The biggest Buffalo Sabre took a big hit to create a big goal and get his first NHL point.

Rookie defenseman Tyler Myers jumped an errant clearing pass and was totally cool under

pressure as he fed Clarke MacArthur for the goal that pulled the Sabres even with the Phoenix

Coyotes early in the third period Thursday night.

Myers was drilled just after he passed the puck, from the front by one Phoenix player and

from the rear by Coyotes captain Shane Doan. The 6-foot-8 Myers was briefly in a crumpled heap

inside the Coyotes' zone before regaining his wind.

"I noticed the D-man [Keith Yandle] trying to flip it out of the zone and he didn't quite

get all of it," Myers said. "So I stepped in and grabbed it, found Clarkie and I kind of got

blindsided. But it felt good."

"It was unbelievable, wasn't it?" said MacArthur. "I think his wingspan was about 10 feet

in the air there when he knocked it down. He made a great pass to me, took a big hit and that

says a lot about him."

It appeared Myers struck his head on the ice as his helmet was jarred by Doan's hit from

behind.

"It was just one of those plays where [Doan] came back from out of the zone and I didn't

see him," Myers said. "We were fortunate to get the tying goal out of it and get the win out

of it. I got winded pretty bad and couldn't breathe for a few seconds. After that, I was

fine."

Just as he was during Saturday's opener against Montreal, Myers was impressive. He played

19 minutes, 49 seconds — fourth on the team behind Craig Rivet (22:55), Chris Butler

(21:18) and Tim Connolly (20:18). And Myers also played more than 7 minutes on special

teams.

"He was very good again," said coach Lindy Ruff. "A real nice play [on the goal]. Showed

nice composure to keep it in and not just deposit it somewhere. He had his head up and found

Clarke and then Clarke did a great job driving the net and scoring the goal. It was a good

answer for their goal."

"He's from the Western Hockey League. He's a tough kid. I know that," joked MacArthur, a

fellow WHL alum. "To not back out but to stay in the zone like that and have the composure to

do that, it was a great play by him."

. . .

Teppo Numminen, who retired in the offseason, made use of his leisure time Thursday by

visiting two of his former teams. The longtime defenseman spent the final four of his 21

seasons in Buffalo. He started his career with the Winnipeg Jets in 1988 and stayed with the

organization for 15 seasons, including its first seven years in Phoenix.

Numminen remains Phoenix's all-time leader in games played at 1,098. Current Coyotes

captain Shane Doan is second at 967.

Numminen still lives in the Buffalo area and said he was taking this season off before

deciding on his next career path.

. . .

Tickets for the Portland Pirates' game here against Rochester Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. went on

sale Thursday. They are priced from $15-$25. The Sabres' current affiliate and their former

one will also play here on Sunday, March 7 at 4 p.m. Those tickets are not yet currently

available.

The Pirates played their first game at HSBC in February against Albany, drawing a

franchise-record crowd of 11,144.

. . .

The Sabres are holding an online auction for a game-worn set of alternate jerseys

from last season at Sabres.com. Each jersey comes with a certificate of authenticity.

Also available is used equipment from goaltender Ryan Miller. The auction concludes Oct. 18

at 9 p.m. with portions of the proceeds benefitting the Sabres Foundation.

The Sabres were just 20 of 54 on faceoffs. They were 33 of 62 in Saturday's loss to

Montreal.

Veteran referee Bill McCreary, who is retiring after the season, worked his 1,600th

NHL game.