Sabres answer the call
Marquee players shine, responding to challenge from Ruff
TORONTO — When Lindy Ruff called out his forwards after Tuesday's dismal 4-2 loss to Washington, the main point was that his grinders seemed to be his most interested players.
No offense to them but the Sabres don't go very far if they're the best the team has to offer. The stars better lead the way, and they did exactly that during Thursday's 4-1 win over the punchless Toronto Maple Leafs in Air Canada Centre.
Derek Roy and Jason Pominville had two goals apiece. Thomas Vanek had two assists. Ryan Miller made 27 saves — one on a penalty shot. The defense was strong and the special teams dominated (2 for 4 on the power play, 5 for 5 on the penalty kill).
That's the formula.
"There wasn't much to dislike," Ruff said. "It was a big improvement from the other night."
The win got the Sabres back to even (2-2-2) over the last six games but can't be used as an example that their ills are cured or even close to fixed.
A much better sign would be a win Saturday at league-leading Boston, which extended its longest winning streak in 35 years to 10 games with a win Thursday over Pittsburgh.
Not much happened in this one for nearly 27 minutes. Then Buffalo broke it open with three goals in a span of 4:39 of the second period. Pominville sandwiched his first two-goal game of the season around a tally from Roy and Miller easily made that stand up.
With the game still scoreless, Miller stopped Toronto's Niklas Hagman on a penalty shot with exactly one minute left in the first period. The shot was awarded after Roy alertly swept a loose puck out of the crease with his hand before any Leaf would have an easy tap-in with Miller out of position.
Hagman came at the net tentatively and was stoned by Miller, who charged out of his crease and also bothered Hagman with a poke-check attempt. Miller is 8 for 8 in his career on penalty shots.
"He went to change his speed so I didn't want to give him a chance to get around me," Miller said. "So I just kind of laid a poke check out there and tried to get in the way and he hit me right in the hip."
Roy and Jochen Hecht were the primary target of Ruff's ire Tuesday. Hecht was benched for the first 10 minutes of this one and had no shots in just under 13 minutes of ice time. Roy, however, put together a three-point game befitting his role as the team's No. 1 center.
"My game definitely wasn't there the other night," Roy said. "It was just one of those nights I couldn't get going but that's no excuse. I have to be better and bring other things to the table. This game here wasn't about getting some heat off of us. It was about all the guys in this room working hard."
Pominville got things going on the power play at 6:50 of the second, beating Curtis Joseph with a laser from the right point. At 9:11, Roy made it 2-0 by batting a rebound out of the air just as it was about to nestle in Joseph's open glove hand.
Pominville made it 3-0 at 11:29 on a quick snap shot from the left circle that hit Joseph in the right arm and dropped behind the Toronto goalie. Roy made it 4-0 at 5:58 of the third on a backhand to Joseph's left, another shot the veteran probably should have stopped.
"I thought the boys were sharp, I was really focused and we got a result," Miller said "... We looked really organized and guys were making smart plays."
"It comes down to hard work and that's what [Ruff] harped on with us," Pominville said. "We heard about it in the meetings we had and before the game. The effort has to be there and you have to win battles. The effort can't be there for 30 or 40 minutes. You've got to play for 60."
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