Sabres winger Thomas Vanek could be back in the lineup this weekend after making drastic improvement Wednesday with an upper-body injury that initially was expected to sideline him for several weeks.

Coach Lindy Ruff wasn't getting his hopes too high about his top goal scorer being

available against the New York Islanders on Friday night but hinted that the veteran winger

could be ready for the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday. Both games will be played at HSBC Arena.

"Actually, it's good news," Ruff said after practice Wednesday. "He's doing remarkably

well, which is good. I don't think it will be a very long period of time. I wouldn't even rule

him out maybe for a game on the weekend for as well as he's doing."

Vanek was injured Tuesday in the second period of the Sabres' 6-2 victory over the Detroit

Red Wings. He played through the injury long enough to score his second goal but was shown

wincing along the bench. He apparently woke up Wednesday morning feeling much better than the

previous night but missed practice.

"Initially, they thought he would feel a lot worse," Ruff said. "He's feeling a lot better,

which is really encouraging."

The Sabres have several options if Vanek is not ready. Ruff suggested he would take the

least disruptive, which would be plugging forward Adam Mair or Daniel Paille into Vanek's spot

on a line with Derek Roy and Drew Stafford. The Sabres had no plans to promote winger Nathan

Gerbe from Portland.

"It makes sense to me," Mair said. "You kind of relate it to football. I can't remember,

but I was watching one game when the left tackle went down, the guard moved to tackle, the

center moved to guard and they brought in a rookie center. Now, you've disrupted three

positions for one injury. If you can keep the disruption at a minimum, especially when a team

is going well, that's probably a way you would start."

Mair appeared to be the strongest candidate to replace Vanek considering he practiced with

that line Wednesday. Buffalo's other lines remained intact with Tim Connolly centering for

Clarke MacArthur and Jason Pominville; Tim Kennedy between Jochen Hecht and Mike Grier and

Matt Ellis with Paul Gaustad and Patrick Kaleta. Paille was the extra forward.

. . .

Mair was anxious to get back into the lineup after missing the first four games. He has been

on the injured list after undergoing offseason hip surgery. He was told the injury would

require at least six weeks of recovery. He's on his sixth week.

"It's a matter of getting into a game situation," he said. "I feel good. I'm very happy

where I stand in the six-week mark. I feel confident. Every day, it feels better and better."

. . .

Roy's three assists in the second period Tuesday night marked the first time in four years

that a player had three helpers in one period against the Red Wings, according to Elias Sports

Bureau. Shawn Horcoff had four assists for Edmonton against Detroit in the third period on

Nov. 17, 2005.

Elias also reported that Ryan Miller is third in stopping penalty shots among 38 goalies in

NHL history who have faced eight attempts or more in their career. Miller has stopped nine of

10. Dallas' Marty Turco has stopped 12 of 13 while retired Mike Richter stopped 10 of 11.