Perfection isn't just something the Buffalo Sabres want. With their top two players injured, it's something they need.

Mistakes are going to be magnified, and errors are going to cost them games.

For Exhibit One, see Tuesday's 3-2 loss to Anaheim.

The Sabres did just enough wrong to kill their chances of winning. They gave up a breakaway

before the HSBC Arena crowd had settled into its seats. They missed open nets. They allowed a

short-handed goal.

Add them all up, and even a fully stacked squad would have trouble. When a team is missing

starting goaltender Ryan Miller and leading scorer Thomas Vanek, say goodnight.

With Miller out, the game plan in front of Patrick Lalime depends on two things, no

mistakes and a bit of luck. Sure enough, the Sabres erred and Anaheim benefited from some

bounces.

The first shot of the Lalime regime went into the net just 70 seconds after the opening

faceoff. Sabres defenseman Toni Lydman twice fumbled the puck at the Buffalo blue line, and

the result was a Teemu Selanne breakaway.

The 17-year veteran doesn't need that much help to score. He put a backhand past Lalime for

his 571st career goal, two shy of Mike Bossy for 18th all time.

"The first shot Patty faces is a breakaway, and those are the kinds of things that can't

happen," Sabres right wing Jason Pominville said. "You've got to be better."

Rather than build on their good fortune, the Ducks sat back and let the Sabres come back.

Buffalo tied the game midway through the first period as part of a one-sided shot barrage.

Paul Gaustad screened Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere as a Buffalo power play wound

down. When Giguere moved to his right to see around the big center, Gaustad deflected Ales

Kotalik's shot to Giguere's left.

The goal was part of the Sabres' 29-minute domination on the shot counter. They rolled to a

20-4 advantage, including the first eight of the second period.

The momentum changed when Anaheim's special teams took the ice. They rolled up four shots

on a power play, then scored short-handed with 8:26 left in the second.

"You don't like to break momentum," said Lalime, who finished with 18 saves. "We had just

killed a penalty and we're going on the power play, and they get that goal. But that's the way

it is."

The Ducks made it 3-1 late in the period with two fortuitous bounces. Lalime looked to his

left to follow Brendan Morrison behind the net, but the puck had hit a skate. Mike Brown

collected the carom and went to the right of the unsuspecting Lalime.

Brown missed his dump-in attempt, but the puck traveled through the crease and bounced off

Gaustad's skate into the net.

"Almost all their three goals were after our mistakes, so we've got to clean that up,"

Lydman said.

Turnovers, missed chances and Giguere thwarted the Sabres after that. Buffalo had six of

its eight giveaways in the third period. Kotalik missed an open net and Derek Roy hit a

crossbar. Giguere made 34 saves.

"This is the time of year you've got to step up and those have got to be put away," Sabres

coach Lindy Ruff said. "With key personnel out, those are situations you've got to take

advantage of."

The portion of the 18,690 fans who stuck around got a brief flash of hope when Kotalik

scored on a six-on-four with 1:06 left. But the final 66 seconds were uneventful, shining a

brighter light on the earlier miscues.

"You don't want your goaltender to face a breakaway his first opportunity," Ruff said. "I

thought we picked it up and played pretty well for the next 30 [minutes], but we didn't take

advantage of some real good situations, and a bounce here and there will beat you."