Miller's mask

Miller's mask

Miller learned the hard way that the Olympics aren't all about the spirit of competition and sportsmanship. It's also about making money.

Pominville population stagnant

Jason Pominville is always one of the most upbeat players in the Buffalo Sabres’ locker room. Ask about any of his teammates and he’s effusive with his praise.

But when the topic shifted earlier this week to his own struggles, you saw a different side of Pominville. There was a pained expression, a distant look, even a few stares at the locker room floor.

Pominville knows he’s expected to be one of the team’s top offensive threats on the wing. One goal in the last 16 games simply doesn’t get the job done.

“It’s frustrating, extremely frustrating,” said Pominville, who will be looking to snap out of it tonight when the Sabres meet the Washington Capitals in Verizon Center. “I’ll be honest with you: The confidence isn’t as high as it’s been before, that’s for sure. But you still have to keep working at it and hope to get a bounce here or there.

“When you lose a game by a goal and you know you’ve missed opportunities, that’s the tough part for me. You want to help the team win and one way I do that is by putting the puck into the net.”

Pominville’s only goal in this stretch was the empty-netter that clinched the Dec. 10 win over Tampa Bay. He hasn’t beaten a goaltender since the first period of the Nov. 19 loss at Boston.

Everything seemed fine at that point. He had scored in four straight games, had eight goals on the season and was on pace for 37. Since then, nothing has worked.

INJURY UPDATE: 12/23/08

Buffalo Sabres Head Coach Lindy Ruff briefly updated injuries today following practice. The Sabres are currently without four forwards in Pat Kaleta [head/neck], Paul Gaustad [upper body], Nathan Gerbe [upper body] and Tim Connolly [rib], as well as defenseman Craig Rivet [shoulder].

Kaleta was injured Dec. 19 after being punched by Los Angeles Kings’ defenseman Denis Gauthier. Ruff said the symptoms are similar to the head/neck injury Kaleta sustained earlier this season that caused the grinder to miss seven games.

Gerbe suffered an upper body injury Dec. 13 in a 4-2 win against the New Jersey Devils and was placed on IR last week.

Gaustad has missed the last three contests with an upper body injury while Tim Connolly has not played since Nov. 14 with a broken rib after taking a hit hard from St. Louis Blues’ forward Keith Tkachuk.

Rivet has missed the last six games after his shoulder injury flared up again on Dec. 12.

Jochen Hecht was on the ice Tuesday morning, despite missing the second half of Buffalo's 4-3 overtime loss against the Penguins Monday night. Hecht was hit by a puck below the ear midway through the second frame and did not return to the ice.

The following are Ruff's comments on the injuries:

Nathan Gerbe skated before [practice] today with Paul Gaustad. Where are they at this point?


"We will evaluate them on Dec. 26. He is getting better, his pain tolerance is better. Same with Gaustad – he is [doing] light exercise. He is not even going to be involved in practice and may not be involved after Christmas so we will just wait and see where he is at."


How close are we getting to Craig Rivet’s two weeks?

"We are getting close. He will be evaluated after Christmas and that decision will be made whether it is another two weeks. He is a lot stronger so we will see where the doctor thinks he is at."


Does Chris Butler’s play at least remove some of the notion that you might have to hope Rivet comes back sooner or later? Does it give you a little more time?

"For Craig, it is just based on whether he is going to be ready or not. If he’s ready we want him to play. If he’s not, because Butler is playing well, we’re not going to say ‘let’s hold him out.’ It’s just based on if we get him to a point where we think he’s strong enough and [he can] play his game."

What about Tim Connolly?

"Tim is getting better. The doctors have him on light stick-handling and light shooting and trying to progress him."

’Tis the season for hope for Sabres

There’s a couple of ways to look at the Buffalo Sabres as they head into their holiday break. On one hand, they’ve earned points in four out of five games, a nice stretch. On the other, they’ve blown third-period leads in two straight and lost both in overtime.
So, which is the better way to look at the Sabres? Well, it is Christmas. Let’s take the positive route.
Buffalo picked up another point Monday night in a 4-3 overtime loss to Pittsburgh. It wasn’t the best way for the 18,690 fans to file out of HSBC Arena, but at least their team looks nothing like the squad that dropped eight of 10, a slide that ended earlier this month.
“We can take a little bit of a break here, a little bit of a breather and readjust, feel good that we got ourselves out of a rut and we’ve been playing good hockey,” Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller said. “It hasn’t translated into wins, but I think you guys can all agree it’s been pretty damn good hockey.”
The Sabres are 2-1-2 in the past five games and 5-2-2 since Dec. 6, when their long skid finally ended.
“We’ve got to continue at that pace,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “You’ve still got to get four out of six, five out of six to keep moving up.”
They’ve also got to find a way to finish games. They allowed the Penguins to rally from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits before Sidney Crosby capped the comeback 43 seconds into the extra session.
“You don’t like to see yourself give up a 2-nothing lead, and then we gave up another lead,” Sabres center Adam Mair said. “We’ve just got to be better. We’ve got to find ways to win.
“I just think it shows a lack of focus and a lack of willingness to shut the other team out and really take control of the game. I think that’s the killer instinct we’ve been looking for, the killing instinct we need to find.”