Saturday night, the regenerated New York Rangers, led by Jaromir Jagr, came storming into town. Jagr leads the league with 10 goals, but the Sabres shut him down. Goalie Ryan Miller, who has started every game for the Sabres, made 22 saves in the 3-1 victory over the Blueshirts.

By winning at home, Sabres kept their unblemished home record intact, winning their 6th of the season and remaining close to the front runners in the Northeast division.

Miller, who has overcome his NHL stage fright he exhibited in his first two seasons with the Sabres, has suddenly become the top goalie in the 3-man battle. Martin Biron and Mika Noronen have been riding the pine the entire season thus far, waiting for their first call to man the pipes for Buffalo. Before this season, Miller had a very unimpressive 6-11-1 in 18 previous games with the Sabres. That was before the lockout and Miller has had 2 very successful years in the AHL with the Rochester Americans. Now he apparently is more than ready for the big time.

"It's fun, but it's definitely a marathon," admitted Miller, talking about playing every game. "We're going to have fun with it for right now, relax a bit. We have a day off tomorrow. I’ll sit back and think about it, then get back to work. We have a lot of games packed into four or five days."

Jagr got things rolling by setting up Michael Nylander, who scored 13:04 into the game. Danny Briere tied things up on a powerplay goal, 44 seconds into the second period. Briere has had the hottest hand so far with the Sabres, as that was his 7^th goal of the young season.

``Right now the puck is bouncing for me,'' admitted Briere, talking about how the puck rolled in off his stick in a very weak backhander. ``I didn't expect to score. But you go through stretches where you get the lucky bounces. ... So I might as well enjoy it as it goes.''

Rory Fitzpatrick scored what turned out to be the game-winner, when his apparent pass to J.P. Dumont missed the mark and went between Ranger goalie’s Henrik Lundqvist's legs.

``I'll take it,'' Fitzpatrick laughed. ``I think sometimes when the team's working hard and the team's going good, you get the bounces.''

Ales Kotalik finished off the scoring when he got a shot off from the left point on a powerplay. The goal came with under 4 minutes left to play.

The Sabres are having fun right now with the new rules. The team, young and small compared to some of the bigger NHL teams, is geared perfectly for the new NHL rules. They are able to display their speed and break in more freely than before.

"I think the attitude in the dressing room right from day one in training camp has shown on the ice," analyzed Briere. "A lot of people had us ranked at the bottom. In this room, we never believed that. We believed we were much better, and it's showing on the ice. The more you win, the more you build off it."

The Sabres, who had lost their lone road game in Ottawa, went on the road for a 3-game trip. Ruff wanted to see if the team could continue their intense play away from HSBC Arena.

"I'm looking for confidence in the way we handle the puck, the way we play in our own zone, the confidence the players are going to have to make in the offensive zone the same way we make them in our own building," Ruff said before the trip to Tampa Bay. "There's going to be mistakes in there, but I want to see that same - not an arrogant attitude - but a confidence that we can make the plays and teams are going to have to watch out for what we do."

The team responded with an electrifying shootout win over the defending champion Lightning. Briere and rookie Thomas Vanek both beat Lightning goalie John Grahame during the shootout and Miller kept the Bolts off the board.

"It's a great way to win a game and a real bad way to lose one," said Ruff about the shootout.

Two days later, the Sabres traveled to Miami, but couldn’t pull the trigger at the end, losing with a minute 7 seconds left in the game as Olli Jokinen tallied with a man advantage, giving the Florida Panthers a 3-2 win over Buffalo.

The Sabres rallied in Boston, as they beat the Bruins 4-3. Briere and Dumont scored powerplay goals in that contest and Miller made 29 saves. Kotalik scored the game winner with 6:12 left in the third.

Tim Connolly had a lot to prove and he got his first goal in over two years against the Bruins. He missed the entire 2003-04 season when he suffered a severe concussion. Then came the lockout and fans had pencilled him off the Sabres roster. He had a point to make and did so against the Bruins.

"It's a really nice victory," Connolly said after the game. "We've said all year we didn't want to lose two in a row because then you can have a snowball effect."

After winning 2 out of 3 games on the road, the Sabres came back home with confidence against the Rangers. The Rangers, who also came out of the gate quick, had plenty of firepower, especially with the rejuvenated Jagr. But Miller and the Sabres starred down the Czech gunner and did all they could to contain him.

"We didn't really see them as a powerhouse," said Briere. "We went into the game liking the way we're playing lately. We didn't spend too much time on the way they were playing."

The Sabres had two men in the box in the third period and survived it in glorious fashion. The Sabres prevented even a single shot by the Rangers.

"There was a lot of desperation," described Briere about killing off those penalties. "What we did there is the same feeling as scoring the goal. That was the turning point of the game."

Near game’s end, the Sabres got their own 5-on-3 going and they capitalized on it.

When Kotalik scored at 16:28, it sealed the Rangers’ fate.

"It was huge for us," commented Ruff after the game. "You put the kill in your pocket on their five-on-three, and it was like a knife in the heart when we came right back on our five-on-three and Al pounded one home. It was a statement: Your skill guys went against our skill guys, and we did the better job."

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