This news is better than virtually any deal the Buffalo Sabres could make before Wednesday's NHL trading deadline.

Thomas Vanek is back.

The All-Star winger, who was en route to a career year before suffering a broken jaw Feb. 7

in Ottawa, is scheduled to return to the Sabres' lineup Wednesday night in HSBC Arena against

Montreal.

Pretty good timing.

The Sabres are 0-2-1 in their last three games and have scored just three goals in them.

They've dropped to ninth in the Eastern Conference and you wonder if they've suddenly become

sellers at the deadline.

Adding a 32-goal scorer could be exactly what they need.

"It's always tough to watch the team, especially when they're not winning," Vanek said

Monday in HSBC Arena. "That makes it even tougher. If you're watching the game and you're out

injured or a healthy scratch, you hate watching your team struggle and lose. It's nice to get

back and hopefully help out."

At the time of his injury, Vanek was third in the NHL in goals and was the leader in power-

play goals with 15. He's now eighth overall and third on the power play. The Sabres were 3-5-1

in his absence, with just 20 goals in nine games.

"We built some drills in there today to see if he could handle the physical play," said

coach Lindy Ruff. "The plan is to get him back for Wednesday. It's a big plus. The question is

how ready he's going to be. Can he answer the physical? Can he answer the conditioning? We

hope he can.

"On the power play alone, getting his body in front of the net ... makes us more

dangerous."

Vanek said he's not all that concerned about his conditioning because he's been skating for

eight days. He'll wear a full face shield and still needs to keep braces in his mouth for

three more weeks.

Vanek's return is desperately needed for a team that has stopped scoring. From his press

box seat, Vanek has been taking good notes on some of the Sabres' problems.

"The game looks a lot slower and a lot easier — that's why you guys are so good at

it. I can see that now," Vanek said, poking fun at reporters.

"Especially seeing it from up top, we were passing up shots again like we were a month and

a half ago. And then we got back to generating more offense and scoring more goals, getting

dirty goals. That was the whole message again all morning today."

Ruff sent plenty of messages Monday, which developed into what longtime observers rated as

one of the longest and more bizarre off-days in the team's recent history.

The Sabres' regular off-day practice time of 10:30 a.m. came and went. So did 11:30. Around

12:30, the media was ushered out of its normal room between the dressing areas and told the

team would be using it for video work. A somber-faced group of players filed silently into the

room for a popcorn-less session that lasted about 45 minutes.

The team finally hit the ice at 1:30, three hours later than normal and practice went until

2:40. That's a training-camp kind of day.

"We've lost three games in a row so they know when they come in they can expect a variety

of things," Ruff said. "They probably weren't expecting that long a day, but that's OK."

"It was a long day, one of those days where we're trying to find ways to improve

offensively," said Jason Pominville. "One goal five-on-five in the last three games,

especially in the position we're in, is not good enough. We've got to be more desperate."

The Sabres have been getting a lot of shots on goal lately, more than 30 in 10 straight

games. But too many of the opportunities haven't been from the main scoring area in front of

the net. And several others have been passed up for needless passes, prompting Ruff to

criticize his team for being "too cute" on offense.

"We got away a little from the way we put pucks on the net with a lot of bodies in front

where it can bounce off somebody's skate or shinpads," said winger Ales Kotalik. "We've

started playing more in the corners and outside. We've got to get to the inside again and get

those ugly goals."

"We needed some players to pick up the pace in Thomas' absence," Ruff said. "For the short

term we were doing well but the last three games we didn't answer the call. That really falls

on my shoulders. We've got to be better offensively."