This is definitely not the way Lindy Ruff wanted to start the season off. Playing the Islanders seemed like a good way to get off on a good foot. However, the Islanders had several new players they signed as free agents during the offseason, and one was former Senator Mike Comrie. Comrie tormented the Sabres and goalie Ryan Miller, getting a pair of goals in both games.

The Isles completed their sweep of the Sabres in the home-and-home series, beating the Buffalo Blue 3-2 on Long Island. Comrie, who helped the Sens get past the Sabres in the Eastern Conference Finals last spring, had the magic touch this weekend in putting the rubber past Miller.

The Sabres, now off to an 0-2 start, have to find their game again soon, or they will be in a hole they can't climb out of in just the first week of the season. While the Sabres are 0-2, the team who beat them in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Senators, are off to a torrid 3-0 start.

The Sabres lost two of their top stars during the offseason. Who did they replace them with? Danny Briere and Chris Drury, the Sabres co-captains were replaced with players from the Sabres minor league club.

The Islanders lost many more players than the Sabres. Unlike the Sabres, however, the Isles went to free agency and replaced their lost stars with equals or better. The difference in management philosophy was clearly evident in the two-game series between the Isles and Sabres this weekend. Newcomers like Comrie and Bill Guerin did more than fill the void left by the nearly departed Islanders. They dominated the Sabres, especially Comrie, who scored 4 goals in the series.

Is it too soon to say that the Sabres play will drop off considerably this season without Drury or Briere? Maybe. But if this weekend's disaster against the Isles is any indication, the Sabres could be in trouble of making the playoffs come April. To see a team sink from their Presidents Trophy season to missing the playoffs is unthinkable for the Sabres fans who were hoping the Sabres could still be a force this year.

"We improved in a lot of areas," defended  Ruff. "We improved defensively. Our penalty killing was a lot more aggressive and on the same page. I thought our power play, we had two or three that were really good, and we got one power-play goal."

Like in Friday night’s opener, the Sabres got the game’s first goal. Jaroslav Spacek got his second goal in two nights with a powerplay shot from the point that got past Rick DiPietro. DiPietro would settle down and make 30 saves in the game, some were of the stellar variety. Meanwhile, Ryan Miller played a better game than Friday, however he still wishes he had a couple back.

The Sabres defense, which seemed to take a vacation on Friday, were back in their lanes and did a respectable job on Long Island.

"We did a better job -- they just got some breaks," said Miller after the game. "We didn’t have quite the offense we had on the first night, but again, the Islanders adjusted to us, too. We made a step forward, and it's not going to happen all at once."

After all the hoopla and pageantry of opening night that included rolling out the Presidents Trophy and hoisting two banners, the Sabres laid a rotten egg on the ice in response. The Sabres looked ragged and sloppy in losing to the New York Islanders 6-4. The defense was just horrid and out of position all night, as was Ryan Miller. While Miller had no chance of stopping 4 of the goals, he found himself way out of position on all 6 goals.

"We played poorly defensively, that was it," Sabres defenseman Henrik Tallinder said . "There's no excuse, it was right there. We were loose in positioning."

This was not the way to award their fans for all the frenzied support coming into the game. All the Sabres games this year will once again be sold out. The Sabres merchandise is a hot item and hard to get. And once again there were over 10,000 fans who watched the game and partied outside the HSBC Arena Friday night.

The fans have certainly done their part the past 3 years. The Sabres players, on the other hand, coughed up one of their most sorry performances in decades by allowing the Islanders, a team that is not going to blow too many teams away this year, to score 6 goals on Ryan Miller and the Sabres defense. The Sabres allowed 3 goals while shorthanded, and another one while the Isles had pulled their goalie on a delayed penalty.

Special teams killed the Sabres in the playoffs this spring. They have to do a much better job on the powerplay and penalty kill if they are to make a mark again this season. There’s a long ways to go, both in the season and in shoring up their D and special teams.

The Sabres defense resembled their counterparts on the football field, the decimated Buffalo Bills, in being shred to pieces Friday night before a packed house and another 10,000 partying in the lobby outside. It was a shameful beginning of a season that fans had been anticipating for months.

The Sabres defense looked like one that had just been assembled for a street hockey game. The Sabres blueline corps certainly didn’t resemble the squad that helped the team win its first ever Presidents Trophy. The defense was in disarray all night, not clearing the puck, coughing it up, being way way out of position on all the Islanders goals. Ryan Miller, who had a rough night, could not be faulted on most of the goals, but his positioning on the play left a lot to be desired. He certainly did not look like the same goalie who was stellar in the playoffs last spring.

After Friday’s game, Ruff said, "There’s nowhere to go but up now." He’s saying the same thing late Saturday night.

"It’s going to be baby steps. There’s some guys that are trying to find their way, and this is a test for us."

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