogenov, Jason Pominville and Ales Kotalik each scored two goals as the Buffalo Sabres ended their two game losing streak with a 7-2 pounding of the Nashville Predators in Nashville.

GameDay Skate: Sabres/Predators

The Buffalo Sabres head out on a mini two game road trip beginning tonight in the Music City against the Nashville Predators.

Habs thump Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres have found themselves in unfamiliar territory, on a losing streak.

Christopher Higgins scored twice and Montreal used a hot powerplay and an outstanding performance from Cristobal Huet to beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 at HSBC Arena.

Montreal scored twice on the powerplay in the opening period, erasing an early 1-0 Sabres lead when Ales Kotalik scored 41 seconds into the opening period. Montreal then got powerplay goals from Alexei Kovalev and Christopher Higgins just over three minutes apart to swing the momentum in Montreals favor.

Maxim Lapierre and Tomas Plekanec also scored for Montreal, who have now won four straight to move within five points of the Sabres for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Jaroslav Spacek also scored for Buffalo, who went 0 for 4 on the powerplay. Ryan Miller made 24 saves in the loss.

Buffalo now heads out on the road for two in a row starting Thursday in Nashville to face the Predators.

GameDay Skate: Sabres/Habs

The Buffalo Sabres finish off their short three game homestand tonight as they host the Montreal Canadiens at HSBC Arena. This will be the fifth meeting of the season between the division rivals, with Buffalo leading the series 3-0-1. Buffalo won the last game in a shootout on December 9th. The Sabres come in on the heels of a tough 3-1 loss to Ottawa on Saturday night. Montreal comes in after a 6-3 win at home against Pittsburgh, also on Saturday night.

On the injury front, Henrik Tallinder again practiced with the team, but is still out whle recovering from a broken arm. He could return as early as this Saturday in St. Louis. Chris Drury will again have Paul Gaustad on his left side tonight. Drury will play with Gaustad and Ales Kotalik in an attempt to kick start the line, which has struggled the past few games. Jiri Novotny was moved to the fourth line, where he will center Adam Mair and Andrew Peters.

Ryan Miller will get the start for Buffalo tonight.

7pm TV: MSG, RDS